
Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/5988648.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Rape/Non-Con, Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Original_Work
  Relationship:
      Original_Male_Character/Original_Male_Character
  Additional Tags:
      Slavery, Age_Difference, Nudity, Collars, Masturbation, Frottage, Anal
      Sex, Sex_with_Slaves, Which_Means_Consent_Can't_be_Had, Oral_Sex, Hand
      Jobs, Making_Out, Consensual_Threesomes, Sadness
  Series:
      Part 8 of How_Best_to_Use_a_Sword
  Stats:
      Published: 2016-02-15 Updated: 2018-03-04 Chapters: 30/? Words: 59545
****** Whoever Said Every Cloud Had a Silver Lining Obviously Never Endured
Slavery ******
by AntagonizedPenguin
Summary
     Daniel's a slave. He belongs to Theodore and that's all there is to
     it.
     The more he reminds himself of that the easier it is to just be a
     slave and do as he's told.
     It's not clear to him whether that's a good thing or not.
Notes
     Rounding out the trifecta of 'fucked up stories about dangerous
     relationships' is one about sexual slavery! Yay! Sometimes I wonder
     where I went wrong in life (and then realize I didn't, haha).
***** Chapter 1 *****
“Do you know who I am?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Who am I?”
“You’re my Master.” The Master hadn’t told Daniel yet that his name was
Theodore, and even though Daniel knew anyway, he also knew better than to admit
it.
“Good. And who are you?”
“I am nobody, Master. I belong to you.”
Theodore didn’t say anything for a second and Daniel worried that maybe he’d
said the wrong thing. It was hard to interpret silence when he was looking at
the floor. But after a second Theodore just made a ‘hmph’ sound. “They did
train you well, didn’t they? Tell me, did they hurt you while they were
training you?”
That was a strange question to ask a slave, Daniel thought. “Only when I
deserved it, Master.”
“Did you deserve it often?”
“Yes, Master.” He’d gotten progressively better at not getting hit as time went
on, though.
“What’s your name?”
“Whatever pleases you, Master.”
“It would please me to know what your parents named you.” Theodore’s voice had
gotten little tighter and Daniel tensed. He hadn’t meant to make him mad
already.
“Daniel, Master.” Daniel said quickly. “My parents named me Daniel.”
“Nice to meet you, Daniel. My name is Theodore.”
“Yes, Master.” You’re a slave. Daniel kept reminding himself. Just act like one
and hope he doesn’t hurt you.
“Stand up.” Daniel did as he was told, swaying a little in the moving carriage
they were in. He kept his eyes on the floor. Theodore ran a hand up Daniel’s
arm and Daniel could practically feel the weight of his eyes inspecting him.
Like all the slaves who’d been sold today, Daniel was naked except for his
heavy iron collar. “You’re very pretty, Daniel.”
Daniel didn’t answer that. He’d been told that before, usually prefacing a lot
of very blunt comments about what he could expect thanks to that. He was dark-
haired and narrow through the shoulders and hips, but otherwise average in
stature. As to his own looks, it had been a while since Daniel had seen himself
in a mirror.
“Except for this.” Theodore mused, his fingers touching on Daniel’s collar.
Theodore’s hand moved around Daniel’s neck and a moment later there was a
clicking sound and the weight was removed. “There we go.” Theodore tossed the
collar aside. “I’ve a prettier one for you at home.”
“Thank you, Master.”
Theodore made a noise and tilted Daniel’s head up to look at his face. Daniel
carefully avoided eye contact. Theodore had very sharp features and long
fingers, and the look on his face was gentle at the moment. He was a pretty
man, Daniel thought. “Your eyes are beautiful.” Theodore muttered, brushing his
fingers around one of them. “Where are your family from?”
“White Cape, Master.” It had been very convenient for them that slavery was
legal in nearby Merket when they’d made the decision to sell their youngest
son.
“I see. I wondered if you were from the south, where green eyes are a little
more common, but no. How very special you are.” The way he said that made
Daniel shiver, though he tried to pretend it was because it was cold. “What
possessed your parents to sell such a beautiful child?”
Once Daniel would have bristled at being called a child. It turned out that
being beaten enough made it harder to care what people called him. “They had to
pay off their debts, Master.”
“Those must have been some debts if they resorted to selling something so
precious.” Theodore mused, and Daniel didn’t answer. They’d sworn to him that
it was only for a few weeks, and that they’d buy him back when they had the
money, but even then Daniel had known that would never happen—even if they had
somehow come up with the money, it would have gone to alcohol and gambling
before it went to getting back a sixth mouth to feed and the child they’d never
wanted in the first place. “Still, a boon for me.” Theodore continued. “Now I
get to have you all for myself.”
Daniel didn’t answer that.
“You know what I want from you?” Theodore asked.
“No, Master.”
“Yes, you do.” Daniel did. “When they were training you, did they touch you?”
“No, Master.” That was one thing that they had never done—Daniel had been told
more than once that he was worth more untouched.
“Don’t pretend that you don’t know what I mean. I’m a very tolerant man,
Daniel, but I won’t allow you to lie to me, do you understand?”
“Yes, Master, I understand. I know what you meant.”
“Good.” Theodore pulled on Daniel’s arm, silently ordering him to turn around,
and Daniel did, allowing Theodore to run his hands up Daniel’s back and legs
now. “I’m a very wealthy person, Daniel. You’ll be fed, warm, safe and
comfortable in my house.”
And all Theodore would take in exchange for all that was Daniel’s body and his
freedom. “Thank you, Master.”
“I’ve had a lot of slaves, Daniel.” Theodore seemed to like using his name and
Daniel wasn’t sure what to make of that. “I understand that you hate me, but…I
think you’ll change your mind. You seem like a clever boy. I think you’ll
quickly realize that any number of people would have been worse than me.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Shh, you don’t need to do that.” Theodore turned him around again. “I know you
can hear me. Come sit here.” He pulled Daniel onto the bench beside him and
tilted Daniel’s head back up when he moved his eyes to the ground again.
“There’s nothing interesting down there.” Daniel settled for looking at
Theodore’s neck.
“Is there any food that you like to eat, Daniel?”
Food? Daniel just barely resisted the frown that wanted to crease his face.
“No, Master.”
Theodore’s hand tightened around his, not painfully, but as a reminder.
“Remember what I said about lying to me, Daniel. What do you like to eat?”
Daniel hesitated for a second. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a
trap of some kind. “Crab, Master. I…I like crab.”
“Then we’ll have crab for supper tonight.”
“Thank you, Master.” Daniel had had a lot of expectations about what being sold
would be like, but he hadn’t thought Theodore would go out of his way to be
kind. It felt like he was being set up somehow and that worried Daniel a lot
more than being sold in the first place had.
Suddenly Theodore was there, leaning in and kissing Daniel. Daniel stiffed and
half-pulled away before remembering not to do that, but it was too late.
Theodore moved away and was looking Daniel in the eye. “You tried to get away
from me just now, didn’t you?”
“No, Master, I…” Daniel froze in fear, looking into Theodore’s dark eyes. He
wasn’t supposed to lie. “Yes, Master. I’m sorry, I won’t do it again, I’m
sorry.”
Theodore held his gaze for a second before laughing quietly to himself. “It’s
alright.” He patted Daniel on the cheek. “Now I know for sure you were telling
me the truth, earlier. Don’t do it again.”
“I won’t, Master.”
“When I show you affection, I expect you to return it.”
“Yes, Master.”
“You’re shaking—I didn’t mean to scare you.” Daniel didn’t answer that. “Don’t
worry. I’ll give you some time to get used to the house before I take you into
my bed.” Daniel wanted so badly to roll his eyes but knew better than to even
think about it. How generous of Theodore that was. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Thank you, Master.” That was an outright lie, Daniel thought. Maybe Theodore
wasn’t going to hurt him for fun or on purpose, but there was no way Daniel
wasn’t going to be hurt.
“Come, we’re here.” The carriage had stopped at some point. Daniel hadn’t
noticed. Theodore turned his back and opened the carriage door, stepping out
into a broad courtyard that had been cleared of snow.
Before he’d been sold, Daniel would have told Theodore to go kill himself, or
jumped on him and bashed his head against the cobblestones, or at least sworn
and called him names. He would have made Theodore drag him into that house
screaming rather than going along placidly.
Daniel couldn’t be that person any longer. Not if he wanted to survive this.
“Yes, Master.”
***** Attention to Detail is a Skill of Benefit to Slaves *****
Chapter Notes
     This chapter introduces at least three subplots, hahahaha (I may be a
     little too ambitious).
“Daniel, come sit with me here.”
“Yes, Master.”
Theodore smiled as Daniel did as he was told and sat beside the man on the long
sofa. It had too many cushions on it. “I don’t require you to ‘yes, Master’
every time I give you an order. Simply doing as you’re told is good enough.”
Daniel opened his mouth and snapped it shut again. And nodded. Theodore laughed
and ruffled his hair. “You’re quite the charming young man.”
“Thank you, Master.” Theodore pulled Daniel closer until they were pressed
against one another, and he kept his arm around Daniel’s middle. He was holding
a paper in his other hand and went back to reading it.
Daniel had been given a long white shirt that left his collar bare and just
barely managed to cover his pelvic area. It was the only thing he was allowed
to wear, and the other boys who Theodore kept as house slaves wore the same
thing. It was pretty obvious what Theodore’s tastes were. What he hadn’t been
given was a collar—apparently it was Theodore’s tradition to give his new
slaves their collars on the first night he took them to bed.
True to his word, Theodore hadn’t touched Daniel sexually once since they’d
come to the house. But he always seemed to want Daniel near—sitting beside him
like this, eating with him, Theodore had even bathed him. It was not the
experience Daniel had expected, but he knew better than to assume it would stay
this way.
Theodore would want to fuck him eventually.
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
Daniel blinked, mentally shook himself out of whatever reverie he’d been in.
“Nothing, Master.”
Theodore gave Daniel a light squeeze. “Don’t lie.”
“I…” Daniel looked down at his hands in his lap. “I was thinking about you,
Master.”
“Of course you were.” The corners of Theodore’s mouth curled upwards. “Are you
still afraid of me?”
“No…” Don’t lie. “Not as much, Master.”
“Good.” Theodore’s hand patted Daniel’s middle. “And the other slaves? The
household staff? They’re all treating you properly, I assume?”
“Yes, Master.” The staff—who were all paid servants, free people—mostly ignored
Daniel and the other slaves aside from occasionally asking them to help with
cleaning, cooking or something like that. The other slaves all just seemed to
feel bad for Daniel and wouldn’t say why—though he could guess.
“What do you think of the house?”
“It’s a very big house, Master.” It was—huge and every inch of it decorated in
case anyone forgot for a second that Theodore was rich. There was art and
statuary and fancy plants and fountains and pools and tapestries and gold
everywhere.
“Yes, it’s a bit much, isn’t it? But it does impress my visitors.”
“I should think so, Master.”
“That almost sounded sarcastic, Daniel.”
“I…” It hadn’t been. “I’m sorry, Master. I didn’t mean…”
“Calm down, Daniel.” Theodore patted his head again. “I’m joking. Close your
eyes.”
Daniel did, confused. Once Theodore was satisfied he had, he said, “What colour
is my shirt?”
Trying not to frown, Daniel said, “Purple, Master.”
“Just purple?”
“The cuffs are black and the buttons are silver and you have a blue
handkerchief tucked into your front pocket.” Daniel didn’t know if this was a
test or a trap of some kind, or if Theodore was just having fun again.
“Hm.” Theodore took his hand away from Daniel’s middle and started stroking his
hair. “There’s a long table at the back wall of this room; you must have seen
it when you came in. How many cups were on it?”
“Five, Master.” Four were on a platter with a pitcher of water at one end, and
one decorative goblet was sitting in the centre of the table.
“How many arms does the chandelier have?”
“This room doesn’t have a chandelier.”
“If I were to tell you to go to the kitchen and get me something, how many
times would you have to turn left between here and there?”
“Seven.”
“Hm.” Theodore said again. “You can open your eyes now. You are a very, very
observant boy, Daniel.”
Daniel wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be good or not—maybe he wasn’t
supposed to be paying that much attention to the details of the house. Daniel
thought that paying attention to details was important if he was going to stay
alive. He was saved having to say anything by a knock at the door. “Master
Theodore.” Theodore’s head houseservant was named Benedict and was a little
younger than Daniel’s father. “My apologies for intruding. Master Phillip is
here to see you, sir.”
Theodore frowned. “Is he now? Bring him in.” Benedict left and Theodore glanced
down at Daniel. “You aren’t dressed for company. Take that blanket there and
cover yourself with it. Lay down with your head on my lap and pretend to be
asleep.”
“Ye…” Daniel stopped himself and nodded, grabbing the blanket to do as he’d
been told, thinking all the while that it would be easy enough for him to just
leave if Theodore didn’t want people to see him dressed like this. And thinking
that Theodore could let him have pants if he didn’t want people to see him
dressed like this.
A moment later there was another knock on the door and the sound of people
coming in. “Theodore.”
“Shhh.” Theodore said to the man who’d spoken. He was playing with Daniel’s
hair. “He’s very tired.”
“New addition?” The speaker must be Phillip, and Daniel could hear him
shuffling a bit until he must have sat. Slaves weren’t supposed to listen when
people were talking and Daniel tried not to, but it was a bit hard when they
were right there. “Sorry to drop in unannounced.”
“Think nothing of it. What can I do for you today?” Theodore’s voice sounded
smooth as usual, but Daniel thought he could hear a bit of something else there
as well. He was probably annoyed.
“I found the Crown.”
Theodore considered that for a second before answering. “Now how did you manage
to do that?”
“You’re not the only one with sources. It’s on its way here right now and then
we can use it to find the Sea King’s Palace.”
“We can?” Theodore asked, his hands pausing in Daniel’s hair. “I’m involved
now, am I?”
“Sure, once they’re done building those ships of yours. You know how valuable
this is.”
“I also know how dangerous it is.”
Phillip made a noise. “You’re scared of a legend?”
“Not at all.” Theodore said. “But a little more caution wouldn’t hurt.”
“Theodore, I can’t do this without you. I’m splitting the profit with you; you
want me to beg too?”
Theodore was silent for what Daniel thought was a long time. “Fine.” He said,
sounding like Daniel’s brothers had used to sound after he’d begged them to
play with him all day. “But we’ll need to find someone to do the actual
retrieval. Let me handle that part.”
“Fine.” Phillip’s clothes rustled as he stood. “Let me know when you’ve got
someone. This is going to be the biggest find in history, Theodore.”
“I know. Thank you, Phillip.”
Phillip didn’t answer and a moment later the door opened and closed again.
“What do you think he’s going to do, Daniel?” Theodore resumed playing with
Daniel’s hair, one hand on his shoulder to keep him laying down.
“I…don’t know, Master.” Maybe Theodore was insane, Daniel thought. Maybe he
didn’t actually understand how slavery worked.
“But you just heard the entire conversation. You have an opinion, at least.”
“It’s not my place to…”
“It is if I tell you it is.” Theodore said with a tug on Daniel’s hair. “I’m
not going to punish you for speaking about my acquaintance and I’m not going to
punish you if you’re wrong. Tell me what you think.”
“I think…” Daniel hesitated for a second. “He isn’t going to wait for you,
Master.” Theodore didn’t say anything so Daniel felt like he should go on. “I
think…he said he couldn’t do it without you so I think he’ll try. But…he seems
impatient to me, Master.”
“He is.” Theodore sighed. “He’s a good friend, though. I expect you’ll see him
around the house quite a bit.” Daniel nodded. “Are you comfortable down there?”
“Yes, Master.” Daniel said automatically. This wasn’t any more or less
comfortable than laying anywhere else. Laying in someone’s lap was a lot less
weird than he’d expected it to be.
“Good. Stay there for a while. Try to sleep for real. I hear you toss and turn
a lot at night.”
“I…I didn’t mean to bother anyone, Master.” It was good to know that the other
slaves were reporting on his movements, though.
“You haven’t, don’t worry. Just have a little nap.”
“Yes, Master.” Daniel was pretty sure he couldn’t sleep like this, but he
closed his eyes and pretended as best he could.
Despite his own prediction, though, eventually Daniel did fall asleep, with
Theodore’s hand running through his hair.
***** A Clever Slave Owner Will Grant His Slaves a Small Measure of Freedom to
Keep them Calm *****
“It’s fake, you know.”
Daniel looked up from the cards in his hand at the slave who had spoken, a
squarish boy named Marcus who was a few years older than him. “Sorry?”
The slaves, all eight of them, shared a room on the main floor of Theodore’s
mansion where they slept on bedrolls and kept their clothes, along with
whatever possessions Theodore had given to them. It was the one space in the
house, said Theodore, that belonged solely to them. Theodore didn’t come near
the room and neither did the staff unless one of the slaves had been summoned,
and then they would knock on the door.
Maybe it was supposed to be generous—a space where they didn’t have any
expectations—but Daniel thought that having one small space where they were
allowed to do as they wished just accentuated the fact that they weren’t free
anywhere else.
“I said it’s fake. Him. The Master.”
“Marcus, don’t.” Hugh was also older than Daniel—Daniel was the youngest slave
here—but he was small and sprightly. He was playing cards with Daniel, a trump
game that Daniel was really bad at. They also played stones sometimes, but
Daniel was pretty good at that, which was probably why most of the others had
taken to playing cards with him instead.
“He has the right to know, Hugh.” The other slaves were all pretty nice—Daniel
felt bad for assuming they wouldn’t be—because of course they’d all been in the
same boat as he was once. The older ones didn’t talk to Daniel too much, but
Marcus was the only one who was really colder than the others.
“No he doesn’t.” Hugh countered. “Slaves don’t have rights.”
“Cute.” Marcus turned back to Daniel, who was just looking between the two of
them. “It’s fake. He’s being nice to you. Asking you how you’re feeling,
feeding you things that you like, always wanting you to sit with him and be
near him. It’s all fake, Daniel.”
“Marcus…”
“I know.” Daniel said, selecting a card to play after careful deliberation.
Hugh played another card and took it.
“You don’t, though. He does that to all of us—makes you feel special and
everything. He’ll do it for a while, maybe a few months. Then he’ll stop, and
you’ll remember that you’re just his property and he doesn’t care about you any
more than he cares about his dinner plates.”
Daniel smiled, but without humour. “If he cared about us,” he said, playing his
last card and watching in vague confusion as he lost the hand, “there wouldn’t
be eight of us.” It was pretty obvious that Theodore was ignoring the other
slaves in favour of Daniel, which made it pretty obvious that someday he would
ignore Daniel in favour of someone else.
Marcus got really quiet at that and Daniel looked up to see him glowering at
the floor. “Just trying to warn you.” He muttered. “It’s real easy to get
caught up in it. In how he makes you feel. But if you do, it’ll hurt when he
stops caring.”
Daniel wondered how long ago Theodore had stopped caring about Marcus.
“Thank you, Marcus. For telling me that. I appreciate it.”
Marcus just made an agitated noise and motioned for Hugh to deal him a hand as
well.
“Did they hit you a lot?” Marcus asked as Hugh dealt the cards. “Before they
sold you to the Master, I mean?”
Daniel nodded. “I wasn’t very good at doing what I was told.”
“I thought they must have.” Hugh finished dealing and they picked up their
cards. Daniel thought his looked good, but he’d thought that before. “You seem
younger than I was when I was sold, but you talk like you’ve been a slave for a
while. How long did they have you before the Master bought you?”
“Two months.” Daniel lied, playing a card. “Though I stopped counting after…”
After he’d found the courage to stop pretending that his parents were coming
back for him. He’d always known they weren’t. “After a while.”
“Two months?” Hugh asked, winning another trick. “That’s a long time. I think
there was only...maybe two or three weeks between when my aunt sold me and when
the Master bought me.”
“Is it a long time? I didn’t know.” Nobody had told Daniel what the normal
waiting period was between being sold and being bought. He knew that he
couldn’t say two years, but two months had seemed reasonable to him.
“They don’t keep boys very long.” Marcus agreed. “People either want to fuck us
or put us to work somewhere and either way we get bought pretty quickly.”
“Maybe you just got taken at a weird time.” Hugh muttered, narrowing his eyes
as he lost the hand to Marcus and gathering the cards to shuffle before passing
them off to Daniel to deal.
Daniel passed out the cards clumsily, not really able to comment much further
on the timing of his own captivity. “Nobody is this bad at cards.” Marcus
declared. “I think you’re pretending to be bad.”
Daniel snorted. “You think I’m making an effort to not win? If I were that good
I’d have found a way to cheat or something.”
Marcus just looked at Daniel for a second before cracking a wide smile. “That’s
the first time I’ve heard you talk like a person. I wasn’t sure if you knew
how.”
Daniel shrugged. “I did used to be one of those once.”
A knock at the door halted their conversation. “Daniel.” Benedict’s voice said
clearly through the thin door. Out of the corner of his eye Daniel saw Marcus’s
face fall a little in disappointment. “Master Theodore requests your presence
in the sunroom.”
With a quick look at the other two Daniel got up, passing the cards off to
Marcus and straightening out his shirt as he opened the door.
He could have sworn he saw Marcus mouth the word ‘careful’ as he shut the door
behind him and hurried off to attend the Master.
***** It Doesn't Have to be Painful for it to be Terrible and Wrong *****
Chapter Summary
     In which sex of the very wrong variety occurs. Basically all sex in
     this story will be of the very wrong variety, since Daniel can't
     meaningfully consent to anything.
The knock at the door to the slaves’ little room came after dinner, when they
were all just about ready to put out the lantern and to go sleep. “Daniel.”
Benedict’s voice said clearly. “The master requests your presence in his
bedchamber.”
Nobody had really been talking, but the room fell oppressively silent at that
comment, and seven sets of eyes turned to Daniel as if curious what he would
do.
Daniel closed his eyes and took a breath, standing from his bedroll and wiping
imaginary creases out of his shirt before crossing to the door. Hugh grabbed
his arm on the way by. “It’s okay, Daniel. I know it’s scary but he really
tries hard to make it not hurt, I promise.”
“He’s right, it’s really not as bad as you think.” Marcus put in from behind
Daniel. “Just do what he says and you’ll be fine.”
“Thanks, guys.” Daniel pulled the door open and stepped out into the hallway.
Benedict was standing there waiting for him. “He asked that I escort you.”
Daniel nodded. “Thank you.” He wondered if Benedict had an opinion about what
went on in the Master’s bedchamber. Did he care? Was it something he put up
with because he worked here, or something he genuinely didn’t have a problem
with?
Of course, Daniel reminded himself as they walked, Benedict’s shoes clicking on
the floor, there was no reason to care about what a man did with his personal
property. If Daniel were free he would be protected by laws and the judgement
of society. But he wasn’t, and what happened to a slave didn’t matter to anyone
except his owner.
He knew the way to Theodore’s bedchamber, but he let Benedict lead him there,
up the stairs and through the hallways of the house. It seemed to take much
less time than it should have, and then they were standing outside the large
double doors on the third floor. Benedict knocked on them. “Master.” He said.
“I’ve brought Daniel.”
“Come in, Daniel.” The Master’s voice was clear and easy to hear through the
door, which Daniel realized was ajar. Daniel stepped forward and pushed it
open, slipping into the room. “Goodnight, Benedict.” Theodore said as he did.
“Thank you.”
“Goodnight, sir.” Daniel left the door ajar as it had been, but Benedict closed
it, leaving him alone with the Master. Daniel couldn’t hear his footsteps
recede.
The bedchamber was as ornate as the rest of the house, with a massive bed in
the centre of the room and several couches and chairs all around. There were
doors leading into other rooms, a window on one wall and a glass door leading
to a balcony on another. Theodore sat at a low table not far from the door
Daniel had come in. “Good evening, Daniel.”
“Good evening, Master.”
“I have something for you. Take off your shirt, will you?”
Daniel nodded and did as he was told, aware that Theodore was watching him for
any hesitation. There was a little hook by the door that Theodore pointed at,
and he hung the shirt there. Enough time in the slave pens had left him
unselfconscious about being nude, but the way the Master was looking at him
made Daniel want to cover himself. He didn’t, though.
Theodore stood and beckoned Daniel to follow him to the dresser, beside which
stood a large mirror. The room was warm from the fire burning in the huge
fireplace nearby. Daniel went over and Theodore took a gilded little box from
the dresser and stood Daniel in front of the mirror. “Close your eyes.”
Daniel did, listening to Theodore open the box and feeling the weight of metal
around his neck. It wasn’t as heavy as he’d thought it might be. It felt like a
chain rather than a collar. “There, now look.”
Opening his eyes, Daniel couldn’t help but have his gaze travel immediately to
his neck, where he now wore, as he’d thought, a chain the width of two fingers.
The links were all gold and in the centre was a gemstone the colour of moss.
“It took longer than I expected. I wanted a stone that would match your eyes.”
“Thank you, Master.” Daniel said. The other slaves all had gold collars similar
to this, so he wasn’t entirely surprised. Marcus’ had a dark red stone and
Hugh’s was the colour of the sky.
Theodore played with Daniel’s hair and watched their reflections in the mirror.
“When you come into this room, for any reason, this is how I expect you to be
dressed. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Master.”
“I would have you like this all the time, Daniel.” Theodore said, and it
sounded like he were admitting something. “But I’m a selfish man and I can’t
stand the idea of my staff ogling you. That’s the only reason I require you all
to be dressed in the house.”
‘Dressed’ was a strong term for the long shirt he made all the slaves wear, but
obviously Daniel wasn’t going to say anything about that.
“Do you know what I want from you?”
Daniel nodded, telling himself that his reflection in the mirror didn’t look
afraid. “Yes, Master.”
“Are you nervous?”
Don’t lie. “A little, Master.”
“Don’t be.” Theodore smiled, started running his hands down Daniel’s body
gently. They stopped, though, at Daniel’s waist. Theodore cupped Daniel’s
backside in on hand and held his balls, played with his penis in the other,
until Daniel was standing in front of the mirror hard, flushed in the face and
trying not to squirm. “Now, this is how I really like you. If it were possible,
I would have you like this all the time.”
Theodore kept fondling Daniel, watching Daniel’s face in the mirror as he did.
Daniel watched his face as well, trying to keep it neutral and flat, and
ultimately failing as the Master’s gentle touching became a firmer stroke.
Daniel hadn’t touched himself since he’d come to the house and in a short time
his face was contorted and scrunched up, flushed bright red down to his
shoulders.
Theodore pulled his hand away suddenly and Daniel embarrassed himself a little
with a small intake of breath as he lost the sensation. You’re past
embarrassment. Daniel told himself.
“Beautiful.” Theodore muttered, leaning down at kissing Daniel’s neck before
turning him around, breaking Daniel’s gaze with his reflection. “I’ve been
waiting for this since I saw you, Daniel. Undress me.”
Daniel nodded. Theodore was wearing a nightcoat and he reached out to untie the
belt, opening the front. The Master’s chest was bare under the coat and it slid
off his arms at a gentle pull. Daniel had to get in closer to unlace the
breeches Theodore had worn today, but after a minute those too came down, and
again careful not to visibly hesitate, Daniel reached forward and slowly pushed
Theodore’s smallclothes down until they as well were on the floor.
Theodore was hard and it was right in Daniel’s face, Daniel’s breath hitting
the Master with every exhale. “Next time, perhaps, I’ll have you use your
mouth.” Theodore said, his voice a little tight. “Perhaps even later tonight.
But not yet. Turn back around, look at the mirror. I want you to finish what I
started.”
Daniel nodded and did as he was told, hands shaking just a little as he reached
up to grab himself, watching his reflection touch itself almost as though the
boy in the mirror were a different person. Theodore put his hands on Daniel’s
shoulders, pressed against Daniel’s back, his hardness resting in Daniel’s
crack and on his lower spine.
It was a very short time before, his entire body quivering, he came with a
voiceless cry, splattering is hand and belly. Some of it hit the mirror as
well. As he did, Theodore tensed behind him and came up Daniel’s back, his grip
on Daniel’s shoulders tightening as he did.
Theodore was holding Daniel up and for a second both of them stood there
panting and looking in in the mirror. “That was wonderful, Daniel. You have no
idea…” Theodore paused to compose himself, kissed the rim of Daniel’s ear. “Go
lay on the bed on your back.”
“Yes, Master.” Daniel said quietly, going to do as he was told on unsteady
legs, catching his breath as he did. His belly and back were sticky and wet and
Daniel felt dirty in a way he never had when he’d touched himself before. He
tried to pretend that wasn’t the case as he climbed into the bed and lay down
to wait for the Master.
Theodore moved around the room for a minute and Daniel tried not to watch him,
but soon enough he was kneeling on the bed beside Daniel with a bottle of oil.
“Spread your legs for me, Daniel.”
Daniel did, and Theodore oiled up his fingers to start preparing Daniel. He
tried not to squirm as Theodore’s finger slid inside him, tried to relax and
let it happen. He tries hard not to make it hurt, Hugh had told him. It seemed
he hadn’t been lying; Theodore was going very slowly. Just do what he says and
you’ll be fine.
“You’ll tell me if it hurts too much.” Theodore said softly, sliding his finger
in and out. “It’s going to hurt a little, but if it hurts a lot you will tell
me, Daniel.”
Daniel nodded, though he wouldn’t.
The second finger stung but it passed pretty quickly. The third, when Theodore
added it later, hurt a little more and didn’t pass quite so fast. Daniel
couldn’t have said how long he lay there on the bed with Theodore’s fingers
inside of him, but by the time Theodore took them out he was a sweaty, panting
mess.
“Did you like that?” Theodore asked, and Daniel nodded in complete honesty
because he was too gone to care. “Good. You know what I’m going to do now?”
Daniel nodded again.
The Master spread Daniel’s legs further and Daniel felt something in the spot
where Theodore’s fingers had just been. When Theodore pushed it in Daniel let
out a little noise, the latest in a string of many he hadn’t meant to make, and
Theodore brushed the hair out of his eyes as he slowly moved inside.
Like the fingers, this stung at first, and wasn’t quite to recede. Theodore
didn’t push all the way in at first, gently thrusting in and out, going farther
every time. Daniel was painfully hard but didn’t dare try to do anything about
it and fisted the sheets to stop himself. He squeezed his eyes shut and
Theodore stopped, leaned down into Daniel’s face. “Keep them open, Daniel. I
want you to watch me.”
“Ye…yes…” Daniel couldn’t make the words form and opened his eyes with
difficulty, watching Theodore, who watched him back. He made eye contact with
the Master for the first time since they’d met as Theodore sank into him fully.
The gentleness with which Theodore fucked him surprised Daniel even after
everything else. He’d been expecting roughness, pain, for Theodore to treat him
like a thing and not concern himself with Daniel’s experience. That was what
people did with their slaves. But Theodore didn’t. He was slow, and gentle and
soft and he lightly ran his fingers down Daniel’s chest and across his face.
The tenderness of it threatened to bring tears to Daniel’s eyes, and when
Daniel came, the look on Theodore’s face told him he wasn’t the only one who
was surprised.
Theodore came shortly after, shooting inside Daniel, and Daniel couldn’t help
but smile at the face he made as he did it. He held there for nearly a minute
before pulling out, sitting up and pulling Daniel onto his lap, hugging him
sideways. Daniel reached up and held Theodore’s arms, leaned his head against
Theodore’s chest. When I show you affection I expect you to return it.
“That was amazing, Daniel. You did a very good job.”
“Thank you, Master.”
“I know you’re tired, but you need a bath before you sleep. Come with me.”
Daniel nodded and moved to slide off Theodore’s lap, but Theodore stood and
lifted Daniel in his arms like a small child, carried him through one of the
doors, where there was a bath already prepared.
Daniel didn’t remember much of the bath except that Theodore washed him
carefully and gently before carrying him back to the bed and laying Daniel on
the other side from where they’d just been. The bed was so big there was room
for both of them there without even getting near the part they’d messed up.
Theodore laid Daniel on his side and slid in behind him, arms circling Daniel
tightly as if protecting him. “Goodnight, Daniel.”
“Goodnight, Master.”
He was tired, but Daniel didn’t fall asleep right away. Feeling small but also
safe in a way he knew wasn’t real, he tried to come back from what had just
happened and think the way he was supposed to think again. Just because it
hadn’t hurt didn’t mean it was okay. Theodore was still a bad man. He knew
those things but had to remind himself of them, just in case he forgot. There
was only one way for him to get out of this alive and it wasn’t by laying here
and letting Theodore trick him into thinking he was cared for.
But this was an opportunity, he knew. They would do this again, that was
certain, and they were alone in this room. It was soundproof and had more than
one exit. It wasn’t heavy, but Daniel could feel the weight of the collar on
his neck and he wanted it off.
And he knew the only way for him to be rid of it was to kill Theodore.
***** Rationality and Emotion Need Not Be at War, but often Are *****
Chapter Notes
     Oops. I have an updating schedule that works with what I have in mind
     for the chronology of the overall series, (I make it sound fancy, but
     I just post the chapters in the order that they happen). I did not
     realize that left this story with no update for three months. I will
     attempt to avoid that in the future.
     It was a year ago today that I posted the first chapter of this
     series (!!!). I noticed this only a few days ago and if I'd been
     looking at the calendar earlier I'd have tried to plan like a mega-
     update of all the stories or something, but oh well. Instead I
     present you all with some Daniel and Theodore. And thanks everyone
     for sticking with me all this time. :)
Daniel watched little soap bubbles float across the surface of the water in
Theodore’s bathtub, idly wishing that he could just spend all of his time in
the water. It would be the perfect solution—Theodore liked Daniel to be clean
and Daniel always felt dirty no matter how long he’d been in the bath. If he
could stay in here all the time maybe they’d both be happy.
Daniel’s happiness wasn’t relevant, though. He sighed and, recognizing that
he’d been in long enough and that Theodore would chastise him if he let his
skin prune, stood and climbed out of the water. He always put a towel down on
the floor to drip water onto so he didn’t make a mess, which Theodore had told
him was very considerate. Another towel sat on a bench nearby, and Daniel used
this to dry himself off. When he was done, he took both towels to the chute in
the wall of Theodore’s bedroom, where he threw his dirty laundry so it could be
washed by one of the servants.
All of this he did without paying much attention. When Theodore wasn’t here
Daniel bathed two or three times a day, and he’d been locked in Theodore’s
rooms for what he’d counted as two full weeks now. He’d established a certain
mindless routine about some things.
To be fair, Theodore didn’t actually lock the door. He’d just told Daniel after
the first night that he expected Daniel to stay in the room until he was
dismissed, and that he was free to make use of anything in the bedroom and
bathing chamber while he was there. There was also a private study, which
Daniel was only allowed in when Theodore was there. That door also wasn’t
locked.
Theodore placed a lot of trust in a slave he didn’t really know. Hopefully that
would make killing him a little easier.
Daniel had explored the room as much as he was able without risking any sort of
suspicion from Theodore, opening all the drawers—except the two that were
locked, on Theodore’s bedside table—and carefully inspecting contents, looking
under and behind everything for anything hidden, figuring out how many steps
from the door to the bed, to the fireplace, to the dresser, to the bathing
chamber, to the window, to the balcony, to the sitting area, to the study.
He’d noted all the room’s exits, and that while both the balcony doors and
window were locked, it was with simple latches that he could undo even in the
dark. There was a little window that he’d noticed in the study, but he’d had no
way to inspect it at all. There were some trees in what Daniel thought was a
reachable distance from both the window and the balcony. He also thought he
could fit down the laundry chute if he had to, but that wasn’t ideal—the risk
that he could get stuck was there, and so was the risk that he could be seen if
he went down to the laundry room in the cellar.
There were some ornamental candlesticks in the room, some gold chains that he
didn’t trust not to snap under pressure, a letter opener in the study that
probably wasn’t sharp enough to stab someone with, and a poker for the
fireplace, which Daniel didn’t really have the strength to swing hard enough
with. He’d tried.
Maybe Theodore wasn’t as trusting as he seemed, Daniel thought. He was going to
need to acquire a weapon from somewhere else in the house—once he could leave
the room—and smuggle it in here somehow. In nothing but a white linen shirt
that he had to take off as soon as he stepped in the door.
He could always sit on Theodore’s chest and smother him with a pillow in his
sleep, but again Daniel wasn’t sure enough of his strength and if Theodore
overpowered him, that would be the end of everything.
Good thing he hadn’t expected this to be easy.
He was walking through the room measuring everything again—another routine—when
the door clicked open. Daniel looked up at Theodore, smiling an empty little
smile that he mentally recoiled from. Humans weren’t made to be alone and he
knew he was being trained to be happy when Theodore came into a room. As much
as Daniel hated it, he didn’t have any choice but to let it happen for now.
Theodore smiled back at Daniel. He was holding a sheaf of papers. “Hello,
Daniel.”
“Good afternoon, Master.” Daniel said, crossing the room to stand in front of
Theodore.
Theodore leaned down and gave Daniel a soft kiss on the forehead. “Your hair is
damp.” He said, patting Daniel’s head. “Were you in the bath?”
“Yes, Master.” Daniel said, nodding a little.
“Good. I have some work to do in the study. Come with me.” Daniel nodded again
and followed after Theodore obediently. The study wasn’t quite as opulent as
the rest of the house and looked like what Daniel thought a study should look
like. There was a large desk in one corner and most of the walls were dominated
by tall bookshelves. There were two tables pushed together opposite the desk,
where Theodore had several maps laid out, which he would occasionally spend
hours studying.
Today he sat on the tall-backed chair behind the desk and gestured for Daniel
to sit on his lap. “You must be very bored when I’m not here with you, Daniel.”
Theodore said as Daniel sat.
“Yes, Master.” Daniel rested his head on Theodore’s chest. That wasn’t a
lie—aside from measure the room over and over and come up with scenarios he
couldn’t live out without a real weapon, there was nothing for Daniel to do. At
least outside of this room he’d had the other slaves to talk to, or sometimes
would be assigned tasks by the servants. Here he just spent all of his time
thinking.
“What do you do all day?”
“I think a lot, Master.”
“Oh?” Something about that seemed to amuse Theodore. He reached down at started
to gently fondle Daniel, though he was still looking down at his papers. “What
do you think about?”
Aside from shifting a little bit, Daniel didn’t react to the touch. Theodore
had used his body in every way it was possible to use a person’s body in the
last two weeks. Daniel wasn’t even sore anymore, and any potential
embarrassment he might have felt was hidden in the back of his mind where even
he couldn’t find it. Without ever saying a word on the matter, Theodore had
made it very clear that Daniel was property, a thing for him to use as he
liked, and nothing else.
“You, Master.” Daniel was getting hard under Theodore’s hand, and he started to
squirm just a little more because he knew Theodore would want him to. Be what
he wants you to be. Give him no reason to think of you as anything other than
his toy.
Theodore’s eyes flicked to him for a moment and he smiled. Daniel smiled back.
It was true, after a fashion. Theodore was definitely a main player in most of
his thoughts, even if he was at the receiving end of various tools of murder.
“As happy as that does make me,” Theodore said, “I think it’s time I had you
rejoin the rest of the house, before people start to think I’ve done something
terrible to you.”
Daniel must have tensed or made a face, because Theodore gave him what was
probably supposed to be a reassuring pat on the thigh before resuming his
fondling. “Don’t worry, we’ll still see each other often. I’ll still call for
you most nights, and I’ll have you attend me during the day, like before. But I
do think it’s time I share you with the rest of the world again, no matter how
much I may wish not to.”
“Thank you, Master.” Daniel kept his tone neutral. He was quietly considering
the best ways of getting a weapon in here undetected.
Theodore smiled again, but it quickly turned into a frown that was directed at
his paper. “Daniel, go into the other room and get me the small book that says
‘expenses.’ It’s on the table by the fireplace.”
“Yes, Master.” Daniel slid down from Theodore’s lap, trying to project a mild
reluctance to move away from Theodore’s hand, and trotted out into the main
room. He could feel Theodore’s eyes on him as he went.
There were two small books on the table by the fireplace, and Daniel frowned
down at them for a moment as if he might intuit which one Theodore wanted. One
had a red cover and one a blue cover. Both books had words written on the front
of them, but they may as well have been blank for all that that had helped
Daniel. He felt himself starting to go soft and reached down, stroked himself
until he was hard again. Not wanting to give the Master cause to be annoyed
with him, he didn’t dawdle and just took both books, trotting back into the
study with one in either hand.
Theodore looked up at him, blinked at the two books and reached out for the
blue one, indicating for Daniel to set the other on the desk. Feeling oddly
small, Daniel sat back on Theodore’s lap as Theodore opened the blue book and
started looking for something. “I didn’t realize you couldn’t read.” He said
quietly after a moment.
Daniel was looking down at his hands in his lap. “I’m sorry, Master.”
“It’s no fault of yours, Daniel.” Theodore reached up and patted his head. “I’d
assumed you never touched the books because you weren’t interested. I shall
teach you.”
“Master?”
“Don’t sound so surprised. I care very much about your well-being, and knowing
how to read is an important skill for a person to have. Starting tomorrow,
every day after lunch you’ll sit down in here with me and I shall teach you
letters.”
Surely, Daniel thought, Theodore must have people who could do that for him.
With his riches it wouldn’t be that much of a financial strain to hire a tutor.
He could have even told one of the other slaves to teach Daniel. Why in the
world he want to waste time doing that himself? “Thank you, Master. I…thank
you.” Daniel squinted, trying to force away the tears that had collected in the
corners of his eyes.
Daniel had always wanted to learn how to read. His parents had both been
illiterate as well, and he’d been beaten the first time he’d told his father
that he wanted to learn. And then later, after he’d been sold and when he’d
been learning all kinds of things that he would need to know, how to pay
attention, to find and exploit weaknesses, he’d asked again and had been told
that of the skills he was going to need, letters weren’t one of them.
What kind of man wasted time teaching his property to read? People to whom he’d
been important didn’t care, and all Theodore wanted him for was to warm his bed
at night. Why…
“You seem upset.”
“I’m…” Daniel sniffed, unsure how to say what he was without lying. “I’m very
happy, Master. That’s all.”
“I’m glad.” Theodore said softly. “I think you’ll take to it very quickly,
Daniel. And once you can read, you’ll find that the world is just a little bit
bigger.”
Daniel nodded. He hoped so. “Thank you, Master.” He hoped he took to it
quickly. Because otherwise he might end up killing Theodore before he was
finished. Everything he’d picked up in the house suggested that Theodore got
bored with his slaves after a couple of months. No matter what the
circumstances, he couldn’t let the small window of opportunity he had pass by.
No matter how big the world got, Daniel wouldn’t get to see any of it chained
up here in Theodore’s house.
***** There are Few Things in the World so Destructive to Human Motivation as
Kindness *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
There was a second uniform that Theodore’s slaves were sometimes made to wear.
When Theodore had company, they changed out of their shirts and into more
modest dress; a long shirt that buttoned all the way up to the chin and down to
the waist, heavy pants that laced up tightly in the front, a full set of
underclothes that prevented the outerwear from accurately representing the
shape of their bodies, and slippers that came up past the ankles. No skin was
showing aside from their heads and hands once they were dressed, and the fabric
was scratchy in places.
“Don’t worry.” Hugh said as he did up the last of Daniel’s buttons for him. He
could breathe just fine, but they were tight enough to give the impression that
he couldn’t. Daniel was trying not to fidget and it wasn’t working. “You won’t
ever wear it long enough to get used to it.”
“I’m not sure that’s comforting.” Daniel muttered.
“It will be after an hour or so, trust me.” Hugh smiled, and Daniel had to
smile as well. “He doesn’t have us wear them very often. Most of the time the
staff do the serving. It’s only on special occasions when he wants us to be
visible for his guests.”
“He’d rather nobody could see us but him.” Daniel said vaguely, remembering
what Theodore had said to him when they’d been in the room together.
“Yeah.” Hugh smiled sadly. “He tells that to all of us.” Hugh often did that—he
occasionally tried to gently remind Daniel that for Theodore, nothing about
what was happening was new. Daniel knew that. He just nodded.
Near them, Marcus made a little noise and, brushing past Daniel, left the
little room for the banquet hall, where they’d been ordered to wait on the
Master and his friends for the evening.
“He hates me.” Daniel observed as he put his feet into the slippers. Marcus
hadn’t spoken to Daniel since he’d come back from being in Theodore’s rooms.
“No.” Hugh disagreed, doing up the last of his own buttons and stepping into
slippers as well. “He’s just upset. He’ll be okay.”
“He’s in love with him. The Master.”
“It’s hard not to be.” Hugh said quietly, moving to the door. Daniel followed.
“And when he replaces you, it’s…”
“It’s hard not to blame the replacement.”
“Yeah.” Hugh pushed open the door. “He’ll get over it. The rest of us did.”
“If you’re sure.” Daniel wasn’t so sure—the look in Marcus’s eyes since Daniel
had returned was one of pure hurt. But he knew he couldn’t help Marcus, it was
too late for that.
Slaves weren’t supposed to talk unless spoken to, so they didn’t on the way to
the banquet hall. The oaken doors to the hall had carved upon them religious
icons of saints and angels fighting back demons, with an ornate hand on the
archway representing God. They were thrown open, displaying the room beyond.
You should be sending angels after people like Theodore. Daniel thought,
glancing up at the hand and touching his forehead as he passed under the
archway.
God didn’t see fit to acknowledge Daniel’s assessment of his job performance.
The hall was big enough to hold several tables, which stood to reason, Daniel
supposed, as otherwise it would hardly be useful for holding banquets in. There
was only one table set out today, though, a circular table of some dark wood
that had been so heavily lacquered and polished that it shone in a way that
wood wasn’t supposed to. There was sunlight coming in through the tall windows
on the north wall and would be for some time. For a while the lengthening days
had been the only indication that spring had come, but now most of the snow was
melted outside. The room was ringed with elaborate statuary of people in
benedictory poses. Daniel assumed they were supposed to be saints, but he
didn’t know for sure.
There were chairs set out for seven, and Daniel and Hugh were the last to
arrive. Benedict set them immediately at setting the table, and Daniel
pretended as he put the dishes in place that he was only watching Hugh to know
where they went.
He was careful, very careful, not to pay any particular attention to the knives
as he laid them out, but Daniel thought as he did that he could probably slip
something into this outfit much more easily than the other one. Not here, it
would be too obvious if a knife were to go missing from the table with so few
place settings. But later, some other time. Maybe after supper if they were
tasked with cleaning up. That still left the problem of getting the knife into
Theodore’s room undetected, though.
He left off for now, and Benedict directed them to stand away from the table,
and only come forward if the person in the chair they were assigned needed
something refilled. Marcus was told to stand at the door. Daniel didn’t think
anything of the fact that he was the only one who was told to stand in a
particular place, in front of a particular statue, tallying it up to his being
new and Theodore wanting him at his own chair specifically.
It was only when he approached the place where he was supposed to be standing
that he started to wonder if he’d been told to stand there on purpose. The
statues all had words carved into their bases, and though that meant little to
Daniel for the most part, he still looked at them because he was still trying
to remember all the letters. He nearly stopped walking when he realized there
was one word carved into the statue he’d been sent to that he recognized.
Daniel.
His breath caught in his throat when he recognized his name. Theodore had, as
he’d said, been teaching him letters every day, and he’d started with those
letters, and that word. It was the only word Daniel knew at the moment,
but…he’d seen it. He’d seen it written somewhere and recognized it. Read it. It
was only one word, but for just a moment Daniel was struck by the pure fact
that he could read it.
Daniel tried not to get too tripped up over it, lest someone notice, but he did
glance up at the statue that bore his name as he moved into position. This
person must have been named Daniel, he figured. Saint Daniel was holding a
torch in one hand and covering his eyes with the other, even as his head tilted
upwards to God for…something.
He looked pained, Daniel thought, and looked away. They ended up waiting for
about a half hour like that, and Hugh was right—Daniel was already eager to get
out of these clothes. When the doors opened and Theodore led a small group of
people into the banquet hall, his eyes found Daniel even as he kept up the
conversation he’d been having with a young, fair-featured man whose voice
identified him as Philip. The Master smiled and the smile Daniel gave him back
was genuine.
Theodore nodded incrementally and had his guests sit, and then dinner was
underway and Daniel focused on not hearing the conversation even as he took in
every word, on pouring wine for Theodore and on not noticing how miserable
Marcus was standing by the doors.
He didn’t end up being able to take a knife from the table, but on that night,
Daniel didn’t care.
Chapter End Notes
     You can come talk to me on my Tumblr if you want! I'm almost caught
     up on posting all the chapters there, and then maybe it will be
     something other than just me posting walls of chapters, haha.
***** Liars Know Best when Others Are Lying as Well *****
“It sounds like you have everything in hand.”
“Yes, sir.” The contractor had a pointed moustache and Daniel didn’t like him.
Not that he had given any indication of that. “All is proceeding on schedule.”
Theodore nodded, waving a little with his finger so Daniel would refill his
wine. Daniel did as he was bid, careful not to spill any. Theodore had had him
don the scratchy, formal clothes again for this meeting he was having with this
man and his partner, who it seemed were building ships for Theodore.
Why Theodore needed ships, Daniel hadn’t managed to surmise from the
conversation. But it wasn’t any of his business anyway.
“And you expect the construction to be complete by mid-summer?” Theodore asked,
sipping his wine. Daniel had never seen him drink more than a few sips of wine
at a time and he never drank it when he was alone. Maybe he didn’t actually
like it.
“Yes, sir.” The contracted nodded vigourously. “At the latest, sir.”
“I’m pleased, then.” Theodore smiled. “It seems I was right to hire you and
your team.” Daniel kept his face blank, and Theodore’s eyes flitted in his
direction for just an instant. That had happened a few times since all this had
started and Daniel was starting to wonder if Theodore was expecting something
from him aside from pouring wine.
“I’m glad you feel that way, sir.” The man said, smiling widely. “We hope
you’ll consider us for your future projects as well.”
“Of course.” Theodore stood. “You must be starving after travelling all day.
Please, I’ve had my staff prepare dinner for us in the dining room.” The other
two stood as well and, thanking Theodore for his hospitality, followed him to
the door. Daniel started to move, but Theodore glanced at him and pinned him in
place by the sofa.
“Benedict will show you to the dining room.” Theodore said to the two. “I’m
terribly sorry, but I have a few other quick matters to wrap up before I can
join you. I won’t be terribly long.”
“Of course, sir. You must be very busy.” The contractor’s eyes flitted to
Daniel in a much more noticeable way than Theodore’s had done. “We’re grateful
you were able to make any time for us at all today.”
“I always have time for those to whom I’ve entrusted my resources.” Theodore
smiled and opened the door. “Benedict, please show my guests to the dining
room.”
“Yes, master. This way, sirs.” The two men followed Benedict out of the room,
with more thanks to Theodore, and Theodore closed the door behind them.
Daniel tried not to visibly relax. The contractor had been grating, but the
tall, western man with the nose piercing who’d been with him had seemed
dangerous and Daniel was glad he was gone, even if for only a minute.
Theodore came back from the door and sat where he’d been sitting before. He
didn’t pick up his wineglass, but considered the door for a moment. “What did
you make of them, Daniel?” He asked after a bit.
Daniel hated open-ended questions like that. “The quiet one isn’t a business
partner, master.” He said, not sure what else he should say.
“No, he’s a bodyguard, or perhaps even a sellsword. We each have our own little
games to throw each other off-balance. Some of us bring a thug to a business
meeting, some of us have a slave pour wine.” Theodore smiled at Daniel. Daniel
smiled back, though he didn’t think the quiet man had been a sellsword or a
thug. “That isn’t what I was asking, though.”
“I’m sorry, Master.” When it doubt, apologizing was always a good way to go.
“You’re quite skilled at guarding your expressions, Daniel, but perhaps not so
skilled as you think.” Daniel let himself frown a little bit at that before
concealing it. “What was it about him—the one doing the talking—that you didn’t
like?”
“I...” Daniel averted his eyes for a moment, deciding if it was worth it to try
to lie. “He was lying to you, Master.”
Theodore looked at him for a moment. “Really?” He nodded his head at the other
sofa and Daniel went and sat on the edge, keeping his back straight. “That’s
quite the accusation. Why do you believe that?”
Daniel never knew when Theodore genuinely wanted to know something and when he
was just testing him, which made it very hard to know how to answer anything.
Theodore probably did that on purpose, Daniel realized. “It’s too perfect,
Master. His story.”
“His story was a status report. I admit it’s not unusual for people such as he
to be overly optimistic about costs and deadlines, but outright lying seems
unlikely.”
Daniel shook his head. “I’m sorry, Master. But everything adds up too
perfectly. From what he said today, he hasn’t gone over cost, there have been
no setbacks, he’s has no trouble with his workers. According to him, he hasn’t
so much as lost a nail. I can’t believe that it’s that easy to build thirteen
ships.” Daniel was very aware as he spoke that this wasn’t how a master and
slave sat while they were talking. But then, he wasn’t talking how slaves
talked either. Theodore was interviewing him.
“That’s an interesting point.” Theodore said, reclining a little on his sofa.
“I admit I hadn’t considered that. What sort of setbacks might he have had?”
“It was a very long winter, Master.” Daniel said. “It’s hard to build in the
winter, especially since the harbour in White Cape would be frozen. I would
expect that to have slowed them down a lot. And construction projects always
lose workers in the spring to fishing boats, because you make more money faster
by working a fishing boat in the spring.” Two of Daniel’s brothers worked as
labourers and they often gave up other work in the spring for fishing.
Theodore frowned. “And yet none of these problems have plagued my friends. Do
they believe I won’t notice?” Theodore hadn’t noticed, but Daniel didn’t say
that.
“I think…” Daniel realized Theodore hadn’t been speaking to him too late, but
Theodore nodded for him to go on. “I think they asked for way more money and
time than they needed at the beginning, Master. And they’ve probably been lying
to make it seem like everything adds up the way you want it to this whole
time.”
“And had the winter been shorter they would have come to me triumphant with the
project completed months in advance.” Theodore nodded. “How very interesting. I
have to admit, Daniel, that I had not considered it from that perspective.”
Daniel looked down at his lap. “I’m sorry, Master. I don’t really know. It’s
just a feeling…”
“No, I trust your feeling. When you are in a position such as mine, you grow
accustomed to hearing that things are going well, and you are getting what you
want and have paid for. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that money
solves all problems, even if you try to avoid it.” Theodore smiled, putted the
sofa beside himself. Daniel obediently got up and moved to sit beside Theodore.
Seemed the interview was over. “It’s very important to hear thoughts from
people whose perspective is different than mine.”
Since everyone Theodore surrounded himself with was either his property or his
employee, Daniel wondered how Theodore thought he was ever going to get that.
“Yes, Master.”
“You’re doing it again.” Theodore said, slipping an arm around Daniel’s waist.
“Hiding your thoughts.”
“Yes, Master, I’m sorry.” Theodore had to know that slaves always did that,
Daniel thought. Maybe he expected them not to think, except that was totally at
odds with how he treated Daniel. “I was just thinking that…you’re much
different from the other people who might have wanted to buy me.” That was
close enough to the truth.
Theodore smiled and kissed the top of Daniel’s head. “I told you that on the
day we met, didn’t I? I am not interested in a companion for my bed—or rather,
that’s not all I’m interested in. You’re clever; one of the cleverest people I
know, I think, and I find that very interesting.”
“Thank you, Master.” Maybe Daniel should have tried to appear less clever. But
then, anything that kept Theodore interested in him was a good thing.
“Alright, I’ve probably let our guests sit long enough.” Theodore smiled. “Come
serve us dinner, Daniel. I shall look forward to hearing more of your
observations about my conversation afterwards. I’d like you to keep track of
how many times I’m lied to, if you would.”
Daniel stood up when Theodore did. It seemed like Theodore was thinking mostly
of the ways Daniel’s skills could benefit him rather than of the ways they
might hurt him. That was good, and the more that he thought that, the easier it
would be for Daniel to put a knife in his ribs. “Yes, Master.”
***** Taking Risks is an Essential Part of Any Important Venture *****
“Do you know what I do for a living, Daniel?”
“No, Master.” Daniel lied, though it was partially true. He’d had it explained
to him, where Theodore’s money came from, but he hadn’t fully understood at the
time and still didn’t.
As for where this question was coming from, as they walked from the dining room
to the sun room, Daniel had stopped trying to figure out why Theodore thought
in the patterns he did.
“Do you have a guess?” Daniel hesitated and Theodore must have noticed, because
he smiled. “You must. You’re so observant normally, I can’t imagine you haven’t
paid any attention to what I’m doing most of the time.” Daniel coloured a
little and thought about it for a second.
Theodore was reading documents and making notations in books most of the time,
and occasionally holding meetings with various people who assured him that
things were going well. Daniel thought carefully about what he had seen, what
he could say he had surmised from that, trying to keep anything he’d been told
beforehand out of his thoughts. “I think…I think you might run a merchant’s
guild, Master.”
Theodore patted Daniel’s head fondly. “What makes you think that?”
“You meet with a lot of merchants. They pay you, but the act like they work for
you, and you talk like they work for you.” Theodore spoke like everyone worked
for him, though, so that may not have been saying much. “Some of them have
called you a partner, so you must participate in their business, but…”
“But you never see me do any actual work?”
Daniel bit his upper lip a little. That was what he’d been getting at, perhaps
less subtly than he’d thought. “It’s alright, Daniel.” Theodore laughed.
“You’re not wrong. Although you’re also not quite right.”
“What…” Daniel paused, and Theodore was looking at him expectantly. Slaves
weren’t supposed to ask questions, but that was clearly what Theodore wanted
him to do. “What do you do, Master?” What he really wanted to ask was why
Theodore had brought this up, but that was probably to remain a mystery. Maybe
he just wanted an excuse to talk about himself.
“There isn’t quite a word for it, but I am an investor.” Daniel tried not to
frown. He didn’t know what that meant and he didn’t want to look stupid by
asking. Fortunately, Theodore continued. “Let’s pretend something. You own a
fishing boat.”
Daniel nodded. “I own a fishing boat.” He repeated. Slaves didn’t own things.
Maybe someday he would be allowed to own things again.
“You go out on your boat every day and catch fish, and then sell them when you
get back. You make, let’s say, three silver coins a day doing that.” Daniel
nodded slowly. “You look hesitant.”
“I’m sorry, Master.” Daniel said, flushing a little. Theodore read him too
well. “I was just thinking on a small boat I probably only make one silver a
day.”
Theodore looked at him for a moment as if curious, and then smiled. “Alright.
You make one silver coin a day. Perhaps that’s enough money for you to live on,
but you must spent much of your time worrying about what would happen if a
storm capsized your boat, or if you got sick and couldn’t go out. You have to
buy food with that money, not to mention docking your boat somewhere and
perhaps occasionally repairing it. Maybe you have some savings, but if the boat
sinks, you’ll lose your livelihood.” Daniel nodded again. His parents had known
people that had happened to, so it wasn’t a difficult thing to grasp.
“So if, one day, I come to you and offer to buy your fishing boat for…let’s say
one hundred silver coins, what would you say?”
Daniel frowned. “I’d say no, master.”
“Why?”
“Because in one hundred and one days I’d still need to buy food.”
“Very good.” Theodore smiled again. “Congratulations on being more clever than
many people. Now, I’m not a fisherman, and I don’t want a fishing boat that I
can’t use anyway. So I offer you this instead. I’ll buy your boat for those one
hundred coins, and hire you to work on it for me, and go out and fish every
day. And I’ll show you a better place to fish and a better place to sell them,
so you can make those three silvers I suggested earlier every day. Now, you’re
very clever, so you want to know what I’m getting out of this, yes?”
“You’re going to take part of the profits.” Daniel guessed, thinking he saw
where Theodore was going with this.
“Yes, that’s right. You’ll pay me one silver every day and keep two for
yourself. In addition, I’m providing you security—your boat is mine now, so if
it needs repairs or if it sinks and needs to be replaced, I’ll be paying for
that.”
It sounded like it was too good a deal to be true, but Daniel was slowly doing
the math. He’d always been pretty good with numbers. “But in a hundred days
you’ll have made back all the money you paid for the boat.” He said quietly,
thinking. “And I’m going to work on that boat until I’m old, and you’ll make
one silver for every single day that I do.”
“That’s right. You’re better off than before, and I’m making the same money
that you used to make, but you’re doing all the work.” Theodore sounded
pleased. “And what else, Daniel?”
What else? Daniel tried to think, think what he would do if he was Theodore. A
fishing boat wasn’t enough for Theodore to buy this big house, but… “Then…after
a hundred days you could go to another fisherman and buy his boat too. And then
two more a hundred days later. You could buy ten boats, or…or all of them.”
That last realization came to him suddenly, and the idea worried him for some
uncertain reason.
“Very good, Daniel. Now I’m making all that money and I never have to set foot
on the water once. Now think past that a little. What would be the worst thing
that might happen, for you and the other fishermen, and for me?”
“A typhoon.” Daniel said, because he’d thought of that already. “That sinks all
the boats.”
“Exactly. I’d lose a lot of money rebuilding them, and the fishermen would lose
money waiting for them to be rebuilt—assuming they didn’t die in the storm. How
might I prevent from going bankrupt should that happen?”
“Um…you could buy boats somewhere else.” Daniel thought. He also thought that
wouldn’t help the fishermen, but Theodore was probably more worried about
himself. “In another harbour. Or…” It came to him and he felt his eyes widen,
and he looked up at Theodore, who was looking at him patiently. “You could buy
something other than boats. Carts that merchants use. Or…farms, or...”
“Almost anything, really.” Theodore nodded. “If you have a business venture
that makes you money, my job is to find a way to reduce your risk and have it
make money for both of us in return. That’s an investment—spending money now to
make money in the future. Seeing an opportunity when it presents itself, and
being patient with it.”
“That’s…” the scope of that was a little staggering. “That’s very impressive,
Master.”
“I’m pleased that you think so. It is a lot of work, just so you don’t think I
laze about all day doing nothing. Not as physically challenging as casting nets
or tilling land, but managing all those people and all those ventures is time-
consuming and difficult, in a different way.”
Daniel nodded. Even admitting that he had no idea how one would even do that,
he could see why it wouldn’t be easy. He was also thinking of the fisherman
whose boat Theodore hadn’t bought, or the merchant’s guild who didn’t like that
merchants were letting Theodore protect them instead. And he could see why
someone might want to kill a man like that.
“What are you thinking now, Daniel? I can see you considering something.”
“Um…” Daniel cast around for something. “Are there other people who are
investors too?” He asked. Maybe Theodore had competitors.
“Oh, yes. I’m hardly the first person to think of it.” Something about
Theodore’s smile was a little unpleasant. “After all, think about it. Kings and
queens, and counts and duchesses and lords and ladies and magistrates do
something similar all the time. They just call it something different, don’t
they?”
“Taxes.” Daniel whispered, starting to feel an enormity to this. That made the
list of people who might want Theodore dead even longer. They’d come to the
sitting room and Theodore pushed the door open.
“That’s right.” Theodore said, entering the room ahead of Daniel. “You’re a
very clever boy, Daniel.”
Daniel didn’t feel clever at the moment; he felt very small and insignificant.
Theodore stopped and Daniel did too, looking past him into the room. There was
a young man there, dressed in black and a little heavyset, with a fading tan,
leaning against the back wall. He looked up as they came in. He was unarmed,
though his stance looked defensive to Daniel, who tensed. “You need better
security.” He said.
“Who are you?” Theodore demanded of the intruder. “What are you doing in my
house?”
“You hired me.” He sounded nervous to Daniel. “I’m here to make my delivery. A
little late, maybe, but I wasn’t given a time and if you wanted it earlier you
should have specified that in the contract.”
Theodore was silent for a moment. “Daniel. Wait outside while I speak with our
guest.”
Daniel wanted to protest, to tell Theodore that the intruder’s clothing was
weighted in such a way that he was probably hiding knives in his shirt, to
insist on staying in the room. But he was a slave, and he’d been given an
order, so he didn’t do any of that. “Yes, Master.” He said meekly, stepped back
and allowing Theodore to shut the door in his face.
Trying not to shift around, pace or do anything that would belay his nerves,
Daniel waited. Theodore had seemed surprised at the intruder’s presence, but
then he’d turned around and decided to speak with him privately. He’d never
asked Daniel to leave a room so he could talk to someone before. Maybe Theodore
didn’t trust him as much as he’d been led to believe. Leaving doors unlocked
and letting him in meetings and asking him things, maybe all of that had been
part of the game for him.
It annoyed Daniel, not because Theodore had done it, but because he’d fallen
for it so easily. Even with Hugh and Marcus reminding him all the time, he’d
started to forget that he really didn’t mean anything to Theodore, no matter
what Theodore said.
But he remembered now, and he was a little embarrassed. He’d been worried for
Theodore’s safety before, going into that room alone. Why should he be worried?
If that person killed Theodore, all the better for Daniel. A part of him
wondered if he would still get the payment they’d promised him if someone else
actually killed Theodore, but he figured he could just escape and take the
credit for it, so that probably didn’t matter too much.
The slightly possessive side of him was thinking that he’d prefer if he could
be the one to kill Theodore, though.
He waited silently for some minutes before Theodore opened the door again.
Daniel looked up, putting worry on his face and nothing else. Theodore smiled
at him in a way that was probably supposed to be reassuring. “Daniel, I need
you do something.”
“Yes, Master.” Daniel said, approaching. Theodore was blocking him from
entering the room.
“Take these.” He handed two small coloured stones to Daniel. “To my study. Put
them in the desk in the top drawer.” He pulled a small key out of his shirt and
handed that over as well. “I also want you to find Benedict and tell him I want
to see him. When you’re finished, wait in the study. We’ll do your reading
lesson there.”
It wasn’t real, Daniel reminded himself. It wasn’t real trust. It didn’t mean
anything. He nodded. “Yes, Master.” He turned and scurried off, and Theodore
headed back into the room.
Rather than taking two trips, Daniel decided it was better to find Benedict
first, and rather than search the whole house, he quietly asked a maid if she’d
seen the man, because the Master wanted him.
She pointed Daniel to the kitchen, and so that was where Daniel went. Just
after lunch, they were cleaning everything, and Daniel supposed they would
probably be starting supper shortly. Of course, Theodore wasn’t the only one in
the house who needed to eat, so there was a huge stack of dishes on a long
counter, and three people washing them in scalding water.
Benedict was talking to the head chef a little ways off, and Daniel walked past
the counter where the dishes were being washed to get in his line of sight.
Slaves didn’t talk and they definitely didn’t interrupt, so he just stood there
quietly, watching Benedict and making it obvious that he wanted his attention.
After a moment, Benedict turned away from the head chef, who had been
complaining about the quality of poultry they’d been getting lately. “Yes,
Daniel. Do you need me?”
“The Master wants to see you, sir.” Daniel said promptly, not quite looking at
Benedict. “He’s in the sun room.”
“Very well.” Benedict nodded curtly. “What is that in your hand there, boy?”
Speaking of distrust, Daniel thought, opening his hands to show Benedict. “The
Master told me to take them to his study.”
Benedict paused for just a moment before nodding again. “Very good. Do as
you’re bid, then.”
“Yes, sir.” Benedict was clearly dismissing him and turned back to the head
chef to tell him he’d sort out whatever the problem was. Daniel turned and
headed back towards the door of the kitchen, passing by the dirty dishes again.
There was a pile of cutlery on the counter within reach.
Seeing an opportunity when it presents itself, and being patient with it.
Everything seemed to slow down. Daniel cast around quickly. Nobody was looking
at him. Just a slave on an errand. He kept walking normally, every step seeming
to take minutes. As he passed by the cutlery he reached up and grabbed the
handle of a small knife for cutting fruit, removing it from the pile. He kept
walking. His heartbeat could be heard from the other side of the room, eclipsed
only by the deafening clatter as one of the forks shifted slightly. Nobody
called his name, nobody stopped him.
Time didn’t move normally again until Daniel was out of the kitchen. He took a
long breath, but didn’t dare stop moving. Benedict would be right behind him to
go see Theodore and there was nowhere to hide the knife in this stupid shirt.
Moving things around so he was holding it in the hand with the key, Daniel
adjusted the knife, holding it blade-up so that from the front it would be
hidden by his wrist. Except that people didn’t normally hold their forearms
this straight when they walked; it was obvious to anyone looking that he was
hiding something.
Nobody was going to stop him—nobody talked to the slaves if they didn’t have
to. Theodore and Benedict were busy. All he had to do was walk normally to
Theodore’s room and everything would be fine.
He kept telling himself that, over and over as he moved through the halls in
the direction of the bedroom. It seemed farther way than usual. But sure
enough, the one servant who he passed in the halls ignored him almost entirely,
though the man couldn’t possibly have missed the way Daniel’s every footfall
thundered against the carpet.
He was nearly free—just one more corner and then he was in the hallway to
Theodore’s room—when a door opened and Marcus came out into the hall, his eyes
catching Daniel and moving quickly from surprise to irritation to worry. “Hey.”
“Hello, Marcus.” They’d barely spoken to one another since Theodore had taken
Daniel to his bed. The room Marcus was leaving was a cupboard for linens, so he
must have been helping someone put towels or blankets away.
“What are you…doing here?” Marcus asked, a little stiffly. “Where’s…” He left
the question unasked.
“He’s downstairs.” Daniel said, trying not to appear too obviously like he
didn’t want to be here. He could practically feel the knife in his hand
vibrating, as if trying to draw attention to itself. Marcus wasn’t looking down
there, though. “He sent me to the study to wait for him.” All he had to do was
act like this was a normal conversation so Marcus didn’t notice anything.
Marcus nodded a little, mouth tightening in clear distaste, but he softened
almost immediately. “Are…” He sighed, obviously annoyed. “Look, are you okay?
You seem…not okay.”
So it was showing on his face. Fantastic. Daniel had really thought he was
better than this. “I’m…fine.” He said, a tad stupidly. Marcus worrying about
him was weird, and it threw him off. “I’m just, um.”
“I don’t care that much, Daniel. I just…” Marcus shrugged, made a face. “You
looked like something was wrong.”
“It’s hard.” Daniel said suddenly, because he had to say something and this was
something he felt. Maybe if he said it out loud that would help. “Not to fall
for it, with him. Like you said.”
Some understanding came into Marcus’s eyes and he smiled grimly, nodding.
“Yeah. And, well. You fell for it a long time ago, even if you don’t think you
did. I can see it in you.”
“I…” Daniel didn’t think that was true, he was sure it wasn’t. Trust aside,
he’d never let Theodore fool him. At least he didn’t think he did. But he
couldn’t say that. “I’m sorry.” He said instead, looking away. “It must
be…hard. For me to be here. It must hurt.”
“Shut up.” Marcus sighed, rubbing his face with one hand. “Just, don’t. You
don’t understand…you have no idea.”
“But I will.” Daniel said. “Someday, I will understand.” Marcus looked at him,
frowning slightly. “So until I do, I’m…sorry.”
Marcus watched him for just a second, closing his eyes and laughing a little.
“God.” He said, sounding like he might be holding back tears. “I’m such an
idiot. It’s not your fucking fault. I’m just…Hugh hated me, when I got here. He
was better at pretending than I am, but he did. And now I’m turning around and
doing the same goddamn thing and I just…It’s not your fault.”
“It’s not yours either.” Daniel said, because he had a feeling Marcus needed to
hear that. He couldn’t help Marcus or the other slaves, not really. But he felt
bad for them. He did understand what it was like, what it was like to be
nothing. They were all nothing now, all of them, and Daniel didn’t see how it
could hurt to try and treat each other like people while he tried to pull them
out of it. “I know I haven’t seen it happen yet, but…it’s part of the cycle.
It’s part of the game that he plays with us.”
“Yeah.” Marcus shook his head. “Dammit. Okay. Look, he asked you to do
something, so you should go.”
“Right.” Daniel started in the direction of Theodore’s room again, worried that
if he passed Marcus and Marcus looked at him from behind, he’d see the knife.
“Can we…can we talk more, later?”
Marcus nodded, smiling sadly. “Yeah, of course. I mean, we’re in the same damn
boat, aren’t we?”
“Yeah.” Daniel wondered what Marcus would say if he knew that he was trying to
sink the boat. “Okay, I should go.”
“Yeah, go.”
“Thank you, Marcus.” Daniel said, trotting off, carefully moving his hand in
front of himself as he moved so that Marcus couldn’t see anything. Every step
felt like he was walking on coals.
But he made it to Theodore’s room without further incident and nearly cried as
he felt the stress leave him. He was safe. Daniel started to take off his shirt
out of habit and then realized his hands were full. And shook his head in
irritation at himself, left the shirt on for now and proceeded into the room.
He’d already picked out a hiding place in preparation for this happening. For
now he tossed the stones and the key carelessly on Theodore’s bed and got down
on his hands and knees in front of one of the bedside tables. It was raised off
the ground slightly on stubby legs, just enough that Daniel could fit his hand
and most of his forearm underneath. The bottom was made of two slats of wood
worked together, and Daniel jammed the blade of the knife in between them,
testing to make sure he could pull it out without too much trouble if he had
to. Nobody would look under here, he reasoned, and even if they cleaned or
something, they wouldn’t find the knife. Hopefully.
Once he was satisfied with his hiding place Daniel stood, sighing again. He’d
done it—the hard part, he hoped. Theodore wasn’t the only one who could make
investments.
***** Alternate Perspectives are Helpful in Some Circumstances, but Can also
Cloud Important Issues *****
“The cat…ka…ca…caug…” Daniel frowned down at that combination of letters,
trying to figure it out.
“Try reading the rest of the sentence and coming back to it.” Theodore
suggested beside him.
“Okay.” Daniel looked past the sticky word and at the rest of them. “The
m…moose. Mouse. So, the cat…” What did cats do with mice? Chased them, ate
them… “Caught.” Daniel finally realized. “The cat caught the mouse. But…”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about it. It’s one of those unusual words.” Theodore
said, smiling proudly. “It’s best just to commit it to memory.”
“Right.” Daniel nodded. There were too many of those words, but he looked at
the order of the letters, hoping he’d remember them next time.
“Do the next one.” Theodore told him, leaning forward. “And then perhaps we’ll
call it a day.”
“Yes, Master.” Daniel’s back was starting to hurt from crouching over the
sheets of paper Theodore had written out for him to read today. He wanted to
keep going, though. “The man ta..taug…” It was the same letters, Daniel
realized. “Taught. The man taught the boy to read.”
“Very good.” Theodore patted Daniel on the head and Daniel couldn’t help his
grin, more at the sentence than the praise, but Theodore didn’t need to know
that. “You’re learning very quickly, Daniel.”
“Thank you, Master.” Daniel straightened a little, since they were done. They
were sitting in Theodore’s room today in front of the low little table. He’d
hoped they might work in the study, because it had chairs and a table that were
better for sitting at. But usually Theodore had them sit out here.
He’d taken a good look around the study the other day when he’d been waiting
for Theodore. Aside from a lot of bookshelves and maps, there wasn’t much of
any use in there. At least, not that he could get to. All of the desk drawers
had been locked and it looked like they all had different keys.
Daniel gathered up the papers and the little picture book he’d been looking at
earlier and put them all neatly away in one corner of the endtable near the
hearth. Then he came back over to Theodore and stood beside his chair, until
Theodore pulled Daniel into his lap. “Soon,” Theodore told him, “you shall be
able to read anything you like.” He gestured around at the bookshelves he had
out here. “You will find yourself less bored when you must sit in here and wait
for me, I should think.”
Daniel smiled at that, because honestly it was probably true. “Thank you,
Master.” He would be able to read anything he liked—so long as it was one of
the books that Theodore owned. If he wanted to read something else, he had to
get out of here.
The knife was still where he’d left it jammed into the bottom of the bedside
table. Daniel hadn’t had the opportunity to use it yet, but he was waiting. He
had a plan.
“Hm.” Theodore brushed Daniel’s face with a finger, tracing the bone around
Daniel’s left eye. “You’re always thinking so hard.” He said. “I can see it
behind your eyes. I’ve never had a slave who thinks quite as much as you do,
Daniel. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone who does.”
“I’m sorry, Master.” Daniel didn’t know what Theodore was getting at with this,
but apologizing was always a good course of action. He didn’t like how easily
Theodore could read him. Daniel had worked hard to be able to hide his thoughts
and feelings, but clearly he needed to work harder still.
“No, that wasn’t a reprimand.” Theodore smiled. “I find it rather fascinating.
I can see that you’re thinking, but I never know what you’re thinking about. I
admit I have spent no small amount of time wondering at what must be going
through your mind all the time.”
There was no way for Daniel to safely answer that question, but fortunately
Theodore hadn’t actually asked it as a question. Instead he focused on not
seeming nervous. “You think a lot too, Master.” He said, to deflect attention.
Theodore liked being complimented, and it was true. Daniel could often see
Theodore’s mind working when he was reading, or talking to people or fretting
over the maps in his study.
Theodore smiled a little wider. Daniel didn’t like his smile much. “I like to
think so. Though sometimes it feels like I’m only going in circles. I suspect
you understand what I mean.” Daniel coloured a little and nodded, because he
did know that feeling. “I find that thinking on the same issue for too long
often lends itself to that sort of futility.”
“Me too, Master.” Theodore liked to be…validated, Daniel thought, in his
opinions. And in this case Daniel really did feel the same way. He’d spent
weeks planning into a void for how to kill Theodore and ultimately all it had
done was make him tired. Now that he had a knife and a real plan—one not nearly
so complicated as the ones he’d been entertaining before—he was feeling much
better.
Theodore nodded down at Daniel, a hand coming up to rest on Daniel’s thigh.
“When that happens, I like to try and tackle a new problem. Thinking in circles
is a waste of time, but I often find that taking a short break to focus on
something else is good for clearing the mind. What do you do when you get stuck
thinking in a circle, Daniel?”
“I…” Daniel looked up at Theodore, uncertain. Theodore gave him a gentle
squeeze on the thigh and Daniel tried to think of something. He didn’t normally
spend a lot of time thinking about the way that he thought. “I try to pretend
I’m someone else, Master.” He said after a minute. “And think about how that
person would think about what I’m thinking about.” That wasn’t entirely untrue,
at least. Daniel often considered how Theodore would react to various attempts
on his life, trying to get a sense of how he might compensate for something
unexpected. It was the unexpected that caused failure, after all.
“Is that so?” Theodore sounded interested, which Daniel supposed meant he’d
succeeded. “And in so doing you try to consider a different perspective on the
object of your thoughts?” Daniel nodded. “Does it work?”
“Sometimes, Master.” Usually it helped Daniel confirm what he’d already
suspected—that whatever he’d been considering as a plan wouldn’t work—so he
supposed that was true.
“Hm.” Theodore eased Daniel into a different position on his lap and shifted
his grip so his hand was on the inside of Daniel’s thigh. “Perhaps you and I
should trade. I will try to consider a problem as though I were you, and I
shall give you something new to think about for a time.”
“I’d like that, Master.” What else was Daniel going to say? He didn’t need more
problems at the moment, and he sincerely doubted that Theodore would be able to
seriously consider his perspective in anything—if Theodore was that empathetic,
he wouldn’t own slaves.
“Good.” Theodore paused, considering. “There is a business venture here in
Merket I have been considering acquiring. I shall tell you some of the details
and you can consider them, and I shall consider them as well from your
perspective.” He mostly sounded amused, but that was fine. Daniel nodded. “The
business is a slave market.” Theodore said.
“I didn’t know you could buy those.” Daniel muttered. He’d just sort of assumed
that slave markets just…were. It hadn’t really occurred to him that people
owned them like they owned fishing ships. That made it worse.
“You can buy anything if you offer enough to the person who currently owns it.”
Theodore told him. Daniel couldn’t help but wonder why it was that Theodore had
hired that nervous young man who’d broken into the house the other day—who had
clearly been a thief. Obviously it wasn’t possible to buy anything if he’d had
things stolen for him. “Now, here is my problem. As you know, when I acquire a
business, I try to find ways for it to be more profitable, for myself and the
current owner. And I find this business in its current form
rather…distasteful.”
“Why?” Daniel couldn’t help but ask. Obviously Theodore didn’t have a problem
with slavery, so there must be something specific to this market that he didn’t
like.
“They traffic almost exclusively in children.” Theodore said. “Which in itself
is not a problem—people are going to sell children into slavery, and so it is
necessary for slave markets to exist for that purpose.”
Or people could just not sell children into slavery, Daniel thought a little
bitterly, but he nodded.
“What I find distasteful is that for a fee, they allow their patrons to…sample
their merchandise.” Theodore said, and Daniel could hear in his tone that it
made him unhappy.
“Like a brothel.” It made Daniel unhappy too. He hadn’t been treated well in
the slave pens, but they certainly hadn’t been like that.
“Yes. Which in addition to being ugly, is illegal. They also frequently ship
any children they are having difficulty selling overseas to be gladiators. A
profession not as glamourous as you might imagine.”
Daniel nodded. One day a woman had come into the pens where he’d been kept
looking for gladiators—apparently she came twice a year needing new ones and it
wasn’t hard to figure out why. “So…you want to stop them from doing that?” He
asked.
“I do. Both of those things. The problem, however, is that it is through those
ventures that the business remains profitable. They are not a slave market
known for taking good care of their slaves, and they are priced accordingly.”
Daniel took that to mean they were sold cheaply. “There are five slave markets
in this city, and three which sell children. This is how they stay competitive.
The market from which I bought you specializes in healthy, undamaged slaves, at
a high price. The third market falls somewhere in between, and generally ends
up selling to those looking for labour.”
It must have been that third market to which Daniel’s parents had sold him
originally, he thought, and from where he’d been bought and trained before
being resold. He wondered if his parents had known that and sold him
accordingly in the hopes that he wouldn’t end up a bedslave, or if they hadn’t
cared and had just gone to the first slaver they could find.
“I have been trying to think how I might remove the elements from this business
that I don’t like while having it remain competitive.” Theodore finished. “I
haven’t have much success thus far.”
Daniel nodded, thinking about it. It was…unexpected, that Theodore would want
to improve the well-being of the slaves in this market. Daniel wanted to help
him do that. He himself would prefer to just close the damn place, but from
Theodore’s perspective that wasn’t a solution. Daniel needed to meet him
somewhere in the middle, somewhere where the worst parts of the market could be
closed but it could still make money.
“If I am thinking like you,” Theodore mused, “I will likely consider some
hitherto unnoticed detail that will change how I see the situation.” He stroked
Daniel’s thigh absently, as if trying to do just that. “Which is not as easy as
you tend to make it appear, I confess.”
Daniel wasn’t as smart as Theodore thought he was. It just happened that he’d
had ideas a few times before now, that was all.
“I suppose you would also consider the motivation behind the problem, rather
than the problem itself.” Daniel looked up at Theodore in confusion—he didn’t
do that, at least not on purpose—but Theodore just smiled at him again. “Like
you did with my shipbuilder. You knew why he was lying because you thought
about why he might want to do that. Likewise, I shall consider why this slave
market treats its slaves so poorly.”
Daniel knew why—it was because slaves didn’t mean anything to anyone. And sure
enough, that was Theodore’s answer. “I must conclude that they don’t appreciate
the value of their merchandise.” Not how Daniel would have put it, but he
nodded along. “An attitude endemic to slave owners and sellers, I’m afraid, the
belief that their slaves have no value. It is quite incorrect. Especially from
a business perspective. Hm. And when considering it like that, part of a
solution becomes apparent, doesn’t it?”
“You have to convince them that their slaves are worth something.” Daniel
agreed.
“And I shall do that by…” Theodore paused, thinking. Daniel thought about it as
well. A way to prove value, to show that they had worth, beyond being rented
out or sold off to die in stacked fights…
“Training them to fight.” Daniel said quietly, the idea coming to him at once.
“Really?” Theodore sounded entertained. “Why that as a solution?”
“They could…well, if they’re being sold as gladiators anyway, you should teach
them how to fight, so they can be good gladiators. You’d have to wait until
they were older, but if you get them as kids and teach them to fight…”
“They’d make very effective gladiators, I should think.” Theodore agreed,
nodding. “An investment would be required. Several years before you could
really sell any of them.”
“But you could sell them for more if people knew they were good.” Daniel added.
“That’s correct. And I wouldn’t expect you to have known this, but when
gladiators win bouts, they often win money—for their owners, if they are
slaves. Knowing that, the price to sell them could be even higher. The only
catch is that people tend to be wary of training slaves to fight. It
historically hasn’t ended well.”
“You would have to hire enough guards and everything to keep them from trying
to escape.” Daniel said. “Or kill you.” He added, as if as an afterthought.
“Indeed. That would be most unfortunate.” Theodore said, amused again.
“If you only let them have practice weapons that they can’t really hurt anyone
with.” Daniel said, still thinking. “And lock those away when they’re not
practicing. As long as you had a place like a fort or something for them to
stay in, it would be pretty safe. You could also sell them here as guards and
soldiers. And…” Daniel frowned. “I mean, I know the idea of slaves having
swords is scary for people, but as long as you had them with people who could
stop them from doing anything…”
“I think most slave owners would resent the implication that they are afraid of
their slaves.” Theodore cut in gently.
Daniel’s eyes widened a little when he realized what he’d said. “I’m sorry,
Master. I didn’t mean to suggest…”
“No. I wasn’t chastising you, Daniel. Nor did I say you were wrong. Only that
more politic phrasing may have been in order. Nonetheless, I believe this is an
idea worth considering.” Theodore nodded to himself. “Yes, I shall definitely
consider this. It seems thinking like you was harder than I’d expected.” Daniel
just coloured and looked away. “It’s a good thing I had you to help me along.”
“I hope that I was helpful, Master.”
“And what about you?” Theodore asked. “Do you feel better now that you’ve had a
distraction?”
“Yes, Master.” Daniel didn’t feel better. He was confused. Theodore was a bad
person, and Daniel was going to kill him. But there were a lot of slaves in a
market somewhere whose lives would get a little better because of Theodore now.
He’d done what he’d done to Daniel, and to Hugh and Marcus and the others, and
to who knew how many other slaves over the years. But if he balanced that by
stopping a lot of others from being hurt, wasn’t that something?
And worse, sitting here, thinking up a solution to Theodore’s problem, had
been…not fun, necessarily, but more enjoyable than most of Daniel’s time here
had been.
Daniel was going to kill Theodore, there were no two ways about that. But it
would be a little while before he was ready to do that anyway; and in the
meantime he knew he was going to end up thinking on this way too much.
“And yet you’re still thinking very hard about something.”
“I’m sorry, Master.” Daniel lied. “It’s just that you keep surprising me.”
Theodore laughed and wrapped his other arm around Daniel’s belly, kissing his
cheek. “I shall take that as a compliment.” It hadn’t been, but Daniel smiled
and nodded. “I have a proposition. Let’s play a game, you and I.”
“A game, Master?” Daniel was pretty sure they already were playing a game.
“One thing I can tell about you is that you have a lot of questions. I can see
them on your face all the time, bottled up because you’ve been told that slaves
don’t ask questions. Isn’t that right?”
“Uh. Yes, Master.”
“It is difficult to be as clever as you and not ask your questions, I know. So
how about this: every time you manage to tell me something I don’t know or
suggest something I hadn’t thought of, I shall allow you to ask me a question
about anything you like, without fear of punishment, and I shall answer it.”
That seemed a little unrealistic to Daniel. But he looked up at Theodore and
nodded. “I’d like that, Master.”
“And in exchange, every time I surprise you, you will give me a kiss. We’ll see
whether I get more kisses or you get more questions.”
Daniel giggled a little in spite of himself. “Okay, Master.” And he leaned up
and kissed Theodore on the chin, hating himself just a little for how easy it
was.
Theodore laughed as well. “And your question?”
Daniel paused, thinking. He had a lot of questions that he wanted to ask. What
had Theodore talked about with that intruder in the room the other day? Why did
he only sleep with slaves? Why did he let Daniel get away with so much that
slaves weren’t supposed to do? But he didn’t want to ask any of those just
yet—if he were to ever ask them out loud, he’d have to think about them first,
and word the questions carefully so Theodore didn’t end up suspecting anything
he shouldn’t.
So instead, Daniel asked, “Did you put me in front of the statue of Daniel on
purpose, when you had your friends over?”
Theodore looked at Daniel, clearly surprised. Obviously not what he’d been
expecting. “Yes. You had been working very hard on your letters, so I thought
you would appreciate a reminder that you were making progress.”
Daniel ducked his head a little to hide his embarrassment. “Thank you, Master.
I really appreciated that. It was…thoughtful.”
“I’m glad.” Theodore said with a smile. “Saint Daniel was an interesting
fellow. He was known for his intuition, actually, for noticing things that
others hadn’t. Not unlike you.”
“Really?” Daniel wasn’t sure how he felt being compared to a saint.
“Yes. It’s a fitting name for you. You should bear it proudly.”
“Thank you, Master.”
Slaves weren’t allowed pride. Someday soon, though, Daniel would be able to do
just that. He just had to hold on a while longer.
***** It’s a Small World, and Conspiracies Make It Shrink *****
Chapter Notes
     Have a nice healthy dose of Plot, everyone.
“Please wait here for just a moment.” Theodore said to his guests, making to
leave the room. Daniel moved to follow, but halted at a ‘stay’ gesture. Daniel
stayed, working out Theodore’s intentions as he did.
These three had come to try and sell Theodore the stone that his other intruder
had sold him weeks ago. Daniel had inferred from the conversation that it was
them who Theodore had hired to find it for him. Calvin and his team had come
armed with a story about an ambush and accusations that Theodore had been
behind it, but it seemed like that wasn’t the case.
And now Daniel was left with the three of them while Theodore conferred with
Benedict outside. He would want Daniel keeping an eye on the two identical
stones sitting on the table to make sure Calvin didn’t do anything to them. So
that was what Daniel did, staying still and standing by the table. He hadn’t
been told to do anything, after all.
“How old are you?” Daniel looked up at Calvin. Not much older than Daniel
himself, nor much taller, he had the tan skin tones native to the south and a
pointed face that would suit a beard someday. “I’m not going to tattle on you
to your master.” Daniel didn’t like him much. The way he’d used formality when
talking to Theodore, like it was a weapon, was fake in a way that was grating.
And that question wasn’t helping. Calvin must have been one of those people who
had a line in their head beyond which things were okay. If Daniel lied and said
he was older than he was, it would be fine for him to be a slave. “Does it
matter?” Daniel asked after a moment of watching Calvin, because to him it was
wrong no matter how old someone was.
The smile Calvin gave him was one laced with pity and it made Daniel want to
hit him. “No, I guess it doesn’t.” His two employees were standing quietly like
the muscle they clearly were—though if Daniel was any judge the huge one
standing beside Calvin’s chair was less dangerous than the one at the door. It
was obviously Calvin’s job to do all the talking. “What’s your name?”
“Daniel.” He shouldn’t have answered that, probably. He shouldn’t be talking to
Calvin at all. He wondered if Theodore had anticipated this.
The look Calvin was giving him was contemplative, almost sorrowful. “I wish I
could help you.” He whispered, and what Daniel heard was I’d help if you if it
wasn’t so inconvenient.
Annoyed, Daniel schooled his expression and started cleaning the wine goblets
from the table. Lots of people wanted to help slaves, until they realized how
much work it would be. “I don’t need your help.” He said, as politely as he
could manage, moving away from the table. If Calvin was going to try anything
with the stones, he would do it now.
But Daniel heard nothing, no movement from him at all. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to
offend you.”
“I’m not offended, sir.” Daniel wasn’t expecting anyone’s help. He was going to
help himself. Empty platitudes annoyed him, that was all. “Slaves don’t have
feelings to hurt.”
“Of course. I feel I should at least warn you—you’re not as good at hiding your
emotions as you think.” Daniel very carefully didn’t react to that. “I suggest
you take a second to name every emotion as you feel it. Naming things makes it
easier to control them.”
“I…” Daniel didn’t need to be told that he wasn’t as good as he should be at
controlling himself—but if someone who didn’t even know him could see it, then
it was a bigger problem than he’d even realized. He turned back to face the
room. It was clear that Calvin wasn’t going to do anything untoward. “I’m not
supposed to talk to you.” He said quietly, looking at the floor again. It was a
stupid suggestion, he thought. Did Calvin really think he was helping?
“Right, sorry.”
The room was quiet for the several minutes it took Theodore to return after
that, for which Daniel was grateful. He kept his mind occupied with idle
thoughts about the slave market Theodore wanted to buy. In order to keep doing
the illegal things it was doing at the moment, the owners must have contacts
with the city guard or someone important, he thought. Theodore would have to be
careful to navigate around that so he didn’t annoy anybody important.
Unless he wanted to annoy someone important, Daniel supposed.
Finally the door opened and Daniel looked up as Theodore came in, looking in
his direction briefly before looking at Calvin, who hadn’t moved from his
chair. “I’ve summoned a friend who can verify the authenticity of the stone.”
He announced. “It may take some time for him to arrive. I wonder if you’ll join
me for lunch in the meantime.”
“Of course.” Calvin put his fake smile back on and stood.
“Good. I should like to hear the details of the story you told me earlier,
about the hero who guarded the stone.”
“I only know the end of the story.”
“The end is the best part of any story, isn’t it?” Theodore asked as Calvin
scooped up both stones and handed the one Theodore had already owned—Daniel
kept an eye on his hand, just to make sure—to Theodore. “Benedict will show you
to the dining room. I have some brief business and then I’ll join you.” Daniel
took that to mean that Theodore wanted to ask him his opinion on what had
happened here.
“Of course, sir.” Calvin said, oozing courtesy, and let Theodore usher him out
of the room.
Once the door was closed behind him, Theodore turned to Daniel, motioning him
towards Calvin’s chair. Daniel sat and Theodore did as well, watching him.
“Your thoughts, Daniel?”
“He wasn’t lying to you, Master.” Daniel said, trying not to sound reluctant.
“Nor did I get that impression.” Theodore agreed with a nod. “What else?”
“He doesn’t like you, Master.”
“Really?” Theodore didn’t sound surprised, just curious. “What makes you think
that?”
Daniel hesitated for just a second. “Nobody is that polite to someone they
like, Master.”
Theodore looked at Daniel for a second, and then smiled. “I believe I owe you
another question. Later, though, if you don’t mind.”
Daniel nodded, trying to hide his own smile. He shouldn’t like surprising
Theodore that much, but there it was. “Thank you, Master. I can wait.” He was
going to ask Theodore how old he was—he was mixing benign questions in with
ones that were less so, so as to avoid looking too calculated.
“Did any of them say anything while I was gone?” Theodore asked. “Often people
speak as if slaves aren’t there.”
“He asked me how old I was.” Daniel had considered whether to tell Theodore
about their conversation, but he didn’t want to risk that Calvin would do it
first.
“Did he?”
Daniel nodded. “And then he asked my name. And told me he would help me if he
could.”
“Oh, really.” Theodore’s expression had tightened just a little. “And what did
you tell him, Daniel?”
“That I didn’t need his help.” Daniel paused. “And that I wasn’t supposed to
talk to him.”
Theodore laughed at that, his consternation vanishing. “Very well. I should go
meet them in a moment—was there anything else?”
“Michele is more dangerous than he looks.” Daniel said, thinking about the dark
man standing by the door.
Theodore nodded. “Likely he’s their team’s magic practitioner. Gideon can
confirm that when he gets here. Which brings me to this. I have summoned him—he
is a friend who also happens to be a wizard—and I need you to meet him when he
arrives, and bring him to the dining room.”
Daniel nodded, wondering why Theodore didn’t get Benedict to do that. “Yes,
Master.” Maybe he would ask later. He didn’t really care how old Theodore was.
“Very good. If you’ll go wait for him by the door.” Theodore said, standing.
Daniel stood as well, and as they walked to the door together, he got up on his
toes and gave Theodore a kiss on the cheek. “What was that for?”
“Usually you send Benedict to the door.” Daniel said, smiling a little. He
didn’t want Theodore to think he was objecting.
Theodore chuckled, shook his head. “I shall see you soon, Daniel.”
“Yes, Master.” They parted ways after leaving the room, and Daniel made for the
foyer. It was a huge room with a curving staircase leading up one side, leading
to a hallway that looked out onto the room, with a railing. Daniel couldn’t
help but idly measure the distance from that railing to the chandelier hanging
down from the high ceiling, thinking not for the first time that he might be
able to jump the distance if he had to. Not that he planned to or anything, but
part of him kind of wanted to.
The foyer also had doors leading off in several directions, all of them open,
and was full of statuary, artwork and a particularly shiny gold fountain in the
centre. Daniel ignored all of that and stood by the large front doors. Maybe,
he thought, Theodore wanted to keep him away from his visitors in light of the
conversation he’d reported. But it had seemed like he’d already planned this.
Maybe this Gideon didn’t get along with Benedict. Or maybe Theodore was just
once again demonstrating that he didn’t have a clear grasp on how social
rankings worked.
Either way, Daniel stood quietly and waited by the door for quite some time,
thinking on that trying not to think on his earlier conversation with Calvin.
Naming things made them easier to control, did it? Daniel couldn’t help but
think about that. He knew that a lot of masters renamed their slaves on
acquiring them, so maybe that was why.
Maybe Theodore would have a few seconds to regret asking for Daniel’s real name
one night.
There was a series of sharp raps on the door, impatient. Daniel couldn’t reach
the little opening in the door that Benedict used to see out, so he just opened
one of the double doors a fraction, peering out at the visitor.
And he nearly slammed the door in the face of the young man standing there.
Surprise. Daniel thought to himself, just in case there was something to that
notion. Worry. This was someone he knew, or at least someone he’d met before.
Admittedly, the man standing at the door hadn’t had as many piercings in his
ears or his nose, and his hair had been shorter and not coloured with orange
streaks, and he hadn’t been wearing a tunic that could have doubled as a tent
or three dozen bracelets on each arm, but the long face and mismatched eyes
were the same and Daniel clearly recognized Darwin.
Darwin’s eyes had gone wide on seeing Daniel as well, but before Daniel could
do more than wonder what an employee of the people who’d trained him was doing
here, Darwin composed himself. “You’re new.” He said with a cheeky smile. “I’m
Gideon. Your master called for me.” He was talking to Daniel like he was
stupid.
“O-of course.” Daniel said, stepping back and opening the door to allow Darwin
entry. Darwin came in, looking at Daniel quickly and then around the foyer even
more quickly, tongue coming out to play with the ring in his lip. Then he
turned back to Daniel. “The Master is waiting for you in the dining room, sir.”
Daniel said, keeping rein on his expression. Confusion. He thought. What was he
doing here?
“Lead the way.” Darwin said, nodding at Daniel. “And what does Theo want me for
today?” He asked as Daniel turned to head for a side door. “His message just
said to come. He’s very imperious that way, I’m sure you’ve noticed. Treats
everyone like he owns them.”
“The Master has two identical stones.” Daniel told him, figuring that it
couldn’t hurt. “He wants you to tell him which one is real.”
“What, is one of them actually a sheep?” Darwin asked and then laughed. “I’m
sure I can do that for him. Which one were you?” He asked, his voice dropping.
“You were…Danny, right?”
“Daniel.”
“Right, Daniel.” Darwin nodded. “I’m…”
“Gideon.” Daniel told him, interrupting. Slaves didn’t interrupt. “You’re
Gideon, you told me that already.”
“Right.” Darwin—Gideon smiled at him. “If it came up that you had a different
name for me, Theo’d want to know why, and then he’d want to know why you know
me at all, and…”
“I know.” Daniel snapped. Anger. “I’m not stupid.”
“I guess you wouldn’t be.” Gideon agreed, looking up at the ceiling. “Not to
still be alive. Some of your buddies were a bit dumb. Guess it’s a good thing
you got here instead of them. I’m sure our fearful leader will be happy to hear
about this.” Daniel tried hard not to think of the four other boys who had been
bought alongside him and then sold to people who weren’t Theodore. They’d been
warned of that, that they might just go through all that and still end up a
meaningless slave.
Once Daniel killed Theodore, he’d try to find the others and rescue them.
“Have you been practicing your tumbling?” Gideon asked a few seconds later, and
Daniel wished he would just stop talking. Darwin had been their dance
instructor, drilling them in acrobatics and flexibility. Daniel hadn’t known he
was a wizard until today.
“I don’t have a lot of time to myself.” Daniel told him, trying to keep calm.
Theodore would know if he was upset when he came into the dining room.
“I’m sure you must have some.” Gideon told him. “If I remember you right, you
were almost okay at it by the end. Be a shame to lose that now. Besides, it
doesn’t seem like you’re doing much else.” He paused. “Theo still being alive
and all.”
“I know what I’m doing.” Anger, anger. Daniel thought. This wasn’t working. “I
have a plan.”
“That’s reassuring.” Gideon said, in a way that suggested it wasn’t. “Do you
need help?”
“No.” Daniel told him, pushing down a surge of…possessiveness. He didn’t need
Gideon stealing Theodore out from under him. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“I’m friends with Theo.” Gideon smiled again. “We go back a bit. Someone has to
keep an eye on him, after all. And on you too, now. Can’t have everything going
belly-up because you screwed up, now, can we?”
Daniel flashed a glare at Gideon. “The only way this is going to get screwed up
is if you manage to blow my cover.” He growled.
But Gideon just looked amused. “Blow your cover?” He asked, reaching out and
poking Daniel in the forehead. “Someone’s a lot taller in his head than in real
life, isn’t he? Careful to remember that you’re a tool, Danny—an important
tool, but a tool, and tools are replaceable. And so are slaves, and that’s not
a look that slaves give to free people.”
Daniel held his glare in place for a few more seconds before closing his eyes,
breathing and imaging stabbing Gideon in the face. It took him a few seconds,
but he managed to wrestle his anger into place, and made his face go blank
again before opening his eyes. “I’m terribly sorry, sir. Please forgive my
impertinence.”
“That’s better. Stay on that note and you’ll do just fine.” Gideon said,
smiling again.
They were coming on the dining room, the doors of which were open. Daniel
mentally sent an acknowledgement upwards as they passed through the doorway,
putting on a little smile when his eyes came to rest on Theodore, who was in
the middle of saying something to his three guests. “My friend owns the Crown,
as I said, and I know that two pieces were rumoured to be in the collection of
a Lord Ferrise, but his estate was plundered by a dragon, so heaven only knows
where they ended up.” Theodore looked up from the table, smiled at Daniel. “Ah,
Gideon. Thank you for your prompt visit.”
“Anything for you, Theo.” Gideon said, grinning as he approached the table.
“Your new buddy tells me you have a toy you need checked out.” He snatched a
stick of bread from the table and bit into it as he rounded to stand behind
Theodore. “That it?” He asked, and Daniel saw that Theodore had the stone on
the table with him.
“Indeed.” Theodore said, seemingly amused. “Though I’m told this one is a fake,
and that Calvin here has the original.”
“And you don’t want to pay unless you’re sure.” Gideon said, nodding. “Fair.
Let’s see them, then.”
“It’s best,” Michele said, looking at Gideon warily, “to compare them with each
other. You should see pretty quickly that one is a copy of the other.”
“Alright, hand it over, then.”
Calvin picked up the second stone from the table beside him, and made as if to
hand it over the table to Theodore before pausing, glancing over his shoulder
at Daniel and, his posture reading conviction, reached out his hand to pass it
to Daniel instead.
Theodore nodded Daniel over and Daniel held out his hand, letting Calvin drop
the stone into it with an unreadable look on his face. Confusion. Daniel
thought, reflecting that in a way, naming his feelings was making it easier to
suppress them, at least. Daniel trotted around the table and held out the stone
to Theodore, who didn’t take it but nodded at Gideon and held out the other
stone in his own hand.
Gideon hummed a little to himself as he wiggled his hands, sticking out his
tongue again. “Yep.” He said after a second, nodding at the one in Theodore’s
hand. “That’s a piece of junk right there.” As he spoke, the stone in
Theodore’s hand faded from purple to ordinary stone-grey.
Bemused, Theodore looked down at the rock in his hand. Daniel wondered how much
he’d paid that thief for it. “Alas.” Theodore declared. “A very expensive piece
of junk.”
“Sorry.” Calvin said. He didn’t sound sorry.
“Near as I can tell, it was no fault of yours, Calvin.” Theodore sighed,
slipped the stone into a pocket, and pulled out a key, which he held out for
Daniel. “Gideon, I’ve another stone I should like you to check the authenticity
of, since you’re here anyway. Why don’t you sit and eat while Daniel goes to
retrieve it?” He smiled at Daniel, giving him a nod of dismissal. He didn’t
take the purple stone, which Daniel took to mean he wanted it put away in the
desk drawer.
“Well, I’m not going to say no to free food.” Gideon said, waving a hand at the
far wall where some more chairs were sitting, making one slide over to him so
he could sit in between Wesley and Theodore. “As long as I’m not interrupting.”
“I was just telling my friends about the Sea King’s Regalia.” Theodore said, as
Daniel moved away. “You know the story, don’t you?”
“Sure. Lots of people say he was a wizard, you know.”
The rest of the conversation was lost to Daniel as he left the room, trying not
to sigh. Relief. He thought to himself, heading towards Theodore’s bedroom. He
noticed the hallway was empty and, with a brief moment of hesitation, increased
his pace to a near-run, tumbled into a cartwheel from which he sprang into a
backflip that he landed with only a little imbalance.
“Almost okay at it.” He grumbled, looking around again to make sure nobody had
seen before continuing towards the bedroom.
The red stone turned out to be real, and even as Daniel asked Theodore his age
later that day, he was mentally wording the inevitable question about how it
was that Theodore had befriend an employee of the people who wanted him dead.
***** More Than Anything, Liars Need Protection from the Truth *****
Daniel had thought that he would be excited at the prospect of finally getting
to leave Theodore’s house, but he found that he was actually more nervous than
anything else. He hadn’t set foot outdoors without someone holding him on a
very short chain for such a long time that the world felt almost too big.
Granted, he was still on a very short chain. Just because Theodore wasn’t
holding it didn’t mean it wasn’t wrapped around his neck.
“You seem nervous, Daniel.”
Daniel put on his empty smile and showed it to Theodore. “A little, Master.” He
admitted.
“You needn’t be.” Theodore assured him, giving Daniel a little pat on the head.
“You shall not be required to do anything that I don’t normally ask of you at
home.”
Minus, Daniel assumed, sitting on Theodore’s lap and exchanging kisses. He
nodded. “Yes, Master.” He also inferred that Theodore wanted him to pay
attention to the meeting he was about to have—which stood to reason, otherwise
why would he have brought Daniel?
Theodore smiled at him and a moment later the carriage trundled to a halt.
Theodore pulled back a curtain to look out the little window, and, nodding to
himself, opened the door. His driver was just bringing around a stool and
Theodore stepped out of the carriage, Daniel a step behind him.
The sunlight was bright in his eyes, and Daniel was hot in the scratchy
clothes. The courtyard into which they’d stepped was freshly swept in a way
that seemed to emphasize that it wasn’t normally this clean, and smelled of
some sort of flower way too heavily to be anything but an attempt to cover up a
smell. It was quiet as far as open spaces went, but Daniel could hear the
sounds of the city on the other side of the wall, blocked off but still there.
The courtyard reminded Daniel a little of himself, and he tried not to dwell on
it.
“Come, Daniel.” Theodore beckoned, and Daniel, clearing his head, did as he was
bid. The building was two storeys of white plaster, though Daniel would have
bet all of Theodore’s money that it had at least two basement levels as well.
Slaves didn’t need sunlight or fresh air.
Knowing what was inside the building, Daniel tried to control the tight ball of
anxiety in his chest as they approached the doors, bracing himself for whatever
he might see. But it was just a sort of dingy hallway with a weak lantern in
one corner. A bored-looking young woman was waiting for them there. “You’re
Theodore?” She asked, and then without waiting for an answer, turned around.
“He’s waiting for you upstairs.”
“Lead the way, then.” Theodore said, concealing what he was thinking. Daniel
had a pretty good idea, though.
She led them down the hall and up some stairs, down another hall and around a
corner to a heavy door. There had been a lot of doors on the way past, but
they’d all been closed and Daniel had gotten a feeling that was for the best.
Imagining what was in there was bad enough; Daniel wasn’t sure he’d have been
able to cope with actually seeing it.
It would be bad if he accidentally attacked someone before he was finished with
Theodore. He had to keep himself under control. Maybe after Theodore was dead
he’d come back here. Maybe that was what he’d do for a living after he was
freed. Just go around killing slavers until there weren’t any left.
It was an appealing prospect, Daniel had to admit, but for now he kept his eyes
on the floor and followed Theodore into the slaver’s office.
“Master Theodore.” Daniel had expected the man to be slimy-looking, maybe fat
and missing some teeth and with a stained shirt. Instead he was a grandfatherly
figure who looked kind and spoke in a soft voice. He looked at Daniel in clear
surprise as the two of them entered the room. “My, my. He’s pretty, isn’t he?
Don’t tell me you’ve come all this way to sell him to me.”
Daniel’s eyes widened despite himself at the implication, but Theodore put a
hand on Daniel’s head and smiled at the man. “Master Clement, thank you for
making time for me today. Unfortunately for you, Daniel is only here so I
wouldn’t get lonely on the long carriage ride in.”
“Of course, of course.” Clement smiled up at Theodore, waving him down into a
chair. “Excuse me if I don’t stand, my hips aren’t what they used to be.”
“Of course.” Theodore was using his very best fake smile as he sat down. Daniel
stayed standing by the door, looking at nothing in a practiced way. “You read
the letter I sent?”
“I did. You’ve a business proposition for me—interesting, as you’re not known
to be in the slave-trading business.”
“Yet.” Theodore allowed, with a nod. “I’ve a mind to change that—and ideas for
how I might benefit both of us in doing so.”
The meeting lasted less time than Daniel expected. Theodore laid out his
plan—their plan—for how to make the slaver more prosperous, and they talked
about some of the details of it for a little bit. And then Clement declined,
and refused to entertain the topic further.
And that was it. The young woman who’d led them there wasn’t present when they
left, leaving the two of them to make their own way out. Daniel was still
trying to figure out what had even happened when Theodore smiled at him and put
a hand on his shoulder. “I wouldn’t worry overly, Daniel.”
“Master?”
“I expected him to refuse the first offer. It wasn’t through a flaw in what we
plan to do that Clement wasn’t interested. Did you notice when he lost
interest?”
Daniel thought back to the conversation. “It was right after you said he’d have
to stop renting out his slaves.”
“That’s right. Now think about that and tell me what you can guess about it
from what you heard.”
Daniel did, frowning down at the floor as he considered. “He really doesn’t
want to stop operating this place like a brothel.” He muttered, to himself.
“And it’s not about money, because you gave him a way to make more without
doing that.”
“So he must have another reason.” Daniel nodded, and Theodore smiled. “Given
his age, I think it’s not likely he’s partaking all that often in his own
merchandise, so let’s rule that out as an option. There’s a possibility that
he’s simply a sadist who enjoys the idea of children being raped, but let’s
assume that’s not the case for a moment, shall we?”
Daniel nodded again, thinking that probably wasn’t the reason. Not that he
didn’t think people could be that bad, but it wasn’t the impression he’d gotten
from the man. “He…if it’s not because it makes money and it’s not because he
wants to, then…could someone else be making him run it that way?”
“I think something like that is the most likely, yes.” Theodore nodded as they
came upon the door to the courtyard where the carriage was waiting. “There is
another party that has interest in keeping this business running the way it
is—so our task becomes to find out who that is and do something about them.”
Daniel opened the door for Theodore and wondered what ‘do something’ meant in
this case. “First we must draw up a list of suspects.” Theodore continued, as
they headed outside into the silent courtyard. “Which shouldn’t be too hard
with a little logic, and we’ll go from there. Have you any ideas, Daniel?”
“The city guard hasn’t been stopping him from doing this.” Daniel said, voicing
something he’d been thinking for a while. “So maybe it’s someone who can tell
them what to do.” Which couldn’t be a long list of people—the city magistrate
and some lords, and maybe some other rich people like Theodore who could bribe
them.
The list was probably nearly identical to the list of people who might
potentially have planted a killer in Theodore’s household to end his life.
“That seems likely, yes. There are not many people with that capability in
town.” They were just a few paces from the carriage now and the driver had yet
to come around with his stool so Theodore could climb up. In fact, Daniel
couldn’t see the man anywhere.
Maybe he was just using a privy or something, but… “Of course, we can expect
Clement to tell his patron what has happened today, so it is possible that the
one we’re looking for will make themselves known before we have to do much.”
Theodore went on.
The courtyard was too still and, Daniel noticed as they got a step closer, the
carriage was sitting low on his axles—as if someone were in it. Or…
“Master.” Daniel saw movement from the roof of the carriage all at once and
before he could think, he was leaping to push Theodore aside. He took Theodore
by surprise and so even his meagre weight was enough to get the Master off his
feet, and Daniel winced at how hard they hit the ground. He heard a snap and a
loud crack behind him, and looking up at the carriage, saw the man up there
dropping a crossbow and drawing a knife, leaping down to approach them.
Daniel cast a quick, worried glance at Theodore, who seemed a little out of it.
Maybe he’d hit his head. What was he doing? He should let this man just kill
Theodore and be done with it.
Except that he would probably kill Daniel too if he could and besides, it was
too public, it would be too obvious that it wasn’t Daniel who had killed
Theodore. Daniel wanted Theodore dead but he also didn’t want to be cheated out
of his freedom because it hadn’t been his knife being introduced to Theodore’s
heart.
Daniel scrambled to his feet with one last glance down at Theodore. He wasn’t
completely unconscious, but nor were his eyes open. “Ian…” He muttered quietly.
“What’s…”
Daniel wondered who that was, but he turned away from Theodore and faced the
approaching would-be killer. He was a young man, and he looked angry. “Move out
of the way, kid.” The man growled, but Daniel heard the waver in his voice.
“I’m not here for you.”
He had a second knife at his belt and Daniel moved towards him, ignoring the
man’s shout of surprise and taking a breath as he went. The man slashed at him
and Daniel ducked under it, bringing up his arm to block the attempted grab,
and pushed his way to the man’s belt, where he grabbed the second knife and
drew it in a slash that was aimed at the man’s face, all one motion.
“What the fuck?” The man demanded, stepping back in a leap and bringing his
blade up in a very sloppy defensive posture. Daniel pursued, slashing at his
arm. The man retaliated with a snarl, stabbing downwards, and Daniel knocked
him aside, wincing. He was definitely not the stronger of the two of them, and
the shock of that down his arm had hurt. The killer pulled back his arm and
tried to get Daniel from the side, and Daniel pivoted, then spun to avoid being
punched by his opponent’s other hand, and ducked under his arm and
straightened, bringing the knife to his prey’s chest.
And he stopped, froze with his blade right at the man’s heart. If he stabbed
forward, if he’d kept moving, he’d kill this person.
In all of his training and all of his practice, Daniel had never killed anybody
before.
In the time that he took to be daunted, though, the man reached up, slashing
Daniel’s cheek with his blade, and Daniel snapped his arm up to grab the man’s
wrist and stop it from opening up his neck. Adrenaline gave him the strength to
hold back but it robbed him of thought, made it impossible for Daniel to
consider a way out. And so he leapt forward with a shout, pushing his knife
into the man’s chest as both of them fell to the ground.
The man hit the ground with a thud and Daniel landed on him. The attacker’s
eyes were open, staring up at the sky. His bowels evacuated and blood flooded
his shirt. Daniel sat up, scrambled away from him, and just watched him.
Watched him die.
“Daniel.”
Daniel started, a gasp shaking him as he turned at Theodore’s voice. Had he
seen? Had he seen Daniel fight off and kill an armed man? A slave, a boy from a
poor dockside slum, couldn’t do that. Theodore had seen, and he was going to
know why. Daniel thought about the knife the man had dropped. He could probably
get it and get to Theodore before… A hand fell on his shoulder and Daniel
jumped. “Are you alright?”
Theodore sounded more worried than anything, and Daniel risked looking up. He
had a bit of an unfocused look in his eyes and was blinking a lot. “Master?”
“He…tried to kill you, Daniel.”
Daniel nodded vaguely, tendrils of relief stretching out within him. Maybe he
hadn’t seen, or at least hadn’t seen all of it. “He tried to kill you, Master.
I think I was just in his way.”
Theodore nodded vaguely, and Daniel could see clarity coming back into his
expression. He must not have hit his head that hard. “You put yourself in
between us, didn’t you?” And it was a question, but Daniel never knew whether
Theodore’s questions were honest.
“Yes, Master.” Daniel bit at his lip. “I was afraid.”
“I’m sure you must have been. I saw him trying to stab you—you were lucky not
to have been too badly hurt.” Theodore brushed the cut on Daniel’s cheek as he
spoke. Daniel hadn’t realized how close they were. Theodore glanced up at the
building and then back to Daniel.
“Are you hurt, Master?” Daniel asked. “Should I go get someone?”
“No, I’m sure they’ll be here in a moment. I’m sorry.” Theodore surprised
Daniel with a hug, and Daniel surprised himself by not wanting to shrink away
from it. “You must have been very afraid.”
“I was, Master.” Daniel nodded, and he didn’t know if that was true or not, but
it might have been and saying it made him realize how shaky he was in
Theodore’s arms. It was nice to be held. The blood from his cut smeared onto
Theodore’s shirt.
“You did a wonderful job. And I know you’re very overwhelmed and I want you to
know that I’m very proud of you, but I need to tell you something very
important, so listen.”
“Yes, Master.” What could Theodore possibly need to say to him right this very
minute?
“If you are asked what happened here, you must tell anyone who wants to know
that I killed that man.”
“Master?”
“That he knocked you aside and I was able to overpower him, that’s what you
must say, do you understand?”
“I…” Daniel looked over at the dead man again and had to look away. It was a
strange thing for Theodore to demand credit for. “I understand, but…” He cut
himself off. It was cold, he noticed vaguely.
“It is a crime, Daniel, for a slave to kill a free person. No matter the
reason, no matter that he was trying to kill me, or you. No matter if it was an
accident. You’ll be put to death if anyone learns you killed him. I won’t be
able to help you.” Theodore sounded…afraid, Daniel thought.
Daniel was afraid too, for real now. He hadn’t known that. “Okay.” He said,
shaking all the more. “Okay, Master.” The dead man seemed to loom large over
him now, and the fact that Theodore knew, even if he didn’t really know, was an
oppressive fact.
“You and I will know the truth.” Theodore assured him, hugging Daniel tighter.
“But we must let everyone else believe the lie. I couldn’t bear to lose you,
especially not for saving my life. You and I will know the truth, Daniel.”
“What the truth is doesn’t matter.” Daniel muttered vaguely. “Only what we want
the truth to be.” They’d said that to him, when they’d first bought him. First
started training him. You’re slaves and that’s the truth. At least for now. If
you don’t like the truth, change it until you do.
“That’s right.” Theodore nodded, and if he’d noticed anything strange in the
comment, he didn’t mention it. “And the truth we will make is one where you
won’t be in danger, Daniel. I’ll protect you as you protected me, I promise.”
Daniel looked at the body, wishing he could look away. “Thank you, Master.” He
answered. Daniel would kill Theodore, just like he’d killed that man.
He’d done it once. Now that he had, Daniel knew he could do it again.
***** Kindness and Malice Can Come in Equal Measures from Unexpected Places
*****
“Daniel. Daniel, wake up.”
Daniel stirred, but apparently not fast enough. “Dammit, Daniel. Wake up, you
lazy…”
“Marcus.”
Daniel opened his eyes, saw Hugh and Marcus looking down at him. “Sorry.” He
mumbled, trying to work the sleep out of his mouth. “Was I asleep for long?”
“Not really.” Hugh said, helping him sit. “But Benedict just knocked on the
door. The Master wants you to get dressed and go see him in the sitting room.”
Daniel nodded, rubbing at his eye with one hand and reaching down to tug the
collar of his shirt over his head with the other. Hugh helped him out of it and
started folding it automatically, and Daniel made to stand, but Marcus handed
him the formal clothes before he needed to. ‘Get dressed’ always meant those.
“You looked like you were having a nightmare.” Marcus said, affecting
unconcern.
Taking the pile and quickly pulling on the undershirt, Daniel nodded. “I think
I was.”
“You think?”
Daniel nodded again, leaning back to pull the shorts on as well. “I don’t
really remember. There was…” He paused, shaking his head. He really didn’t
remember much of what he’d been dreaming. “There was a lot of blood.” Daniel
said, more quietly than he’d meant to.
He didn’t need to actually remember what the dream had been. He knew—it was the
same thing he’d been unable to get out of his mind for days. He kept going back
to it in his head, seeing the look in that man’s eyes as he died, hearing the
sound of his last breath leaving him, smelling the blood.
The others all looked at him sadly, but Daniel kept dressing methodically,
standing to pull on the pants and then the shirt. Marcus did up the buttons for
him even though Daniel could button his own shirt, while Daniel tucked the
shirt in and tied up the laces on the pants.
When he was dressed, Daniel took a breath and made to turn, and Marcus
surprised him with a hug. “Marcus?” Not really sure how to react, Daniel hugged
back.
“You’re okay.” Marcus told him, quietly. “It’s okay.”
“I…” Daniel felt himself give a little, and hugged Marcus tighter. “I know.” It
wasn’t okay, not as long as he was here, as long as they were all here, not as
long as the others who’d been trained with Daniel were still chained up
somewhere.
As long as Theodore was alive, it wasn’t okay, and Daniel’s need to make it
okay was one of the only things that made it possible for him to work through
what had happened—nobody had told him that killing someone was harder after the
fact than during.
“Thank you.” Daniel just let Marcus hold him for a second. Nobody had held him
like this, not in a long time. “Thank you, Marcus.”
Marcus sighed, and gave one last squeeze before letting Daniel go. “You looked
like you needed a hug, that’s all.” He muttered, a little red in the face. “You
should go, he’s waiting for you.”
“Yeah.” Daniel nodded and smiled at Marcus, turning. Hugh put a hand on
Marcus’s arm and Daniel saw Marcus move as if to shrug him off, then stop
himself.
Outside the room, Daniel took a deep breath and headed down the hall to the
sitting room. The other slaves all thought that Daniel had been forced to watch
Theodore kill that man the other day, that he was upset because of that.
Following Theodore’s orders, Daniel had told them that. Had told everyone that.
The city guard had questioned Daniel alone after talking to Theodore, but he’d
carefully corroborated Theodore’s story.
He’d been terrified that they would see through it, know he was lying, see the
blood on his hands. Daniel had found that putting his mind on the other
trainees, and on Hugh and Marcus and all the other slaves who he needed to help
was useful in keeping his brain on track and keeping him calm enough not to
seem like a liar, anyway. They’d accepted Theodore’s version of events.
Moving quickly, Daniel made his way to the sitting room, where he knocked
quietly on the ajar door before entering. Theodore was sitting with Philip, a
hook-nosed older woman named Cassiopeia, and a svelte western man with a
pointed beard named Georg. Looking up when Daniel entered the room, Theodore
smiled and beckoned him over.
“My friends were concerned for your health.” Theodore told him, pulling Daniel
to sit beside him on the narrow sofa. “I’ve told them all about our dangerous
adventure the other day.”
The silence that followed made it clear that he was supposed to say something,
so Daniel looked down at the floor between the four of them and said, “Thank
you, but I’m okay.” He lied. “The Master protected me.” He could see it again
in his head, the look in that man’s eyes, and Daniel tried not to let it
overwhelm him.
Upset. He told himself, trying to control it. Sadness? Fear? He wasn’t sure,
hadn’t been for a while now.
“Still, you must have been very afraid.” Georg said in a rumble.
Daniel had been, and still was, so he nodded. He was wondering why Theodore had
really called him here. It didn’t escape his notice that these three were the
only ones among Theodore’s friends who he hadn’t put on his list of potential
suspects for who was influencing Clement.
“Do the guard have any leads for who may have hired the man, Theodore?” Philip
asked. Now that Daniel wasn’t the focus of conversation anymore, he was being
dutifully ignored, as was expected for slaves.
“Alas, no.” Theodore sighed. “I suppose I’d have been better off had I been
less zealous in defending myself.” If Theodore really had defended himself,
Daniel thought, he wouldn’t be so calm. Daniel had been prepared to kill
someone and thinking of the fact that he’d done it made him shake still.
“They don’t think it was Clement?” Cassiopeia asked. She was still looking
partially at Daniel.
“No.” Theodore shook his head. He was quite certain that the attempt on his
life and Clement’s benefactor were unrelated, and Daniel agreed. Theodore’s
list for who might potentially have tried to assassinate him was much longer,
and Daniel had carefully committed the names on it to memory. None of these
three were on that list either. “He had no reason to have wanted me dead prior
to our meeting and hardly would have had time to hire someone during my walk
from his office to my carriage.”
“It’s good that neither of you were hurt.” Georg said.
“A few cuts.” Theodore smiled. “Nothing to worry much about.” Theodore’s
preferred healer had apparently up and left town without telling anyone, so
he’d had to ask Gideon over to do the healing and Daniel had suffered under
that smirk while sitting through the process. Fortunately Theodore had stayed
with him, so Gideon couldn’t actually say any of the things that his expression
had implied.
“What about suspects, then?” Cassiopeia wanted to know. “Do you have any?”
“I’m not the most loved man in the world, I know, but I can’t imagine who would
want to send a killer after me in broad daylight, no.” Daniel noticed the way
that all the extra words made that lie into something true, and admitted to
being a little impressed. He wondered, though, why it was that if these people
weren’t on either of the two lists, Theodore felt it necessary to conceal the
truth from them.
Their conversation went on for a bit, all three of Theodore’s friends
suggesting possible suspects for the list. All of them were already on the
list. When it came time for them to go, Theodore smiled and walked to the door
with them. “You needn’t worry about me; I’m well protected here in the house; I
shall just have to hire a bodyguard for going out, I think.”
“I know a few good names for you.” Georg promised, clasping Theodore’s hand.
“I’ll send you some suggestions.” Georg owned two theaters in the city, Daniel
remembered, and he wondered if theaters were particularly dangerous or if it
just happened that Georg knew good bodyguards socially.
“You might consider magical protection as well.” Cassiopeia added. “From
someone other than Gideon, maybe. I can help you arrange something if you
like.”
“I’d appreciate both.” Theodore promised, smiling. As the three of them made
their goodbyes, he said, “Philip, if I could have a quick word before you go.”
Daniel wished he could go too. He didn’t want to be around people.
“Of course.” Philip looked nervous for just a second, but then it was gone and
he waited patiently while Cassiopeia and Georg left. “What is it?”
“I’ve found a good team that has agreed to hunt for the other pieces of the
Regalia.” Theodore said, voice low. “They’re out on the hunt now, and given
their past performances for me, I think we can expect results fairly soon.”
Philip’s face fell for just a moment, and even Theodore caught it this time.
“What is it?”
“Ah.” Philip hesitated, and Daniel realized after a second that he was
embarrassed. “As to that. I was robbed a few weeks back. I…don’t have the Crown
at the moment.”
That got Daniel’s attention, but he just stayed standing behind Theodore.
Theodore, fortunately, was more free to respond. “Oh, dear. Why didn’t you say
something sooner? I’ll help you track down the thief at once.”
“I’ve sent a team of people to do that.” Philip said with a nod. “Most of what
was stolen from me has been recovered already; looks like it was just fenced in
the city. I don’t think there was a grand purpose behind the break-in, just
someone looking for gold. I’ll get it back soon enough.”
“Good, that’s good.” Theodore frowned. “I presume you’ll be upgrading your
security?”
“Naturally.” Philip said, smiling sardonically.
“Excellent. Do let me know if there’s anything I can do to help, of course.”
“Of course. But I have it in hand.”
“If you’re sure, friend.” Theodore smiled again. “Sorry to have kept you.”
“I’m glad you’re not hurt, Theodore.” Philip smiled back, and it was just as
fake, and clasped hands with Theodore before leaving.
Theodore waited a moment after the door had shut, leaving the two of them
alone. “Your thoughts, Daniel?”
“I…” Daniel swallowed, tried to compose himself, to stop thinking about the
colour of blood. “I think we should put him on the list, Master.” He didn’t say
which one. He had a feeling Theodore would infer that he meant both.
“Yes, as do I. It’s…unfortunate. I have always considered him a good friend.”
“I’m sorry, Master.”
“Not to worry, Daniel. This is how life works sometimes.” Theodore did sound
upset, Daniel realized. “I wonder if Pascal had the Crown with him while he was
here in the house.” He mused to himself. “Wouldn’t that have been something?”
Daniel didn’t care about the Crown—he didn’t really know what it was anyway. He
was still thinking. If it was Philip who had been behind the fake stone and the
attack that Calvin had claimed had happened to his team… “Master?”
“Yes, Daniel?”
“Did you tell Philip that you were sending Calvin after the purple stone?”
Theodore paused, thinking. “No.” He said, after a moment. “I didn’t. Now, how
did he come to know that, I wonder?” Daniel didn’t have an answer for that, and
Theodore sighed. He looked tired. “The world is a difficult place, sometimes,
Daniel. Which I suppose you know already.”
Daniel did, more than Theodore ever would.
Theodore looked a little lost, and still upset. On impulse, Daniel stepped
forward and hugged him around the middle. “Daniel?”
“I’m sorry, Master.” He murmured, stepping back. “It looked like you needed a
hug, is all.”
Theodore looked down at Daniel and smiled, surprised. “Come here.” He said, and
he gathered Daniel up in his arms. His hug was possessive and tight, not like
Marcus’s at all. Daniel hugged him back just the same, though. “We’re going to
be all right, Daniel. There’s no cause for you to worry.”
Daniel wasn’t worried, or at least that was what he told himself. Theodore was
the one who should be worried. But Daniel just smiled, held on to Theodore and
said, “Yes, Master.”
***** Plans Often Require a Great Deal of Patience *****
Daniel always woke up frequently throughout the night, for a few minutes at a
time before falling back to sleep. He’d been like that since he was young, but
ever since he’d been trained to be especially alert, it was a lot worse.
When he woke up this time he paused, mentally shaking himself fully awake,
trying to estimate exactly how late it was.
Theodore’s arms were wrapped around him and, taking a breath, Daniel carefully
extricated himself from the grasp, tensing a little when Theodore stirred.
“Daniel?”
“I’m sorry, Master,” Daniel whispered. “I just…”
“You need the privy?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Go on, then.” Theodore let him go and Daniel slid off the bed, grateful for
the dark. He didn’t need to hide his frustrated expression as he padded into
the little privy that was off the bath room.
He did need to pee, but it wasn’t a big enough issue to have forced him out of
bed normally. But he’d been making himself get up every night the last several
weeks, to accustom Theodore to his getting out of bed in the dark. He was never
going to be able to retrieve that knife and use it on the Master if Theodore
kept waking up every time he got out of bed.
Daniel was starting to doubt, though, whether this would work. Theodore woke up
most of the time when Daniel did, and didn’t seem to go back to sleep until
Daniel was in bed with him again. There had been a few nights where he hadn’t
seemed to stir, but Daniel hadn’t been sure if that was real or if he’d just
been faking it.
It was frustrating, to say the least.
Daniel finished his business and washed himself off in the basin, before
heading quietly back to the bed. On this, at least, he was pretty sure he was
doing well. Theodore never seemed to hear him coming back, always raising his
head only when Daniel climbed back onto the bed itself, like he did this time.
That was a good sign, Daniel supposed.
If only he could get out of the bed without Theodore noticing, he’d be good.
“I’m sorry to have woken you, Master.” Daniel whispered when he got back,
because he knew Theodore would be waiting for him.
“It’s alright, I’m a light sleeper. As are you, I think.” Daniel got under the
blankets and Theodore pulled him close, and Daniel could feel Theodore’s
hardness against the back of his thigh. “I’m a little more awake than I’d like
to be, admittedly,” Theodore murmured in Daniel’s ear.
“Can I help you with it, Master?” Daniel asked, because if he asked it made it
seem like it was his idea and not something that Theodore would have done
anyway.
“Of course, Daniel.” Theodore was smiling, Daniel could hear it in his tone.
Daniel knew that Theodore would happily have just rubbed against his thighs and
backside until he came, but this late at night he’d simply hold Daniel like
that and fall asleep, and Daniel knew from experience that he couldn’t sleep at
all with the sticky mess all across the back of his legs. So instead, he
wriggled out of Theodore’s grip, ducked under the blankets and moved down until
he was between Theodore’s legs.
It was less mess this way, Daniel told himself as he found Theodore’s erection
and gently held it in his hand, stroking it a few times. It was faster and he
could control how much happened and when. It was better this way.
He kissed Theodore’s erection lightly three times on the shaft, and then twice
on the head, before taking it into his mouth slowly. Theodore stiffened, and
Daniel kept going, sucking a little bit and licking a lot. Theodore had taken a
lot of time to teach Daniel exactly how he liked this done. “Mm, Daniel…”
Daniel answered with a vague hum that had Theodore responding in kind.
Theodore’s hand came down to rest in Daniel’s hair, not pushing him or
anything, just resting there. Daniel kept going, holding Theodore in one hand
and rubbing his inner thigh with the other.
It was warm now, even at night, and under the blanket like this Daniel was
sweltering, feeling like in the heat he could barely breathe. But he did,
through his nose, as best he could while he worked. His discomfort didn’t
matter—he didn’t imagine Theodore had even considered it as a possibility.
He went further and further down, getting more and more of Theodore in his
mouth as he did, sucking and licking all the way. Theodore was making little
groaning noises as he did, and they got more urgent when Daniel, all at once,
dove the rest of the way down, carefully relaxing his throat to let Theodore
all the way in.
Daniel counted in his head as he stayed there, stretching his tongue to get at
every part of Theodore he could while making as if to swallow at the same time.
“Daniel…” When he got to a hundred Daniel pulled up, almost all the way off,
leaving just the leaking head in his mouth, which he lavished attention on for
a minute before sliding all the way back down.
A few repetitions of that and Theodore was almost squirming. “Daniel,” he
strained.
Daniel resisted the urge to smile and pulled all the way off, letting Theodore
pop out of his mouth and waiting for just a second, breathing on Theodore’s
erection. Then he leaned in and kissed it right on the head and Theodore’s
entire body tensed at once. Daniel covered the head with his lips as the first
bitter spurt came out, and swallowed that, kept swallowing as Theodore shot
more, scalding his mouth and throat.
Daniel swallowed it all and came up for air only when he was sure Theodore was
done, taking only a shallow breath of the stuffy air under the blanket. He gave
Theodore one more kiss before climbing back up to emerge into the fresher air
of the room, which he tried not to be too obvious about inhaling. At least
there was no mess. “Thank you, Master.”
“Thank you, Daniel.” Theodore said, sounding sleepy again. He pulled Daniel in
and Daniel let him, nestling a bit with his back to Theodore’s chest. He could
feel Theodore’s still-wet erection flagging now. “I don’t know what I’d do
without you.”
Fuck some other boy, probably. But Daniel just held onto Theodore’s arm that
was keeping him in place. “Me either, Master.” Daniel realized he was hard with
a little bit of annoyance, but there wasn’t anything to be done about that now.
If Theodore were to notice, usually he would do something, but that would
defeat the purpose of sucking him off to minimize mess.
“I could die happy if that were the last thing that ever happened to me,”
Theodore muttered in Daniel’s ear.
“I’m glad you liked it, Master,” Daniel lied, thinking that he’d make sure not
to blow Theodore on the night that he killed him.
“Goodnight, Daniel,” Theodore whispered, holding him tighter.
“Goodnight, Master.”
Theodore fell asleep almost immediately. It took Daniel quite a while to get
there.
***** Literacy Gives Us the Power to Experience Stories, and the Range of
Emotions they Evoke *****
“At twenty,” Daniel read, face scrunched into a frown in his concentration,
“Daniel came into the…att…” He stuck his tongue out a little, looking at the
word that he didn’t know. He knew the letters, he just had to figure out how to
say it. He’d come to realize that if he said the words out loud when he didn’t
know them, most of the time hearing them would help. “Atten…tine…attention.
Daniel came into the attention of the…ar…bit…arbitrator.” Daniel didn’t know
what that word meant. He’d ask Theodore later. “Arbitrator of the…”
He was interrupted by the click of the door, and Daniel straightened, and then
stood, setting the book down on the table as Theodore came into the room.
“Welcome back, Master.”
“Hello, Daniel.” Theodore smiled at Daniel, and then looked down at the book.
“Ah, you were reading.” He sounded a little surprised.
“Yes, Master.” Daniel tried not to look sheepish. Theodore had told him over
and over that he was allowed to look at any of the books in here. So Daniel
had, since Theodore had left him in here all morning by himself while he went
out to meet someone in the city.
“Good, I’m glad.” Theodore crossed the room, gave Daniel a light hug and kissed
the top of his head. “What are you reading?”
“The Lives of the Saints, Master,” Daniel said, picking up the book and showing
it to Theodore.
“My goodness.” Theodore took the book from him, looking down at the page Daniel
had open. “Ah, yes. The Life of Saint Daniel.” He sounded both surprised and
amused.
“You said he was interesting, Master.” Saint Daniel hadn’t done anything
particularly interesting so far in the story except for catch people in lies
and make his friends stop fighting when he’d been young. He could also see
demons sitting on people’s heads, but he hadn’t done anything about them yet.
Daniel had only just gotten to the part where he grew up. “I wanted to see
why.”
“This is quite a challenging read, Daniel,” Theodore said, smiling down at him.
“You must be finding it difficult.”
“A little, Master,” Daniel admitted. There were probably easier books for him
to read. But he wanted to read this one.
“Just a little?”
Daniel nodded. “Yes, Master. Um…what’s an ‘arbitrator?’”
Theodore chuckled, sitting down in the chair Daniel had vacated and patting his
lap for Daniel to sit with him. “An arbitrator is a person who settles
disputes. In Saint Daniel’s case, it would have been someone whose job was to
sort out whether someone had broken the law or not if someone were to be
accused of a crime.”
“Like a judge.”
“Somewhat, yes,” Theodore said, wrapping his arm around Daniel’s middle.
“Though an arbitrator works for the church rather than the crown. We don’t have
them any longer.”
“What happened to them?”
“After the Flame War, Queen Maia the Great and the High Priest Julian the Pure
decided together that it was best for the crown to worry about earthly law and
the church to worry about heaven’s laws. So the arbitrators became the Orders.”
“Monks?” Daniel asked. That seemed like a funny thing for judges to go and
become.
“And nuns, yes.” As Daniel nodded, Theodore looked down at the book. “Would you
like to keep reading?”
“No, that’s alright, Master. I can…”
“Nonsense, Daniel.” Theodore patted his head, and placed the book back in
Daniel’s hands. “I taught you to read so that you could read when you wanted,
not put the book down every time I walk into a room. You can keep reading, and
I can help you if there are more words you don’t know.”
“Okay.” Daniel said, smiling a little despite himself. He wished Theodore
wouldn’t hold him quite so tightly. “Thank you, Master.” He looked down at the
book, taking a moment to find the place that he’d been at, and took a breath.
“At twenty, Daniel came into the attention of the arbitrator of the town of Ash
me…mead…Meadow.” That was a strange name for a town. “The arbitrator was slave
of the Master of…Lies?”
“Yes.” Theodore nodded, resting his chin on top of Daniel’s head and looking
down at the book. “It’s one of the names of the devil.”
Daniel supposed that made sense. “To the Master of Lies, but he walked in the
gui…guise. Guise?”
“Like disguise.”
“Right. Guise of a holy man of the church.”
The Life of Saint Daniel was quite lengthy, as it turned out. Daniel soldiered
through his trials after he was arrested several times on false charges, before
finally exposing the evil arbitrator and taking his place in the town, settling
all the disputes with God’s grace and light.
Daniel never learned how to get rid of the demons that he saw on people’s
heads, though, and it made him worry more and more as he realized that only by
purifying them could people be able to get to heaven.
“So, filled with gr…grief, the blessed Daniel barred the gates of Ash Meadow in
the dark night, and he took to himself a torch, and he took fire to the
gra…grai…ery. To the granary?”
“The place where the villagers kept their food stores,” Theodore supplemented.
Daniel nodded. “And he took fire to the granary and prayed to God to spread the
flames of pur…purif…ication. Purification to the people of Ash Meadow. And God
heard Daniel’s cry, and del…delivered the people from the demons, burning them
all in the holy fire, casting the demons to hell and the people, in their
suffering, were ele…vated. Elevated to heaven.”
“Elevated means brought up,” Theodore said quietly.
Daniel only partially heard him, looking down at the words and trying to figure
out how they might mean anything other than what they did. “He burned them all
to death,” he whispered, feeling a little weird in his stomach. “The whole
town. He barred the gates so they couldn’t escape.”
“Yes, he did.”
“Why?” Daniel asked, even though he’d just read the story and he knew the
answer. “Why did he do that? There must have been another way to get rid of the
demons.”
“If there was, Saint Daniel couldn’t see it.”
“Because he had his eyes covered.” Daniel muttered, remembering the statue in
Theodore’s dining room.
“Perhaps,” Theodore agreed. “But it worked—he came up with an unexpected
solution to his problem, and it worked. Somewhat like you, wouldn’t you say?”
Daniel shook his head. Did Theodore really think he was like that? He didn’t
care what Theodore thought, Daniel reminded himself. But still. “No, Master.
I…I wouldn’t do that. I wouldn’t burn a town down.” He could feel himself
starting to cry. Upset. He told himself. Sadness? No, something else.
Fear?
Would Daniel have burned down the town, if he’d thought it was the best way?
“No,” Theodore said, holding Daniel more tightly again. “You wouldn’t. I’m
sorry, Daniel, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“It’s not your fault, Master. I’m sorry for…” He didn’t know what he was sorry
for.
“It’s fine. You’re entitled to your feelings. Perhaps I ought to have warned
you that this was in the story before you read it. But, Daniel. It’s just a
story. It probably never happened.”
“Then why is it part of the story?” Daniel wanted to know. Why would they
include something so awful in the story of a saint?
“I don’t know. Perhaps the church felt that the message was important enough to
keep in. It’s hard to say how stories get to be the way they are.” Daniel
nodded, still feeling strange. “Would you like to keep reading?” Theodore asked
him after a moment. “This is the most famous part of the story, but a lot of
other things happen to Saint Daniel as well.”
“No, Master.” Daniel shook his head, looking down at the book. “I’d…I’d like to
stop reading for a while. I’ll finish it another day.”
“Of course.” Theodore took the book from Daniel and set it on the table, and
then put both his arms around Daniel, holding him in place. It was too hot for
this, but Daniel was comfortable with the warmth, with the closeness, with
another person. Even if it was Theodore. “Are you all right?”
Daniel nodded, but it was a lie. “Yes, Master. I’m sorry. It’s a silly thing to
be upset about.”
“No, it isn’t, Daniel,” Theodore said quietly, kissing Daniel’s ear.
They sat there for a long while, and the whole time and for the rest of the
day, Daniel couldn’t keep the question out of his head. No matter how many
times he answered no, it kept coming back.
Would he have burned down the town too?
***** Very Few People Are Good or Evil, Most Are Morally Complex *****
Daniel rarely talked to the older slaves, and they seemed happy that way. They
had little to do with him, or Marcus or Hugh, all five of them preferring to
keep themselves. There was a pretty clear age division between the three of
them and the five older boys, who were really better called young men. Daniel
knew their names and not much else about them. It was obvious that Theodore was
no longer interested in them.
Which was why it was so surprising when Benedict knocked on the door that
evening. “Will, Charlie, Darian,” he said. “The master wants to see the three
of you in the sitting room.”
Daniel stopped, halfway to sitting when he’d heard the knock, looking at the
door. What did the Master want with them?
He wasn’t the only one. Marcus looked confused too, and Hugh looked surprised,
but he nodded to himself. Trevor and Al both looked upset. The three who’d been
called just looked resigned.
The older boys all stood, and there was a lot of hugging and talking in one
another’s ears. Daniel looked at Marcus, who looked just as lost, and at Hugh,
who didn’t say anything.
“See you guys,” Darian said with a sad wave as he went to the door.
“Good luck.”
“Be careful.”
And that was that, all three of them left. Trevor and Al sat down on one side
of the room, holding hands and murmuring at one another quietly.
“What’s going on?” Daniel asked, a little confused.
“The Master’s letting them go,” Hugh said, keeping his voice down.
“What?” Marcus asked. “Why?”
“He always does.” Hugh punctuated that with a nod. “I guess he hasn’t since
you’ve been here. But he always frees his slaves eventually.”
Daniel blinked. “He does?”
“Yeah. When we get too old.”
“When he’s not interested in fucking us anymore,” Marcus said, looking angry
but sounding nervous and sad.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Where do they go?” Daniel had known, or assumed, that the eight of them
weren’t the only slaves Theodore had ever owned. He’d assumed that Theodore did
something when them when they got too old, sold them back to the slavers, or
just to other people. Just passed them off to someone who wanted them. That was
what slaves were, after all. Just a commodity to be passed around.
“Wherever they want.” Hugh shrugged. “He gives them a bunch of money, some
clothes and stuff. Takes off their collars. Then they’re free. They can do
whatever they want. I think he sometimes offers them jobs working for him, but
I don’t know how many of them take it. I mean—would you?”
Daniel wouldn’t. But he didn’t say that aloud. “That’s really…it’s nice of
him.”
Theodore didn’t have to do any of that to slaves he was finished with.
“Is it?” Marcus asked, scowling now.
“I think so.”
“Hey, I can’t get it up to you anymore, here’s some money, get out of my life?”
Shaking his head, Marcus huffed. “Seems, well it seems really cruel to me.”
“That’s because you’re still in love with him,” Trevor said from the other side
of the room. It hadn’t occurred to Daniel that the two of them would be
listening in, but it was a small space. Of course they had been. Marcus
probably wasn’t trying to glare, but he did. “It is. In a few years when you’re
over that and you’re just tired and want to get out, it’ll seem like a
blessing. Will’s been sitting here for five years with nothing to do but watch
as the Master replaced him again and again. It hurts, you know?”
Red in the face, wearing his own look of hurt, Marcus looked away. “Yeah, I
know.”
“At least he’s giving them something,” Hugh said, voicing what Daniel had been
thinking. Daniel didn’t want to voice it himself—suddenly he didn’t feel
totally welcome in this conversation. “He could just turn them out on the
street with nothing. Or he could sell them, put them to work for him somewhere.
At least he’s giving them something.”
“It still seems cruel,” Marcus muttered.
It didn’t seem cruel to Daniel—if anything, it really challenged his view of
Theodore. If he were as heartless as he seemed, he’d might never release them
from slavery. It didn’t change what he was or what he did to all of them, but,
like wanting the slaves in Clement’s cages to have better lives, it was an
example of Theodore seemingly going out of his way to help people he didn’t
have to help. Granted, it was a problem he had the power to fix and instead was
only mitigating a little, but at least he was doing that. And Daniel couldn’t
help but ask himself whether that was something worth praising or not.
Theodore wasn’t a good person, Daniel wasn’t ever going to question that. But
did the fact that he wasn’t as awful as he could be mean something? Was it
something worth taking into consideration before Daniel stuck a knife in his
heart?
If he killed Theodore tonight, what would happen to Marcus and Hugh, to Trevor
and Al? They were still slaves, and would still be slaves if Theodore died. And
they’d be distributed with the rest of his estate, maybe to masters who
wouldn’t free them. Maybe to masters who wouldn’t do them the kindness—and
Daniel did think it was a kindness—of just ignoring them and letting them live
in his house and be taken care of once he was done with them.
As far as the four of them here in the room with Daniel were concerned, was
being Theodore’s slave really the worst thing that they could expect out of
life?
As far as any slave was concerned, wasn’t the world a better place if Theodore
was in it? He’d been right on the first day Daniel had met him. It could have
been a lot worse. It could have been some monster who bought him, who’d rape
him and hurt him, and just sell him to a brothel or something when he was
bored.
Was the world a better place with Theodore in it?
Daniel didn’t have answers to any of those questions. And he didn’t know if he
could really convince himself that killing Theodore was a good idea until he
did.
But then, did it matter if Daniel thought it was a good idea?
“Daniel?”
Daniel snapped out of his mind, jerking his head towards Hugh. “Yes?”
“You look upset.”
“Sorry,” He said, trying to clear his head. Now wasn’t the time to be worrying
about this. Later, when the others were asleep, or when he was with Theodore.
“I was just thinking.”
“It’s not worth you worrying about it right now,” Hugh assured him, patting
Daniel’s leg.
“I know.”
“It’ll be a really long time before it’s something you really have to think
about, I think.”
“Yeah,” Marcus agreed, and the bitterness that Daniel heard in his tone was not
nearly as pronounced as it might have been. He just sounded sad again. “He
still likes you.”
The implied ‘for now’ hung there in the air.
Daniel nodded. “I know,” he said, both to the spoken comment and to the
unspoken one.
His window wasn’t going to last forever. Eventually Theodore would get bored.
He may have all these new questions, but Daniel was running out of time to
answer them.
***** If It Doesn't Have a Solution, It's Not a Real Puzzle *****
Chapter Notes
     Oh look another plot relevant economics lecture (I'm going somewhere
     with all of this, I swear).
“I’ve something for you, Daniel.”
“Master?”
Theodore smiled, produced from his pocket a strange little contraption that
seemed to be made of thick wires. Daniel frowned at it. “It’s a puzzle. See if
you can get the pieces to come apart without bending them.”
Daniel took the puzzle tentatively, turning it over in his hands, wondering why
Theodore had decided to give it to him. They were sitting in the armchairs in
Theodore’s bedroom, reading. Daniel had been reading, anyway, a book about
dragons. One for children, and one he was still a little amazed he was having
almost no trouble with. But now he looked down at the puzzle, trying to get a
sense of how the pieces were fitted together. “Thank you, Master.”
“You haven’t asked me any questions in the last few days,” Theodore observed,
watching Daniel give the puzzle some experimental tugs.
“No, Master.” Daniel had been waiting for a good time.
“You’ve a few saved up now, I think.”
“Three, Master.” He’d done that on purpose. Since it was clear that Theodore
wanted to talk, he looked up for a moment. “May I ask one now, Master?”
“Of course.”
Daniel paused, following the shapes of the wires with his eyes. He felt his
heartbeat pick up and made himself breathe slowly. If he looked nervous,
Theodore would wonder why.
“Daniel?”
“What’s…” Daniel paused, thinking through the way he’d worded the question in
his head one more time. “Why are those stones you bought from Pascal and Calvin
so valuable, Master?”
Theodore went quiet for a moment, and Daniel looked up at him again. Theodore
was looking down at Daniel, clearly thinking. “I believe,” he said, “that I
probably ought to owe you another question just for that, Daniel.”
“I’m sorry, Master.”
“No, don’t be.” Theodore closed his own book—also on dragons, though harder to
get through—and set it on the table, facing Daniel and folding his hands. “Do
you know what makes something valuable, Daniel?”
Daniel didn’t. “No, Master.”
“There are a number of things that contribute. The first is how rare or
difficult to obtain something is. Diamonds and gold are valuable because they
aren’t everywhere, and it is a labourious process to get them out of the
ground.”
Daniel nodded, still working with the puzzle. He pushed a piece in and loosened
another.
“The second is what it can be used for. Cattle are valuable because we eat
them, fabric because it is made into clothing. Third is who wants it.” Theodore
gestured at the wall, where a painting of some horses hung. “Artwork like that
is valuable because wealthy people like myself want to have it, and so are
willing to outspend one another in order to do so.”
The piece Daniel had loosened was now irrevocably locked around another piece.
Daniel started working backwards. “Of course, value isn’t universal, Daniel, as
I suspect you are thinking.”
Daniel hadn’t really been, but he nodded.
“What is valuable to one person is not always so to another—for example, you
are extremely valuable to me, far more so than the gold I spent to obtain you.”
Focused on the puzzle, Daniel heard that a second late and looked up, feeling
his face warm up as he watched Theodore. “Master?”
“It’s true. I daresay I value you far more than did your parents. No amount of
money would convince me to part with you, Daniel.”
Well, that was because Theodore wasn’t starving and Daniel’s parents hadn’t
been having sex with him. Daniel was pretty sure he didn’t want to be valued
for the reasons Theodore valued him. And Daniel thought about the older slaves
who’d been freed, and wondered what amount of money they had parted from
Theodore with. “Thank you, Master.”
Theodore smiled at him. “Similarly, some people wouldn’t value that painting up
there, as it’s just oil on a canvas. On the converse, though we need fabric to
wear clothes, some types of fabric are more valuable than others, because
certain people want them, perhaps because they’re harder to get or more
expensive.”
“So all of the reasons combine with each other,” Daniel said, locking the
entire puzzle into place by mistake. He frowned down at it. If he could just
move that piece a tiny bit…
“Yes. Not all three always apply and sometimes all of them do, but those are
the general reasons. Of course, the ultimate reason why things are valuable is
because someone has decided that they are to be valuable. Elsewise, why should
any of us care who has the biggest pile of gold?”
Daniel nodded. That made sense, put that way.
“If you had to say, what do you think is the most valuable thing one could buy,
Daniel?”
Freedom. Daniel didn’t even need to think about that. But he did, for a moment,
working the pieces, trying to come up with something that Theodore would
accept. “Wood,” he finally said.
“Wood?”
“Lumber, Master.” Daniel paused, glancing up at Theodore to see his expression.
He looked thoughtful. “It might be easy to get, but it’s really important. We
need a lot of it. I think the most important of those three things you said is
what something can do, and we build everything out of lumber. We might decide
to stop caring about gold tomorrow, but we can’t stop building things out of
wood. Maybe stone, but then boats would sink. You can’t build houses from iron.
We’re always going to need lumber and, well…” Daniel thought about it some
more, carrying the thought all the way through. “I guess it’s easy to get, but
there are only so many trees in the world. Someday they’ll run out.”
For a long moment Theodore didn’t answer, and Daniel stopped working on the
puzzle to look up at him. Theodore was smiling to himself. “Yes, I hadn’t
thought of that. Now that you say that, you are very right, Daniel. I think,
for that, I owe you another question. Perhaps I shall invest in the forestry.”
Daniel couldn’t quite hide his smile.
“Most people wouldn’t think that lumber was that valuable. And that proves my
point that value is different for different people. And if we add that as a
corollary to my third point, we get something important.”
Daniel thought about it for a second, sensing that Theodore wanted his guess.
“Sometimes things are valuable to you because somebody else wants them.”
Somebody like Philip.
“That’s right.” Theodore sounded proud, and Daniel hated that that made him
happy.
Trying to move that once piece that short amount had created a tangle from
which Daniel couldn’t escape. He stopped working with the pieces, just looking
down at them and thinking about the way they were shaped.
“But you didn’t know Philip wanted them when you started looking for them.”
“Yes, that’s right as well.” Theodore was leading Daniel somewhere with this,
but Daniel wasn’t sure where.
“Somebody else wants them.” Daniel didn’t like being walked into having to ask
another question, but Theodore would be annoyed if he just left it at that.
“Who?”
“A man named Solomon. Not somebody you would know,” Theodore added, before
Daniel could start thinking through all of Theodore’s friends. “Then, of
course, your next question is…”
“Why does Solomon want them?”
Theodore smiled. “Because of what they do.”
“You told Calvin they were dangerous.”
“They are.”
Aha, Daniel thought, realizing what he had to do. “What do they do?”
“They are very powerful magical weapons that can make magic practitioners who
use them exceedingly strong.”
Daniel suddenly really, really wished that Theodore hadn’t let Gideon know he
had them.
“What does Solomon want to do with them?”
“What would you do with them if you had them, Daniel?” Theodore asked him
quietly.
“I’d throw them in the ocean so nobody could use them.”
“Wise as well as clever.” Theodore looked sad for a moment. “He doesn’t want to
throw them in the ocean, Daniel.”
Daniel nodded, and moved a piece, and the puzzle came apart in his hands, the
pieces separating nicely.
“Well done. I tried to get it apart for an hour before giving up. Would you
like to ask one more question?”
Daniel very much did, and the consequences of it be damned. “Were you telling
Calvin the truth when you said you wanted to put it on a shelf and never let
anyone use it?” It was all well and good for Theodore to want to keep the
stones away from this Solomon, but Theodore wasn’t someone Daniel wanted having
that kind of power either.
Maybe it was Solomon who’d paid for Daniel’s training.
Theodore smiled one more time, giving Daniel a long look. “Yes, I was. I
believe that’s the best thing to do with dangerous things.”
“Me too, Master,” Daniel said, fiddling with the pieces of the puzzle. Yet
another thing that Theodore was doing that was for the good of the world. If he
was telling the truth, that was. Keeping something so dangerous where it
wouldn’t be used seemed like a noble thing to be doing. Especially since Daniel
could easily foresee someone wanting to hurt Theodore to get the stones.
Maybe that was why he was here. Maybe he was the one who would be hurting
Theodore to get to the stones.
“Come here, Daniel.”
Daniel did as he was bid, came and sat on Theodore’s lap. Theodore put an arm
around Daniel’s middle and held him in place, and took the puzzle pieces in his
free hand, looking down at them. “I suspect you spent quite a long time wanting
to ask me that question, didn’t you?”
“Yes, Master.” There was no point in denying it.
“You needn’t be afraid of me, Daniel. I’m sure you must know that by now.”
“I do, Master.” Daniel wasn’t afraid of Theodore. “I’m not afraid.” He was
afraid of what would happen if he didn’t manage to kill Theodore. He was afraid
of what would happen if he did.
“Good.” Theodore gave Daniel a kiss on the ear. “I’m so glad you’ve come to me,
Daniel. I’ve never met anyone I enjoy being with as much as you.”
That struck Daniel like a punch to the stomach. How many people had ever
enjoyed being with him?
But it didn’t matter. Theodore was lying anyway. And Daniel could lie right
back. “Me either, Master. I’m glad to have met you.”
And he was, in a perverse way. Because if he hadn’t—if he hadn’t met Theodore,
Daniel’s life, like the lives of so many others, would be measurably worse than
it was right now.
And that was a puzzle Daniel couldn’t figure out.
***** The Ability to Say Yes Makes Everything So Much Better *****
Chapter Notes
     In which Daniel is, for once, given the choice about who gets to
     touch him.
“You just going to pout the entire time he’s gone?”
Daniel looked up from where he’d been counting flecks in the floorboards. “I’m
not pouting.”
“You are,” Marcus accused.
“I’m not.”
“Marcus is right.”
Daniel glared at Hugh. He didn’t feel that this warranted them ganging up on
him. “I’m just bored.”
Marcus rolled his eyes with a snort, and Daniel turned his glare to him
instead. “You didn’t really think he was going to take you with him, did you?”
“Of course not.” Theodore had gone on a trip to White Cape to inspect his new
ships now that they were complete. He’d been gone for two days and was likely
to be gone for two or three more.
“It’s nothing you did, Daniel,” Hugh assured him.
“I know. Slavery’s illegal in White Cape. It would have made problems if he’d
brought me. And…” Daniel trailed off.
“And what?”
“He’s going to the city docks, to look at the boats he’s having built. That’s,
um, where I was born.”
“Really?” Hugh had been laying on his back, looking up at the ceiling, but now
he rolled over to see Daniel better.
Daniel nodded. “There’s a dockside slum on the south end of the harbour. It’s
where my family lives.” Or at least it was where they had lived before they’d
sold him. Maybe they didn’t anymore, though Daniel thought it was unlikely that
they wouldn’t have stayed.
Now they were both looking at him. Hugh got up on his knees and patted Daniel’s
bare shoulder. “You okay?”
“Yes.” Daniel nodded. “I’m…a little relieved I didn’t have to go.” He felt bad,
but it was true. Daniel wasn’t sure what he would have done.
“I would be,” Hugh said, patting Daniel one more time. “He’ll be back in a few
days.”
“So stop pouting. It’s embarrassing.”
“I’m just bored,” Daniel repeated to Marcus. He was telling the truth. With
Theodore gone, there was nothing for him to do except sit in this hot little
room and sweat. He’d spent most of the day helping the servants out with chores
just for something to do, and for an excuse to be in a room with windows. He
had managed to sneak in an hour of tumbling practice in an empty room just
before supper, but hadn’t dared press it any longer than that no matter how
much Gideon’s face loomed in his mind.
Trevor and Al had snuck away to sleep outdoors tonight, and even though Daniel
was worried about what would happen when they got caught, part of him thought
he should have gone with them. None of them were wearing anything except their
collars because it was too hot even for that.
“Are we not interesting enough to hold your attention, Daniel?” Hugh asked him,
smiling so Daniel would know it was a joke.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“It’s totally what you meant. You’re mean, Daniel.” Marcus was grinning at him.
“I don’t think we can be friends anymore now that you’ve hurt my feelings.”
Daniel knew how to play this game too. “You have feelings?” he asked, with a
cheeky smile. “Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll pass soon.”
“Listen, you little shit.” Marcus moved a little clumsily, and Daniel read it
immediately and let it happen. Soon he was in a headlock and Marcus was rubbing
a fist into his scalp. “Teach you some manners.”
“I didn’t know you had those either,” Daniel said around giggles, from his
place under Marcus’s arm. Marcus was stronger than he looked, actually.
Hugh laughed. “Just keep making it worse for yourself, Daniel.”
“I’m not sure how it could be worse than being stuck under Marcus’s arm. You
know someone invented soap, right?”
“You’re sweaty too, shithead.”
While Daniel had been talking, though, he’d worked an arm around Marcus’s back,
and now got at Marcus’s side with his fingers, tickling him. “Crap, Daniel!”
It was too late, though. Marcus’s grip on him loosened, and Daniel lunged with
both hands, tickling fiercely. Marcus fell back, laughing, and Daniel straddled
him to get better access, merciless. “Fuck you,” Marcus managed, between
laughs.
“Manners, Marcus,” Daniel said, enjoying himself now.
“Okay, okay, okay,” Marcus panted. “Stop, stop.”
Daniel did, though he didn’t move, letting Marcus catch his breath. But as soon
as Daniel straightened, Hugh’s arms were under his, holding him in place and
pulling him backwards. Marcus surged up and it was Daniel getting tickled now,
not able to escape.
Well, a distant part of his mind knew he could escape, but not without hurting
Marcus or Hugh.
Hugh pulled him backwards and Daniel ended up half laying, half sitting on him
while Marcus got on top of both of them and kept tickling, his hands moving up
and down Daniel’s sides and over his belly, and Daniel couldn’t stop laughing.
Suddenly Marcus was a lot closer, pressed down against him, and he kissed
Daniel.
All three of them fell silent, went still. Daniel wasn’t laughing anymore.
Marcus was looking down at him as if he wasn’t sure what had happened.
Daniel’s collar was heavy around his neck.
Hugh broke the silence. “No fair,” he complained. “Marcus, I’ve been trying to
get you to kiss me for a year. But you kiss Daniel the first time you’re close
enough?”
“Whatever,” was Marcus’s response. He was red in the face, and he wasn’t alone.
Daniel chose to blame it on the heat.
He also chose to pretend that he didn’t realize, physically speaking, how much
all three of them had clearly been enjoying that tickling session. Suddenly the
fact that Marcus was not moving at all was very…frustrating.
“Um.”
“It’s okay, Daniel.” Hugh assured him, extricating his arms from Daniel’s and
wrapping them around him normally. “He’s not going to get mad.”
That seemed unlikely to Daniel. “How do you know?”
“He told us when he left to make sure we took care of you. That was what he
meant.”
Marcus nodded on top of Daniel. “He doesn’t care what we do with each other.”
He rolled his eyes. “He probably gets off on it.”
“How come I never knew that?” Theodore had never said anything about this to
Daniel.
“Because you spend all your time with him,” Hugh reminded him gently. “It’s
okay. You won’t get in trouble and neither will we. He might ask you to tell
him about it, though. Which he’ll also get off on, trust me.”
Daniel didn’t want to tell Theodore about this. Whatever this was. But he
guessed he wouldn’t have much of a choice, since Hugh and Marcus were here too
and they would likely tell him if Daniel didn’t. “Um.”
“Hugh and I don’t own you, Daniel,” Marcus said, drawing him back to reality
before Daniel could start thinking. “You’re allowed to say no to us. I mean.”
He smiled. “Part of you is saying yes, but if the rest of you says no, we’ll
stop.”
Part of Marcus was saying yes too, and Hugh too. And maybe it was just because
it was because he was naked and sweaty and hard and sandwiched between two
people he liked who were also naked and sweaty and hard, but Daniel was having
a hard time coming up with any reason why the rest of him shouldn’t also say
yes.
So Daniel nodded.
Marcus leaned in and kissed him again, for longer than second this time. It was
nice, very nice. When Theodore kissed Daniel it was always hungry and
possessive even when he was being gentle, and Marcus was a little domineering
but not at all in the same way. He pushed Daniel back a little, into Hugh, one
hand stroking Daniel’s hair as they kissed. Marcus seemed perfectly happy to
just kiss him without any input from Daniel, and that alone was impetus enough
for Daniel to kiss back, and suddenly it was faster and deeper and Marcus was
moving on top of him.
Hugh slid a hand in between them and Daniel felt it close around him and Marcus
both, pressing them together, stroking them as they moved into each other.
Feeling Hugh rubbing against his lower back, Daniel snaked his arm around
behind himself and grabbed Hugh on his second try, feeling Hugh hiss in his ear
before his breath picked up to a series of pants that filled his hearing.
They were both of them hot, so hot, and Daniel didn’t know if he could handle
it, he was going to overheat. Marcus’s lips were hot on his, and Hugh’s breath
was hot in his ear, and Hugh’s hand and Marcus’s fingers and both of their
bodies were enveloping Daniel, wrapping him in their heat. It was nothing,
nothing at all like when Daniel was with Theodore.
Daniel came with a gasp that had him inhaling Marcus’s breath, and as he did
Hugh let out a strained little noise in his ear, and he as well came all up
Daniel’s back and hand. Marcus stopped kissing Daniel and buried his face in
Daniel’s shoulder as he came as well with a quiet cry.
They fell apart, Marcus sliding onto the floor and Daniel leaning sideways,
needing to breathe a little. The stuffy air of the small room felt a lot
fresher all of the sudden. Hugh leaned back against a wall and Daniel ended up
laying sprawled across his lap, Marcus laying on his back with his feet near
Daniel’s head.
“Your feet smell bad,” Daniel muttered, letting the happy buzz fill his head
for a while.
“Shut up.”
Hugh giggled. “You still bored, Daniel?”
Daniel smiled at the ceiling. “No. I guess not.”
“Good. Me either. He won’t be home for a few more days.”
“I’ve never done that with anyone before,” Marcus said, not looking at them but
fiddling with his collar. “I mean, not with anyone I wanted to.”
That, Daniel thought, was something important for Marcus to have admitted. That
he hadn’t wanted to be with Theodore.
“Me either,” Daniel told him.
“It was…I liked it.”
Daniel nodded.
“That’s why I’ve been trying to talk you into it for a year, asshole,” Hugh
sighed.
“Yeah, yeah.”
This was not a comfortable lying position. Daniel shifted so he wasn’t across
Hugh’s legs anymore, sitting up against the wall beside Hugh instead so the
mess on his back didn’t smear onto anything. “You okay, Daniel?” Hugh asked
him.
Daniel nodded. “I’m okay. Are you guys okay?”
“Of course we’re okay, dumbass,” Marcus grumbled, sighing.
“Um…” Daniel paused, a thought occurring to him. He realized too late that he
didn’t want to say it out loud, though.
“Spit it out.”
“Just…we’re friends, right?”
It felt silly, saying that. It was a silly thing to ask. Of course they weren’t
friends. They were only here together because of Theodore. None of them would
have anything to do with each other if it weren’t for him.
Daniel expected awkward silence at best. But he was surprised. “Of course we
are,” Hugh told him.
“Yeah.” Marcus sounded a little more tentative, but he still said it. “We’re
stuck here together, aren’t we?”
Daniel couldn’t help the honest, open smile that came to his face at that.
“Yeah, we are.” He closed his eyes, not caring at all how hot or stuffy the
room was. Because he was in here with his friends. His friends. He had to
protect them. Save them. “Thank you, both of you.”
“God, you kiss him for five minutes and he gets all weird.”
“He was already weird.” Hugh patted Daniel on the shoulder. “Don’t oversell
yourself, Marcus.”
“Guess I’ll have to kiss you too and prove it.”
“Guess you will.”
Daniel just sat there and listened to the two of them, not able to stop
smiling. He would have given anything, just then, to have this, just this, the
three of them, forever. Friends.
***** Sometimes It’s Important to Speak Your Mind No Matter the Consequences
*****
“A message for you, sir.”
Daniel looked up as Benedict handed Theodore the folded letter, quickly
averting his eyes again to the bowl of crab soup in front of him. Theodore took
the letter and nodded, and Benedict stepped back and out of the dining room,
leaving the two of them alone. Theodore always insisted that they servants all
leave when they were eating together.
As Theodore opened the letter, Daniel carefully didn’t watch him, instead
spooning more crab soup into his mouth. It was a lot more watery than the usual
soup, and Daniel liked it quite a bit more.
“Your curiosity is palpable, Daniel,” Theodore said, not looking up from the
letter.
Daniel stopped eating. He was curious, that was the truth. But he’d been hiding
it just fine. Or he’d thought he had been. “I’m sorry, Master.”
“Don’t be. You needn’t hide your curiosity from me, Daniel. It is something I
like about you, and encourage.” Theodore looked up, smiled at him. And he
handed Daniel the letter.
Daniel took it, putting his spoon back in his bowl.
Master Theodore, Daniel read, trying not to move his lips as he figured out the
words, your proposal has me intrigued.
“In…trig…intrig-ued.” That didn’t sound like a word Daniel knew.
“Intrigued,” Theodore supplied. “It means interested.”
“Oh.” Daniel knew what ‘intrigued’ meant. He just didn’t know how to spell it.
“Thank you, Master.”
I must, however, repeat what I said in our meeting. I feel your offer would
deprive Merket of a necessary service and you would quickly find yourself out
of business were you to attempt changes to the current way of running the slave
market. Distasteful as you may find it, it is the case that cats will always
chase mice, and there will never be a shortage of mice. Someone must provide
those mice, or what will the cats eat? I therefore must decline your offer and
request that you not try to convince me further.
The letter was unsigned.
Daniel finished reading it through after a few minutes, and realized he’d been
tapping his fingers on the table. “It’s from Clement, isn’t it?” he asked,
after a moment of thought.
“Yes, that seems to be the case. What do you make of it, Daniel?” Now Theodore
sounded curious. “I have thoughts, but I’m interested to hear yours first.”
“I don’t understand why he sent you a letter to tell you the same thing he
already told you before.” As Daniel said that, though, he thought about what
the letter said, face scrunching a little in a frown. Confusion. “Except…”
“Except that isn’t what he said before, now is it?” Theodore sounded amused,
now.
“No.” Daniel shook his head. “Before he just told you he wasn’t interested. He
never said anything about his market being necessary for the city.”
“Indeed. He also didn’t say that we’d be out of business quickly if we tried.
Which would suggest that…”
Theodore had trailed off expectantly, so Daniel nodded. “That someone else will
just start up the same business again if you stop this one.” He felt a little
sick to his stomach now, and wished he hadn’t eaten so much. He’d known that
someone wanted Clement’s market to run the way it did, but with that much
intention… “But…if he’s telling you that now, isn’t he lying when he says he
doesn’t want to talk to you about it anymore?”
“Yes, I expect so. I think his having said that is meant to tell me that he
does want to hear from me again—under the right circumstances.”
“Once you’ve figured out a way to get him away from whoever’s making him run
the market that way,” Daniel guessed, looking down at the letter. “The cats.”
“Exactly.” Theodore nodded, took the letter back from Daniel. “And he’s done us
the courtesy of telling us who it is that we have to deal with, as well.”
“Master?” Daniel hadn’t noticed that.
Theodore smiled at him. “Not something I’d have expected you to notice. The
mention of cats and mice. The city guard here in Merket are not infrequently
referred to as alley cats by those who see them as not much better than common
thugs—but thugs who keep the worst of the city’s rat population under control,
at least.”
Rats, Daniel guessed, must mean people like his family. “So it’s the city
guard, then.”
“Or someone in their upper ranks, at least. That seems more likely that the
whole guard being that corrupt. I think we’re to look at their commander,
Wendell Tyrane, or perhaps one of their captains. I believe there are five at
the moment.” Theodore lapsed into thought. “One freshly promoted, Abigail
Greentide.”
That was a noble’s name. “If she’s new, she’s the least likely to be the one
you’re looking for.”
“I agree, but that also means she’s the best candidate to help us find out
who’s responsible.” Theodore nodded. “I believe I’ll arrange to have dinner
with her.”
Worry. Daniel thought that if she was the kind of person who would want to stop
whoever was making Clement do what he was doing, she was also the kind of
person who wouldn’t trust Theodore. After all, Theodore liked children too,
even if Daniel and the others were a little older and treated a little better
than Clement’s slaves.
“Master.” Daniel nearly bit his tongue off at that. He’d spoken without fully
thinking through what he needed to say.
“Yes, Daniel?” Theodore smiled at him.
“I think…that you should be careful talking to her. She might…” Well, he’d
committed to saying this now. “If she doesn’t know you, she might think that
you’re like Clement. I think you should ask one of your friends to talk to her
instead.”
There was a heavy silence for a moment as Theodore watched Daniel, expression
guarded. “Yes,” Theodore said after a moment. He nodded. “I believe you are
right, now that you’ve said that.”
Daniel just nodded.
“You’re shaking.” Theodore observed, and Daniel was, a little bit. “It must
have been hard for you to make yourself say that aloud.”
“Yes, Master. I’m sorry.”
“You were worried I’d be cross with you?”
Not able to make himself look up, Daniel nodded again.
“I’m not. It was a good observation to make, and I’m not one to be angry with
people who’ve said intelligent things, even intelligent things that I don’t
like to hear. My…proclivity for boys your age is known among many circles in
the city, so you are right to point out that it might hinder my attempts to
shut down Clement’s enterprise. Now that you’ve pointed it out, I do wonder if
Clement’s haste in dismissing me last time was partially motivated by that as
well.”
“It may have been, Master,” Daniel admitted, though he wasn’t sure.
“Perhaps I ought not to have brought you.” Theodore chuckled. “But then I’d be
dead, wouldn’t I? No, I’m pleased with how this has gone so far. Once again,
you’ve given me a new perspective on a problem.”
A perspective that wouldn’t have ever occurred to Theodore because Theodore
didn’t pause to consider the feelings of his slaves, Daniel told himself,
instead of letting himself be proud.
“I shall enlist Georg and Cassiopeia, I think.” Theodore nodded. “I’m very
proud of you, Daniel.”
“Master?” Now Daniel looked up.
“For being willing to speak your mind about that. Normally I need to prod your
thoughts out of you, but this time you gave them without my urging. And on
something you feared I might become angry about. I’m very proud.”
Daniel was just trying to stop countless slaves from being raped. If that meant
speaking his mind when he probably shouldn’t, then so be it. If that meant
helping Theodore get what he wanted, then so be it. “Thank you, Master. I just
want to help.”
“You have, a great deal. I must think of a way to reward you.”
The only reward Daniel wanted was this collar off his neck.
“In the meantime, however, I shall contact my friends and explain the situation
to them. I’m sure they would be willing to help. I wonder if Gideon might be
able to lend his services as well…”
Shit. Daniel needed to get Theodore to see that was a bad idea without
explaining why. That was going to have to wait until he’d thought it through a
little more, though. He really didn’t need Theodore alerting his would-be
killers of anything that they didn’t need to know.
And that aside, for everything that had happened, Daniel trusted Theodore much
farther than he trusted Gideon. And that, when he realized it, terrified him.
***** Many a Moral Conundrum Has Been Cut Short By an Ultimatum *****
“Everything I know suggests that Greentide isn’t corrupt—or at least that she’s
less corrupt than most,” Georg said to Theodore, tapping his plate with his
fork. “If we approach her the right way, I don’t see that there will be any
issue with convincing her to work with you on this.”
“I am a little curious as to why you care, Theodore.” Cassiopeia had been
skeptical about this from the start and hadn’t hidden it, and even now Daniel
could hear it in her voice. “I mean, what Clement is doing down there is
terrible, don’t get me wrong, but this kind of humanitarian cause has never
been your usual fare.”
While Daniel thought of stones gathering dust on a shelf and wondered if
Cassiopeia was right about that, Theodore smiled at her. “I see a problem and I
have a way of solving it,” he said, with a small inclination of his head.
“Perhaps I haven’t had the best record of making the world a better place, but
I do like to try when I know it’s possible to succeed, at least.”
“That’s a lot of words for something that isn’t an answer to my question.”
Theodore kept smiling, though Daniel read that he was annoyed. Cassiopeia’s
tone was bothering Daniel too, though he thought her question was fair.
“Slavery is a reality of the world,” Theodore said after a second, reaching out
and briefly touching Daniel’s arm. They were all sitting in the dining room and
Daniel was standing beside Theodore, having finished serving the food. “That
doesn’t mean that it must necessarily be horrendous. The unfortunate young
people who have been sold into slavery deserve better than what happens to them
in Clement’s cages.”
A month ago Daniel wouldn’t have believed for one second that Theodore really
thought that, but now he thought that maybe he’d been wrong about that. He knew
that making money was Theodore’s main motivation, but he could have done that
in a thousand different ways, and he’d chosen to do it in a way that would help
a bunch of people.
Now it was Cassiopeia’s turn to smile. “You don’t have to convince me,
Theodore. It just seemed a little out of keeping for you, is all.”
Theodore nodded, glancing over to the door when Benedict came in with the main
course of their lunch. Theodore put his hand on Daniel’s arm again, looking up
at him from the chair. “Gideon always manages to appear just when the food is
served. Would you go greet him at the door, Daniel?”
“Yes, Master.” Try as he might, Daniel hadn’t been able to find a way to
convince Theodore that he needed to leave Gideon out of this. He couldn’t even
bring it up without having to tell Theodore why he didn’t like Gideon, and he
couldn’t do that. The closest he’d been able to come had been to say he didn’t
understand why they might need help from a wizard, and Theodore had just told
him that it was always useful to have magic on their side when possible.
Their side, he’d said, rather than his side.
Daniel left the three of them alone with Benedict and made his way out to the
front hall, wondering again why Theodore was having him greet Gideon instead of
Benedict. He could have served the food just fine.
Maybe it was just that bringing someone into the dining room was beneath
Benedict, but Daniel didn’t think so since that seemed to be his job. He was
starting to think that maybe Benedict didn’t like Gideon and so Theodore tried
to keep them apart, or something.
He didn’t waste a lot of time thinking about it since it wasn’t something he
could answer, and soon Daniel was at the front door, waiting for Gideon, trying
to control his heartbeat and breathing as he did.
True to Theodore’s prediction, a knock came at the door not a few seconds
later, and all Daniel did was look up at the sound. He pulled the door open and
stepped aside to let Gideon in, looking at the floor. “Good afternoon, sir. My
Master is waiting for you in the dining room.”
“He did promise there would be lunch,” Gideon said, stepping past Daniel and
into the house. He’d added a bit of blue to his hair and had more bracelets on
than Daniel remembered. “I’m sure he told you to bring me there, so don’t let
me stop you from doing as he said. Lead the way, intrepid one.”
It wasn’t the things Gideon said that bothered Daniel so much as the way he
said them. He always sounded like he was making fun of Daniel. Even when he’d
been training them before Daniel had come here, Darwin had always seemed like
he was telling himself a joke that nobody but him could hear.
But Daniel just nodded, keeping his gaze on the floor, and headed towards the
dining room.
“So what errand does Theo need run for him today?” Gideon asked as they walked.
“More dangerous artifacts to authenticate? Or did someone try to poke some new
holes in him again?”
“The Master is planning a business venture that he wants your help with,”
Daniel said, not looking up.
“Oh?” Gideon tilted his head at Daniel. “And what business venture is that? I’m
not much of a money-grubber.”
“I don’t know. I’m just a slave.”
“That sounds like a lie, Danny.”
“If you’re displeased with my behaviour you should tell my Master. He will
punish me appropriately.”
Gideon snorted. “I’m sure.”
Daniel heard a whisper of metal and leapt to the right, spinning as he did to
avoid the knife Gideon had just pulled on him, slashing out in an arc that
would have taken him in the head. “What are you doing?” Gideon didn’t answer,
just slashing back, and Daniel jumped again, this time to Gideon’s left. Gideon
kicked out at him and Daniel stepped back to avoid it, batting Gideon’s leg
away.
Gideon lunged with the knife, and when Daniel ducked to avoid it his chest met
Gideon’s other hand and he was thrown into the wall with a hard thunk, spun
around to face it and pinned with his left arm behind his back. “You’re
disappointingly bad at this,” Gideon told him casually.
“It’s not like he’s going to pull a knife on me in the hallway!” Daniel
growled, making himself not struggle and just going still while Gideon held
him. Gideon wasn’t stupid enough to loosen his grip, unfortunately. “You could
have killed me just then.”
“That’s true, at least you were good enough to avoid that. Would have been
tricky to explain to poor Theo.” Gideon was holding the knife in his free hand.
He was a fair bit taller and heavier than Daniel, so he wasn’t going to be able
to force him off. “Guess I could have just told him I found a killer in his
house.”
“And ruin all the work you people put into getting one here?” Daniel demanded,
closing his eyes and trying to figure out where Gideon had pulled that knife
from. He’d had it under his clothes, and Daniel tried to picture what he’d
looked like when he’d come in. His usually baggy tunic and pants, big on him to
hide anything he had under. A bit of a fold in the shirt, where he’d probably
had the knife. Another one…Daniel frowned. Had that second fold been there on
Gideon’s leg or was he just hoping it had been?
“For all the fucking good it’s done us, Danny,” Gideon said, tapping the knife
against the back of Daniel’s neck. “Theo is still very alive, which is the
opposite of what we’d like for him to be.”
His heart was racing but Daniel could feel every beat, and he seemed to himself
to move in slower time as he let his unpinned arm fall to his side, swing back
to Gideon’s leg. He found the fold, where he’d thought it was, and slipped two
fingers inside it as Gideon made a noise, curled them around the hilt of a
second knife. Daniel pulled the knife into his hand, slashed out behind himself
as Gideon leapt away.
Gideon’s face was a mask of surprise but Daniel didn’t give him a second to
recover, pushing off from the wall and aiming the knife right at Gideon’s
belly. Gideon managed a parry with his blade, and Daniel pulled back, aiming
his next strike for Gideon’s fingers. Gideon spun and rather than following him
Daniel went to where he was going to end up, slashing upwards and nicking
Gideon on the cheek even as Gideon’s blade grazed over his shoulder.
Gideon yelped a little and suddenly Daniel was slammed back against the wall,
and held there by something he couldn’t see. Gideon was holding his free hand
out, and for a second Daniel could see his eyes, cold as death. But his usual
mocking smile returned a moment later. “Now, that was good. Makes me think you
were worth training after all. You’ll have a career as an assassin if you want
it after this.” He was bleeding from a cut on his cheek.
Daniel knew that, he knew he was good. He didn’t need to be told. Pushing down
the strange feeling in his stomach at that, Daniel just glared at Gideon even
as Gideon’s magic wrenched his hand open and made him drop the knife. “What are
you doing?” he demanded. “Someone could have seen you.”
“But they didn’t,” Gideon answered with a shrug. “What are you doing, Daniel?
It doesn’t take this long to stick a knife in someone. You can keep that one if
you really need one.” As he spoke, he reached up with a hand and put it over
the cut on his face. There was a brief shimmer and when Gideon dropped his
hand, the cut was gone.
“I have one.” Daniel looked away.
“Then use it. What’s the problem?”
“There’s no problem,” Daniel lied.
“Good. Because the powers that buzz are getting impatient and they’re taking it
out on me.”
Now Daniel looked back up at Gideon, trying to see past the joking. Was that
worry in his face? “Why don’t you just kill him, then?”
“Not my job. It needs to be one of his slaves who does it. You think we
couldn’t have just put an archer on a roof and put an arrow in his eye if we
wanted? There’s a specific way they want this to play out, don’t ask me why
because I wouldn’t tell you if I knew.” Gideon let out a long sigh, let Daniel
down from the wall and picked up his other knife. Both knives disappeared into
his clothes. “But they want him dead soon more than they want whatever image
they’re going for. You do it, or someone else will and you know what happens to
you then.”
“I know.” Daniel rolled his shoulders, pretending that his muscles didn’t hurt
from being slammed into the wall. He was shaking a bit from the adrenaline, and
tried to bring that under control with a breathing technique he knew.
One Darwin had taught him, actually.
“Say it out loud, Daniel.”
Daniel flashed a glare at Gideon, but he huffed a little and did as he was
told. “I’ll be a slave forever. I’ll be part of Theodore’s estate and given to
someone else, and I’ll never have the chance to escape.” Chances were he’d be
given to someone worse than Theodore. Maybe he’d end up in one of Clement’s
cages. “I know, Darwin.”
“Then do it soon, Daniel. I don’t want to hear about a plan, I don’t want to
hear an excuse. Because you might end up someone’s slave forever, but the other
possibility is…” Gideon reached out, ran a finger along Daniel’s neck. He
stepped back when Daniel shivered. “They don’t like liabilities.”
“I’m not a liability.” Daniel suppressed the spike of fear he felt.
“Then stop fucking around,” Gideon told him, eyes going cold again. “Because
there’s only two ways it ends for you if Theo still has a pulse next time I
come by, and neither of them are good. Nobody’s coming to save you. So save
yourself before it’s too goddamn late.”
And with another sigh, Gideon turned away and started heading towards the
dining room.
“Darwin.”
“Don’t call me that, kid.”
“Are you trapped too?”
There was a long silence between them, and Gideon stopped walking. He didn’t
look back at Daniel, and stood stock still for a long minute. He slumped a
little. “We’re all trapped, Daniel. Every one of us. Doesn’t matter if you wear
a collar or not.”
Daniel nodded, thinking about that. Who were these people?
He just led Darwin to the dining room, letting the silence between them stretch
on as they walked. When they got there, Daniel put his hands on the door to
open it and paused, his other hand coming up to the collar, brushing fingers
over it. He looked up at the young man whose name he didn’t know. “Yes, it
does,” Daniel said quietly.
The young man’s expression was unreadable for a moment, and Daniel gave him a
minute to get himself under control before he pushed the door open and stood
aside, letting him into the room. “Theo!” Gideon called. “And Cassie and Georg,
too. How can I lend my countless services today?”
Expression neutral, Daniel followed him in and quietly went to stand behind
Theodore’s chair. Theodore smiled up at him and Daniel smiled back, and then
Theodore went into explaining to Gideon what he was trying to do with Clement’s
market. Every so often he would reach up and brush Daniel’s arm with his
fingers, but all Daniel could feel was his own heartbeat.
***** Moments of Truth Are Hard on Liars *****
Chapter Notes
     Been waiting for this for a long while now.
Theodore slept, but Daniel didn’t.
He was laying on Theodore’s chest, Theodore’s arm wrapped around him. Both of
them were still damp from their bath near an hour ago, and Daniel was still
sore from Theodore’s cock before that.
He liked that he was sore. It reminded his body that this wasn’t normal, it
wasn’t something that was supposed to happen to him. If it didn’t hurt, that
would mean he was getting used to it.
Daniel wasn’t getting used to it, and tonight was the last time it would ever
happen. The last time anyone would ever touch him like that. The last time
Theodore would ever touch him—the last time Theodore would ever touch anyone.
Tonight was the night that Daniel was going to kill Theodore.
Theodore’s breathing had long since gone soft with sleep, but Daniel had lain
on top of him for a long while, just making sure, just running through his plan
one more time. It was a pretty straightforward plan. Finally, he took a bit of
a breath—not a deep one, he didn’t want to alert Theodore that anything was
off—and lifted his head from Theodore’s chest, then pushed himself the rest of
the way up when Theodore didn’t react.
Daniel slid from the bed, moving off into the privy like he always did at
night. Even sleeping, people could have an awareness of their surroundings, and
if Theodore noticed that something was unusual, Daniel was going to miss his
chance. A gap in the curtains let a streak of bright moonlight into the room,
but Daniel was grateful for the total blackness of the privy.
One more time he went through it in his mind, how he’d do it, how he’d get out
through the balcony, how he’d sneak through the grounds and off of Theodore’s
property, where he was supposed to meet his employer who would arrange for him
to be out of the city by dawn. He had it all memorized, down to the details,
but Daniel went through it one more time, just to make absolutely sure for
himself that he hadn’t missed anything.
He relieved himself, washed his hands. Took a deep, quiet breath. He could do
this. He would do this. He had to, or else everything, all the training,
everything that had happened—not just to him but to all the others whose
freedom had been wasted in this whole effort—everything would be a waste. It
would all have been pointless. Daniel tugged a little at his collar. He refused
to let it be pointless.
The world was going to be a better place without Theodore in it. Daniel was
going to make the world a better place. He nodded to himself in the dark, took
one more steadying breath, and left the privy, re-entering the moonlit bedroom
in silence.
He padded over to the bed silently, crouching to reach under the bedside table
where he’d hidden the knife. Earlier in the evening he’d loosened it from its
hiding place and it lay on the floor now, in order to be quietly removed.
Daniel picked it up, held it firmly in his hand. He thought of the countless
boys who’d been in this room, in this bed, and clutched the knife hard to will
his hand to stop shaking. He had to do right by all of them. He couldn’t let
all of them have suffered for nothing.
Theodore didn’t sleep close enough to the edge of the bed that Daniel could
comfortably reach him standing, so he climbed back into the bed, tensing a
little when Theodore shifted. Shifted, but didn’t wake up. Daniel climbed on
top of him sat straddling him, holding the knife in his hand. Breathing.
Theodore slept on underneath him, unknowing. Breathing.
He was a monster. It didn’t matter how human he looked in the moonlight, how
vulnerable he looked asleep in his bed. He was a monster and the only way to
protect people from a monster was to kill it.
Daniel raised the knife, aimed to come down onto Theodore’s heart. In just a
minute, Theodore would be dead. In just a minute, the world would have one less
monster in it.
In just a minute, Daniel would be free.
In just a minute, all of those slaves in Clement’s cages would lose their
chance at any sort of better life.
In just a minute, the magical stones that Theodore was keeping from dangerous
people would be unprotected.
In just a minute, Marcus and Hugh would be part of Theodore’s estate. Slaves
for the rest of their lives.
In just a minute, Daniel would be free.
Nobody’s coming to save you. So save yourself before it’s too goddamn late.
His hand was shaking around the knife, and he had to use his other to keep it
steady. Tears stained Daniel’s cheeks, blurred his vision of Theodore laying
there. His muscles tensed and untensed, and his breath came in hisses that he
tried to keep quiet. Blood rushed in his ears and all through his body and
Daniel could feel it, everywhere. Pounding.
Theodore’s collar weighed so much around his neck.
To get himself under control Daniel squeezed his eyes closed for just a moment.
He heard a sob in the room and only after a second one followed did he realize
it they were coming from him. He had to do it now, he had to do it now, before
Theodore woke up. Before Theodore heard him and woke up and kept him chained up
forever. He had to do it now, he had to stop thinking about anything else and
stab the knife down into Theodore’s heart right now before it was too late.
He had to stop thinking about everyone else and think about himself. The world
would be a better place without Theodore in it, it would. He had to stop crying
like a baby and do what he’d come here to do, right now, Daniel.
“Daniel.”
Daniel jerked, eyes snapping open, blurred vision focusing on Theodore, who was
looking up at him in the dark. “Why are you crying?”
“I…” Theodore had to see. He had to be able to see the knife. He sounded so
worried when he asked that, though, like he really cared about Daniel. He
always sounded like he cared about Daniel. Did he really care about him? Did
this monster really care about Daniel?
If he did, he would be the first person who ever had.
“Daniel?”
“I…I don’t know,” Daniel sobbed, shaking all over.
“I have a guess,” Theodore said, hand coming up and closing around Daniel’s
wrist. “It’s because you’re about to try and do something that you really don’t
want to do. You’re about to make a decision that you know is wrong.”
“No.” Daniel shook his head as Theodore’s grip tightened on his wrist. “No, I…”
He shouted wordlessly, moved to ram the knife down into Theodore’s chest, into
Theodore’s heart. To kill Theodore.
But Theodore’s hand on his wrist was too strong, and it stopped him before he
got far enough. The knife couldn’t reach. Daniel couldn’t do it. Theodore
wasn’t going to die.
It was all pointless, all of it. Everything had been a waste. He couldn’t do
it. And now it was too late.
“Let go of the knife, Daniel.”
Letting out loud, heaving sobs, Daniel did as Theodore told him. Shame and
anger and fear and failure coursed through him, filling his soul as he cried.
Theodore took the knife and tossed it aside, and he sat up with Daniel in his
lap. Hugged him. “It’s all right, Daniel. You’re all right.”
“No.” Daniel shook his head, trying to pull out of Theodore’s hug and failing.
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. You’re going to be okay.” He didn’t sound surprised. Theodore
sounded like he’d expected this.
He’d known. How long, it didn’t matter. He’d known Daniel would try this.
So stupid. Daniel had fallen for it, let Theodore trick him, let Theodore play
him. He was so stupid.
“I…” Daniel hiccoughed, bringing a fist up, banging it against Theodore’s
shoulder. “I…”
He was a failure, worthless. Not worth the time they’d taken to train him, not
worth the money they’d spent on him. At least his parents had made a nice sum
of money selling him. That was all he was worth. All he was good for. His value
was as someone’s bedslave, and now that was all he was ever going to be,
because he hadn’t been able to stab a knife. You’re so useless, weak, stupid…
Useless.
Weak.
Stupid.
Slave.
“I hate you,” Daniel cried, pounding his fist against Theodore’s shoulder,
again, and again, and again. “I hate you, I hate you.”
“Shh…I know you do, Daniel. I know.” His voice was so quiet. Theodore’s voice
was so calm, and quiet and caring. And worried. Daniel had just tried to kill
him and Theodore was hugging him, patting his back, worrying about him. Why?
Why was he so…
“I hate you so much.” Useless, weak, stupid. “Just…die…” Daniel’s breath caught
on that last word and he degenerated into wordless bawling.
Theodore held him. Daniel cried and cried and kept crying until it all caught
up with him and he fell asleep, not knowing where he was going to wake up or if
he was going to wake up, and Theodore held him the whole time.
***** Moving On Is Harder Than Just Sitting in One Place *****
Two hundred silver pieces.
That was what he was worth, two hundred silver pieces. That was what he’d been
bought for, what all of them had been bought for. Two hundred silver pieces
each.
He’d been sold for eighty, negotiated down from a hundred. Profit all around.
The cart bumped and rumbled; they wouldn’t have been able to help from bumping
into each other, banging, touching each other even if they hadn’t been huddled
together for warmth and a security that didn’t exist. Five of them huddled in
that trundling cart, naked as the day they’d been born.
Except none of them had been born with iron collars around their necks.
Boys, the man who’d bought them had only wanted boys. That hadn’t gone
unnoticed; as he’d been led out of the cage he’d had a few jeers from the older
boys in there, saying a nice hard fucking would make him less of a crybaby
pretty quickly. That he’d look good with cum on his face. That he’d learn to
like it, he looked like he was made for it anyway.
He hoped they all died. He couldn’t help it if he’d been crying.
But so many of them, he had to wonder. Maybe they wanted them for work, or else
why so many of them? It made more sense to him that they were going to be
digging in a mine or building a barn or tending to cattle. Or working in a
brothel.
The cart ride went on for hours, interminable on the bumpy road, huddled
together, smelling of dirt and sweat and fear. He wanted a bath. He was
probably never going to have a bath again, just buckets of cold water to rinse
him off when he smelled. Maybe not even that. Maybe he’d be dirty for the rest
of his life.
Bradley, Roderick, Pascal, Greg, Daniel. Five of them, huddled up together in
this dark space, too small for them, waiting for the endless cart ride to end.
Dreading what would happen when it did.
He knew he was dreaming. This had already happened, and he knew what happened
when it ended. He knew he was dreaming, because he hadn’t known their names
yet, not when they were in the cart. That had been after.
After, when the cart had stopped, and the doors were thrown open. Blinding
afternoon light flooded into the room, making them all cover their eyes even as
they tried to look right into it. “All right, all of you out, let’s move.”
They did as they were told. They were slaves, of course they did as they were
told. They didn’t do it quickly, and some of them ended up being pulled out,
roughly. Some of them weren’t slaves yet, not in their heads. Just in body.
Even back then, he’d known the difference.
With a few new bruises on his back, he stood there with the others in a line.
The man who’d bought them standing there, pacing up and down. Impassive as he
looked down at all the shivering, naked boys in front of him. He was square and
unshaven, with eyes that always seemed to squint. They were on some cold grass
in front of what looked like a large manor home, bigger than any house he’d
ever seen.
“Welcome to your new home, boys. You should all know how lucky you are—we’re
not going to put you to dig in a mine and we’re not going to put you in
someone’s bed and make you spread your legs. Not yet, anyway. We’re going to
train you for something important. And if your luck holds, you won’t be slaves
forever. I’m Chance, but you’ll call me ‘sir.’ Your names, all of you. You
first.” Chance pointed at the first boy in the line.
“B-Bradley, sir…”
“Roderick.”
Chance wasn’t a person’s name, he thought. Not a name that parents gave to
their son. He wondered if someone had given it to him later in life or if he’d
picked it himself.
“Pascal…”
It didn’t matter, he figured. It didn’t matter what his real name was. They
were here, and they were going to do whatever Chance wanted them to do. It
didn’t matter.
“I’m Greg.”
“You?”
He didn’t look up from the ground when Chance stopped in front of him, didn’t
answer the question.
And got cuffed across the face for it. “Answer the question, boy.”
“Daniel!” he said, shouting it without meaning to. He could taste blood in his
mouth. “I’m Daniel, sir.”
Daniel wasn’t always clear on the difference between waking and sleep the last
few days. His head was throbbing, which he took as a sign he wasn’t sleeping
anymore. He was huddled up in his corner, the one he’d claimed when he’d been
brought back to the little room the morning after, the one he’d barely left
since then. His head was against the wall, had been the whole time he was
asleep. That was probably why it hurt.
He didn’t want to be awake. If Daniel had his way, he’d just sleep all the
time.
But Daniel didn’t get to have his way. He was a slave. Mind and body.
Theodore hadn’t said anything to him the next morning. He’d just told Daniel to
get dressed and go to the little slaves’ room. And Daniel had done as he’d been
told. He’d just come here like a mindless sheep, sat down in the corner and not
talked to anyone. Stared at the floor. Thought about what he’d done wrong.
Wondered how long it would take Theodore to decide what to do with him.
The others knew, or at least they knew that something had happened. They were
quiet, whispering around Daniel. Marcus gave him sad looks sometimes, and Hugh
smiled at him and told him he’d be okay. Daniel wasn’t sure which one he hated
more. There was a plate of food near his feet, some bread and cheese, a little
tin cup of water. Marcus kept telling him he needed to eat at least a little.
Daniel wasn’t hungry.
“We need to say something to him,” Hugh’s voice drifted over to Daniel. He was
being quiet.
“Nothing we can say is going to make him feel better,” Marcus answered. “You
know that.”
“I know, but we can’t just let him starve himself to death.”
“He won’t.”
Hugh sighed. There was silence for a moment. “He’s awake.”
A moment passed, an hour passed, Daniel couldn’t measure time. Hugh and Marcus
got up and sat in front of him. Hugh took Daniel’s hand. “Daniel. I know you
don’t believe me, but you’re going to be okay.”
Daniel nodded dully. Assuming Theodore kept him alive, he’d be fine. He’d just
be like Marcus and Hugh, existing here in the house. Either that or he’d be
executed. That would be fine too.
“This isn’t what you want to hear. But I want you to hear it. It gets easier.
And we’re here for you. We know what you’re feeling.”
“No, we don’t,” Marcus said, shaking his head. Hugh scowled at him, but Marcus
shook his head again. “No, we don’t. It’s different for everyone. We don’t know
what you’re feeling. But we know it sucks. And Hugh’s wrong. It doesn’t get
better.”
“Marcus.”
“Lying to him isn’t going to help him,” Marcus told Hugh before turning back to
Daniel. “It doesn’t get better. But you get better at carrying it.”
Hugh sighed, pushed the plate forward a little. “Eat something, please.”
Daniel didn’t want to. But what Daniel wanted didn’t matter. He took a piece of
cheese off the plate, bit into it and chewed dully. He couldn’t taste it.
“It might help if you talked about it,” Hugh offered, tentatively.
Daniel shook his head. He couldn’t. He couldn’t tell them what had happened.
“Okay.” Hugh gave him another of those little smiles. “But when you’re ready
to, if you’re ready to, we’ll listen.”
Marcus had moved, and was now sitting beside Daniel. He pulled Daniel closer to
him, ignoring that Daniel tried to resist that. “You can’t keep your head
against the wall, you’ll hurt yourself. Sit here.” He pulled Daniel’s head onto
his shoulder instead.
“Thank you,” Daniel said, voice hoarse. He hadn’t said anything in days. He
closed his eyes, holding back tears. They were being so nice to him.
“Just be sad, Daniel,” Marcus said quietly. “It’s okay to be sad.”
Daniel nodded. They wouldn’t be this nice if they knew what had happened. If
they knew he’d tried to kill Theodore. If they knew he’d failed. Failed
himself, failed them. “I screwed up.”
“No, you didn’t,” Hugh told him. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Yes, it was.” He couldn’t hold them back. The tears started to fall. Crybaby.
“It wasn’t, Daniel. I promise.” Marcus sounded so sure. He shouldn’t be so
sure. He didn’t know what had happened and Daniel couldn’t bring himself to
tell him.
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair for him to let them comfort him after what had
happened. But Daniel was selfish and the world wasn’t fair. So he let them, and
didn’t tell them why he needed it, so they wouldn’t stop.
Daniel sat there and cried, huddled in his corner with his friends.
He couldn’t feel it, but the collar on his neck was still there.
***** Friends Help You When You Need It *****
“You’re worthless.”
On the floor, Daniel coughed, tasting blood in his mouth. “That’s because
you’re not f…”
A kick to the ribs. “You’re about to say the F-word to me, aren’t you, kid?”
Chance asked, looking down at Daniel. “The world isn’t fair. Stop expecting it
to be.”
Daniel nodded. He knew that much for sure. But he didn’t know how being
repeatedly punched by someone three times his size was supposed to help him
learn to fight.
“Get up. You!” Chance pointed at one of the other boys. “Get over here, your
turn.”
“You actually teaching them anything here, Chance?” A new voice called. A young
man was standing in the doorway of their training room, leaning against the
wall in loose-fitting black. He didn’t look impressed. “Or are you just taking
our own inadequacies out on a group of little boys?”
Chance gave the newcomer a glare. “You’re late.”
“Time is fake.” The young man wandered into the room, looking around at all of
them. Beaten, battered by their training. They were supposed to be learning how
to fight, but mostly they were learning how to take punches. “This is his
plan?” The man asked, shaking his head. “The grand master fucking plan.” A long
sigh. He looked at Chance. “Go away.”
“I’ll supervise your lessons.”
“No, you won’t. Fuck off.”
There was a staredown for a long minute, between Chance and this new man. The
new man won, and Chance stormed off grumbling. Daniel hoped they weren’t all
going to be punished for it later.
“Stand up, all of you,” the man ordered.
They did, some more slowly than others, some more hurt than others. But he
waited, standing there in the middle of the room, looking around at them. He
was long in the face and his eyes didn’t match. “Did they tell you why you’re
here? What they’re training you for?”
Silence. After a long time, Pascal gathered up the courage to nod. “They want
us to kill someone.”
“That’s right.” The man nodded back. “They do. And they probably haven’t told
you fuck all about who or why, but that comes later anyway. Chance probably
told you you’re assassins, killers.” He must have seen a nod from someone,
because he shook his head. “You’re not. You’re just a bunch of scared, naked
little boys who are too stupid to realize you’re being used.” He sighed, looked
around at all of them, at the wide eyes, the shock, the anger he’d gotten in
reaction to his little speech.
“Hopefully we can train you up so that at least some of you have a chance to do
something with your lives other than spend them being raped. You can call me
Darwin, and I’m going to teach you all how to dance.”
Daniel’s head was in Hugh’s lap when he woke up, which it hadn’t been when he’d
fallen asleep.
“You have to stop telling him that it’s not going to get better, Marcus,” Hugh
was saying in a quiet voice.
“And you have to stop telling him that you understand how he feels,” Marcus
shot back just as quietly. It sounded like they’d been arguing for a while.
“It’s not true.”
“I’ve been through it too.”
“Not the same way, Hugh.” Marcus sounded sad. “You said that to me too and it
didn’t help. And I’m sure the guy before you must have said it to you too, but
it wasn’t true. He doesn’t hurt us all the same way. You don’t understand how
he feels.”
“Maybe not,” Hugh growled. “But he needs to understand that he isn’t alone. The
guy before me never said it to me, Marcus. Denny hung himself from a lamp
bracket after Theodore got bored with him and acquired me, so I never even knew
him.”
There was silence for a good while after that. “I didn’t know that.”
“That’s because we don’t fucking talk about it. Daniel’s taking this harder
than either of us did, and I don’t want him deciding to kill himself because he
thinks he’s alone. So I’m going to make him understand that he’s not alone.”
Hugh sounded a little choked up. Daniel hadn’t meant to make him worry that
much.
“Okay…just, go a little easier on him? I’m worried that you’re making him feel
like it’s happened to all of us so it’s no big deal. It’s a big deal, Hugh.”
“I know.” Hugh sighed, patting Daniel’s hair. “I just want to know what he did.
Theodore seems mad about something. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him mad at one
of us before.”
Well, at least Daniel had accomplished something that didn’t usually happen, he
figured. Even if he’d played the game exactly according to the rules otherwise.
He didn’t want to listen to any more of this, so he stretched, blinking his
eyes open as if he’d just woken up. “This isn’t where I fell asleep.”
“You were having a nightmare or something,” Hugh told him. “You were tossing
and turning a lot. I thought it might help.”
“Thanks,” Daniel muttered, sitting up and rubbing his head. “You guys don’t
have to waste all your time worrying about me.” He was feeling a little better.
Still like he was worthless and wanted to die, but a little better than before.
And he hadn’t meant to make them worry as much as they both obviously were.
“I’ll be okay.”
“Don’t do that. Of course we’re going to worry about you, Daniel.” Hugh said,
shaking his head. “We’re friends, right?”
“Yeah. So don’t say dumb shit. You’re…” Marcus glanced at Hugh. “You’re not
alone, okay?”
“I know,” Daniel said with a small nod. The three of them were here together,
since he’d failed to free any of them. “I know. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. And speaking of not being alone, you’re coming with us.”
“What?” Daniel asked, looking from Marcus to Hugh. Obviously something they’d
discussed while he’d been asleep. “Where?” He didn’t want to leave the room.
“The bath. You smell bad.”
Daniel frowned, sniffed the air. “I do not.”
“You haven’t had a bath in a week,” Hugh told him. “Take it from us. Come on.”
“Guys, I don’t feel like…”
“We don’t feel like smelling you anymore, so too bad.” Marcus stood, hauled
Daniel to his feet and made him put his loose shirt on so the three of them
could go out into the hallway. “Come on, it’ll be good for you.”
With no choice, Daniel let them pull him out into the hallway. He couldn’t help
but look around nervously, as if Theodore might be standing there waiting for
him. But he wasn’t there, of course, and they never saw him the whole time they
were out of the little room.
Daniel wasn’t sure if he was happy about that or not.
***** Nobody Likes Being Faced with the Consequences of Their Actions *****
It was scary, terrifying, the first time.
It wasn’t the first time Daniel had seen a dead body so he’d thought he might
be less sensitive to it than some of the other boys. But it was the first time
he’d seen a body go from living to dead, and so suddenly, so abruptly. All it
took was a slip of the hand and suddenly they were one less person.
Darwin was silent for a minute as he looked down at the broken body of the
fallen boy. When he looked back up at the rest of them, clinging to the rock
wall for dear life, terrified, shaking, his gaze was dispassionate. “I told you
all to be fucking careful, didn’t I? This is what happens if you fall.”
Darwin looked away quickly, stalking off to go yell for Chance.
Daniel looked down at the body, more afraid than he thought he’d ever been.
Even in the cages, even when he’d been sold. The idea that some of them could
die, that all of them could die, that anyone could die, had always been there
in the back of his mind, he knew that death existed. But now it was real. All
it took was a moment of clumsiness, a moment of distraction, and that was it.
It was stupid, pointless. A pointless death for a pointless slave.
And Daniel didn’t know what scared him more, the possibility that the same
thing could happen to him, or the nagging little thought that it was better
that way.
He didn’t know how long they hung there, on that wall where they were learning
to climb, looking down at what had been a person just like him only a few
minutes ago. Daniel had talked to him this morning. Now nobody was going to
talk to him ever again. He wanted to throw up, or cry, or scream. But he
couldn’t do any of those things, he couldn’t move. So he didn’t, and he just
felt cold.
They heard footsteps coming into the room and Daniel looked away from the body,
back to his next handhold. He started climbing again as he heard Chance
muttering about wasting two hundred silvers, kept going as they removed the
body. It would probably just be dumped in a ditch or something outside, nobody
cared what happened to the body of a slave.
Daniel kept climbing, feeling cold.
“Daniel, Daniel, you’ve got to wake up, buddy.”
That was Marcus, gently tapping Daniel’s cheek in a very gentle way that Daniel
had started to realize wasn’t out of character for him. He really was very
nice, and he’d had good reason to dislike Daniel when Daniel had first arrived.
“Marcus…I’m tired.” Marcus should know that. Daniel was always tired.
“I know. But Benedict just knocked on the door. Theodore wants to see you.”
Daniel jerked awake, sitting up with a spike of cold terror in his belly. He
shook his head. He couldn’t, he couldn’t see Theodore.
“I know,” Marcus said, hand on his shoulder, before Daniel could say anything.
“But you have to, Daniel, you know that.”
Daniel closed his eyes, took calming breaths. This was it. It had been bound to
happen eventually. Maybe Theodore would just kill him and be done with it.
“Okay. Okay.” He stood, found Hugh holding out his shirt, pulled it on. “Thank
you.”
“It’ll be okay, Daniel,” Hugh told him, giving Daniel a hug. Daniel nodded,
holding Hugh a little tighter than strictly necessary.
When they were done, Daniel hugged Marcus too, lingering for a second. “We’ll
be here when you get back, Daniel.”
“I know,” Daniel said, nodding. He let go of Marcus, stepped back, took a
breath, and headed for the door.
Benedict was waiting outside, and when Daniel pulled the door shut, he said,
“I’m to escort you to the dining room.”
Daniel nodded quietly, and he followed after Benedict without a word. He
wondered if Benedict knew what had happened, if Theodore had told him.
The house seemed larger, more daunting than it ever had before as they walked
the familiar path to the dining room, and Daniel tried not to look much at it,
just keeping his eyes on the floor where the eyes of a slave belonged. The
doors to the dining room creaked open, and Daniel walked under the angelic
façade, wondering if angels even existed.
There was a small circular table set up in the centre of the room, with two
chairs, two place settings. Theodore wasn’t here yet. “Wait here,” Benedict
instructed, and he closed the doors behind Daniel, leaving him alone with the
tall saints’ statues.
Daniel was fidgety and didn’t want to sit at the table. Nervous. He wandered
into the room so he wasn’t in the doorway, looking at the statues. Ignoring the
table and what it meant, if it meant anything.
He ended up in front of his statue, the statue of Saint Daniel, eyes covered,
torch held aloft. Daniel looked up at it, at him. He looked anguished. Was this
before or after he’d burned down Ash Meadow, Daniel wondered. Was he crying out
for fear of what he was about to do, or at what he had already done? Daniel
wasn’t sure it mattered.
“You’re a horrible person,” Daniel whispered to the statue.
Saint Daniel had nothing to say in his own defence.
A month ago, he’d have paced this room front to back, memorized everything in
it, the placement of everything on the table, judged how he’d get out in any
number of situations, as he passed the time waiting for Theodore. But none of
that mattered now, so Daniel just stood there, looking up at Saint Daniel’s
face, trying to guess what he was thinking, trying to figure out how someone
like him got made a saint.
When the doors opened again, Daniel didn’t look over, as much as he wanted to,
as much as he was afraid to. He kept looking at the statue.
Theodore’s footsteps stopped at the table, and Daniel heard him pull back a
chair, sit. He didn’t say anything. Daniel didn’t turn around. Another moment
passed, and a cart came in, the footsteps following it sounding like Benedict
again, and there was a clattering at the table was set.
When Benedict retreated, Theodore continued to sit there in silence after the
doors had shut. Daniel waited, and then realized he wasn’t sure what he was
waiting for. This was only going to go one way. He could be petulant, act like
a child and refuse to go sit, or he could try to behave like a person for a few
minutes.
So Daniel turned, went and took the second chair quietly, looking down at his
plate. There were crabcakes on a platter in the middle of the table, but Daniel
ignored them. There was a spoon and fork beside his plate, but no knife.
“Two days ago, a wealthy merchant here in Merket was killed,” Theodore said,
cutting into his crabcake. “By a young slave of his who stabbed him in the
eye.” When Daniel didn’t say anything, trying to swallow the lump in his throat
that the sound of Theodore’s voice had brought on, Theodore continued. “The
slave was caught a few hours later, flogged and beheaded in Harper’s Square.
His name was Pascal, a young blonde boy about your age with a series of
distinctive birthmarks on his back.”
Daniel felt himself go cold, and he closed his eyes, picturing Pascal. He’d
been a nice boy. Now he was dead.
“I see I don’t need to ask if you knew him. Curious.” Theodore bit into his
lunch, chewed for a moment. “I don’t believe in coincidences, Daniel.”
With a breath, Daniel opened his eyes again. “You shouldn’t.” Bradley,
Roderick, Greg, Daniel. There were only four of them left now.
“Do you remember what I said to you on the first day that we met?”
Daniel did, he had a very good memory. “You said a lot of things.” That wasn’t
the first day they’d met. It was the day Theodore had bought Daniel.
“I told you never to lie to me. And now, six months later, I’m forced to wonder
if you ever told me the truth.”
“That’s not what you said,” Daniel said quietly, looking at the spoon now.
“Excuse me?” Theodore sounded annoyed, just slightly.
“You didn’t tell me not to lie to you. You told me you wouldn’t allow me to lie
to you. But then you did.” Daniel wasn’t sure why that mattered.
“Ah, so it’s my fault for not making my instructions clear enough, then?”
Theodore sounded amused now. Daniel hated it when Theodore sounded amused, it
always seemed like he was being laughed at. “I suppose my failure to explicitly
order you not to attempt to murder me was the reason why you did, then? Eat
something.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“It wasn’t a request.”
Theodore wasn’t going to force-feed him. But Daniel hadn’t eaten today. So he
took a small crab cake and started cutting it with his spoon.
“So it was the whole time, wasn’t it?” Theodore asked after Daniel had taken a
bite. “That you were planning that? From the first day you came to live here,
you were planning to kill me, weren’t you?”
“I didn’t come to live here,” Daniel told him, voice a monotone. He’d thought
he’d be scared, but once he’d sat down, Daniel had found that he couldn’t feel
much of anything. Either Theodore was going to have him flogged and killed, or
he wasn’t. And Daniel wasn’t sure he cared either way. “You brought me here. It
wasn’t my idea.”
“You’re a slave.”
“I’m a person.” Daniel looked up at Theodore for the first time, glaring
fiercely. Theodore looked tired, a bit wan.
Theodore smiled at him, sadly. “And I’m not, I suppose. Just a monster who
preys on young boys.”
Daniel looked back down. It wasn’t him who’d said it.
“Except I think you wonder if I’m more than that, else why did you hesitate
that night? You could have killed me before I woke up.”
That one hit Daniel like a punch to the stomach, and he took another bite of
crabcake, the hand holding his fork shaking a little. Maybe he wasn’t as numb
as he thought.
“It’s funny how some things only become clear in retrospect,” Theodore said. He
liked to hear himself talk, so Daniel let him. “All those traits I admired in
you—how observant you were, your problem-solving skills, your memory, how you
managed to overpower that thug who tried to kill me. You didn’t want to kill me
because of anything I did to you; you were trained as a killer, weren’t you?”
“Not a killer,” Daniel said, swallowing. “Just a slave. A scared, naked little
boy who’s too stupid to realize he’s being used.”
“Used by whom?” Theodore’s tone was emotionless.
Daniel didn’t answer right away, thinking. He couldn’t answer that question. He
could tell Theodore about Gideon, but that wasn’t an answer.
“Daniel.”
“I don’t know,” he said finally.
Theodore sighed, contemplated him for a long time. “I’m disappointed,” he said,
and Daniel hoped that his flinch wasn’t obvious. “I really thought you were
clever enough to realize that you were better with me than anyone else.”
“I’m not as smart as you think I am.”
“Clearly. Nor as smart as you think you are.” Theodore put his fork down with a
clink. “Do you remember what I told you about dangerous things, Daniel?”
Daniel nodded. “You want to put them on shelves where they can’t be used by
anyone.”
“That’s right. You advocated throwing them in the ocean, as I recall. But we
shall go with my impulse on this one, I think. I’m not going to have you
killed, Daniel, mostly because I think you’d prefer if I did. You’re going to
stay living here in my house, as my property, where you can’t hurt anyone. I’ll
be replacing you in my bed, which perhaps you’ll appreciate. You will keep
looking down, keep quiet about what happened and live the rest of your life as
a slave.” Theodore took a breath, paused for a second. “If you can’t do that,
if you hurt someone else or try to hurt me again, I shall sell you to Clement
or someone like him. Do you understand?”
Daniel nodded. The threat of being sold to someone like Clement was unexpected,
and had rocked him a little. He hadn’t thought Theodore was capable of that. He
felt weird. Empty.
“I asked you a question.” Theodore’s voice was hard in a way it never had been
when talking to Daniel.
“I understand,” Daniel whispered, feeling suddenly lost. He felt like his
collar was choking him.
“Good. I don’t believe you when you tell me you don’t know who hired you,
Daniel. I will give you some time to reconsider your answer to that question.
If you manage to come up with one, you may find that your quality of life will
improve a little.”
“I told you I don’t know,” Daniel insisted. He was…he was scared of Theodore,
Daniel realized suddenly. Scared of how much power Theodore had over him.
Scared of what he might do. He never had been before.
“You’ve given me very little reason to assume you’re not lying.” Theodore took
a breath, picked up his fork again. “You may go now.”
It was a dismissal so abrupt, so final that Daniel could do nothing but hear
it, stand up. Without looking at Theodore he headed for the door. He put one
foot in front of the other, feeling numb again but not nearly in the same way
as before, and pulled the door open.
For one second Daniel paused, risked looking back up at Theodore. He was
sitting there eating, as if he were the only in the room. He didn’t look up,
didn’t glance in Daniel’s direction, didn’t even seem to know Daniel was there
anymore. He’d made Daniel invisible, just a part of the house, a piece of
furniture, a bauble. Just a slave.
Daniel left the room, pulled the door shut behind him. He just stood there in
the hallway for a long minute, trying to will his heart to beat, trying to
remember how to breathe. And he couldn’t.
He walked, automatically, not aware of anything but how much his chest hurt. He
didn’t know how long it took, to walk from the dining room to the little
slaves’ room, but at some point he was back there, realizing as he pushed the
door open that he didn’t want to go in there, didn’t want to see them, didn’t
want to see anyone, if he say anyone he might…
“Daniel,” Marcus said softly, looking up when the door opened. He looked so
worried. Hugh looked upset too. Both of them watched Daniel carefully. Even
Trevor and Al looked worried.
Daniel took a step inside, intending to just sit down and go back to sleep. But
Marcus came up, took his hand, not saying anything, and Daniel felt a tear
slide down his cheek, squeezed his eyes shut to stop more, failed. And he
started crying into Marcus’s shoulder, overwhelmed by the feeling that he’d
lost something important, something vital, something that had made him who he
was. And that it wasn’t coming back.
***** Part of Recovery Is Accepting Help from Others *****
“Most assassins are just thugs,” Darwin told them, dispassionate, as they stood
arrayed in front of him. “Just some asshole with a knife or a crossbow who
needs money. Usually they’re retired sellswords or washed out soldiers or
knights or what have you.”
“Like Chance,” Bradley risked. He had a tendency to talk when he shouldn’t.
Darwin flicked his gaze at him. “Yes, like Chance. A real assassin can easily
kill a man like him. I’m not good enough to teach you to be like that.”
“You seem good,” Roderick said.
“That’s because you suck. We’ve brought someone on who’s going to show you what
good is.” Darwin nodded towards the door, where there was someone who hadn’t
been there a second ago. A woman, dressed in white, light hair framing her
face. She was tall, and when she walked into the room, Daniel found himself
suppressing a shudder. She was frightening.
“They’re older than I was told,” she told Darwin.
“What you were told isn’t my fault.” Darwin shrugged. Daniel wondered how he
managed to stay so calm.
“If you wanted to turn children into assassins, you should have bought younger
ones. This was a waste of twenty thousand silvers—they’re too old.”
Daniel glanced around at the other boys. He’d never been called too old before.
He liked it about as much as being called too young.
“They’re what we have, lady. You going to earn your exorbitant fees or not?”
The woman smiled at Darwin. “I shall. I am merely warning you that I can only
do so much with them at this age.” She turned her gaze away from Darwin, and to
them. She flicked a finger at Daniel, one at Bradley. The biggest and smallest
boys in the room. “You two. Fight.”
“What…”
“That is the last time I will allow you to disagree with me without punishment.
Let me see what I have to work with.”
Her tone was so commanding that Daniel turned, faced Bradley, who was a lot
bigger and a lot stronger than him. He smiled apologetically at Daniel before
raising his fists.
Bradley ran at him. Daniel jumped to the side, hoping to get behind him or
something. It didn’t work. Daniel got punched in the stomach and fell down.
Bradley stepped back.
The woman’s sigh filled the room. “I see. Well, let’s see what we can do with
all of you. You may call me Ursula, but I prefer ma’am. Get up off the floor,
will you? You’re unsightly.”
"I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this angry before.”
Marcus sighed loudly. Daniel could picture him, looking over in this direction,
making sure Daniel was asleep. Daniel wasn’t, but he wished he was, so he kept
his eyes shut, kept still. “I wonder what he did.”
“I don’t know. The last time I saw Theodore mad was when Denny killed himself.
But…he’s pissed off at Daniel for…something.” Hugh let out a huff. “I guess it
doesn’t matter what.”
“I guess not. But it would be nice to know so we can help Daniel.”
“We could ask him.”
“You think he’ll tell us?” The way Marcus asked that question made it clear
what he figured the answer was. He was right.
“No. Would you?”
“No,” Marcus growled. “It pisses me off how good he is at this. Making us not
trust each other. Not talk to each other.”
“Not like each other.”
“Yeah.” Daniel could picture the irritated shake of Marcus’s head.
“He’s older than all of us. More experienced than us, and he’s done this a
thousand times. He knows how to use us and how to toss us away and he doesn’t
care that we’re broken when he’s done.”
“I know.”
“I’m not telling you,” Hugh said, though Daniel suspected he was. “I’m telling
Daniel.”
“Daniel’s sleeping.”
“No, he’s not.”
Daniel could have kept up the façade, but he sensed them both looking at him
and frowned. “How did you know?” he asked, opening his eyes.
“You went still. You twitch in your sleep.” Hugh gestured him over, patted the
ground beside himself.
Daniel nodded. Another thing he wasn’t as good at as he thought, obviously. He
came and sat obediently beside Hugh, crossing his legs. “I don’t need you to
tell me Theodore’s a bad person,” he said, voice dull. “I already know.”
Daniel had never felt like less of a person, not even during all his training,
than he had in that meeting with Theodore.
"It bears repeating,” Hugh told him. “Just in case.”
“Okay. When did you see him?” Daniel wasn’t sure why that mattered.
“A little while ago. I was helping clean the hallway when he came in. He, um…”
“He was at the market,” Marcus finished, when it was clear that Hugh was
reluctant.
Oh. “The slave market.” I’ll be replacing you in my bed.
“Yeah.” Marcus was scowling at the floor. Daniel wondered if he’d hoped that
Theodore would let him be the replacement. But that wasn’t a very nice thing to
think. Marcus had done nothing but be nice to him lately. “He…it’s taking him a
long time. He’s gone every day the last three days. He usually only goes once.”
“There must not be anyone who’s his type,” Daniel muttered. “I’m sure he’ll
find someone.”
“He always does,” Hugh agreed.
“Try to be nice to him,” Marcus said to Daniel, watching him. “The new guy. I
know I wasn’t.”
“I’ll try,” Daniel agreed. He would try. It wasn’t the fault of whatever new
slave Theodore bought that Daniel had screwed everything up. It was just
another person who he’d failed to protect—someone who wouldn’t have been bought
if Theodore had died.
Someone who might have been bought by someone worse if Theodore had died.
Daniel really hated that part of himself that thought it was better this way.
He also really hated that he was increasingly sure it was right.
“When you feel jealous, remember that it’s because Theodore made you feel that
way,” Hugh supplied.
“That’ll make you angry, probably.” Marcus shrugged. “It did for me. Just point
that anger at the right person, you know? Or fuck, take it out on me, I deserve
it.”
“No, you don’t.” Daniel smiled at Marcus. “You’re a nice person.”
“And you’re a goddamned liar.”
“You have no idea,” Daniel whispered, looking down again. “I just…wish I could
feel anything.” Anything except this suffocating emptiness that filled him
every minute he was awake.
“It’ll come back eventually,” Hugh promised, rubbing Daniel’s back.
Daniel nodded, wondering if that was true.
Wondering if he wanted it to be true.
***** The Casual Cruelties Are the Hardest to Avoid *****
Greg moved fast, but Daniel could tell that he didn’t always think of where his
hands would go until they’d gone there.
That didn’t matter when he was faster though, and the boy he was fighting fell
over, bleeding from his lip after a punch from the right he hadn’t seen coming.
He didn’t cry out. None of them cried in pain anymore.
“Who knows what he did wrong?” Ursula asked, arms crossed, scanning the rest of
them, sitting there.
Daniel didn’t say anything.
“I do,” Bradley said, holding out his chin a bit. “He was moving too slow and
not paying attention.”
“Hm,” Ursula smiled at him, which never failed to alarm Daniel. “Demonstrate,”
she ordered, flicking her finger at Bradley.
Suddenly looking nervous, Bradley got up, raised his fists to square off
against Greg, who was looking tired. They were all tired. They’d been at this
all day. And all day yesterday. And for the last week at least.
The fight didn’t last long. Bradley was fast, faster than Greg. But he went
down even faster. Ursula let out a little ‘tut.’
And she pointed at Daniel. “You.”
Pushing down the surge of nervousness that was getting easier to ignore with
every time he had to fight, Daniel stood, took the sullen Bradley’s place as he
shuffled away. Greg raised his fists. Daniel did too, but it was a joke and
they all knew it. He wasn’t as strong as the other boys.
He was more suited to laying on his back than standing on his feet, he’d been
told.
Rather than trying to outdo Greg in speed, Daniel stood as still as he could,
raising his hands only to deflect Greg’s blows, keeping an eye on where his
arms were. After a minute of being rebuffed Greg got frustrated, tried to take
a step into Daniel’s space, grunting a little as he swung with his right.
Daniel ducked, let Greg overbalance, nearly fall into him. And he punched Greg
in the stomach as hard as he could, which may not have been very hard but was
hard enough judging by Greg’s grunt. Greg fell to the ground, clutching his
stomach. As Daniel straightened, Greg lashed out with a kick that took Daniel
in the back of the knee, buckling his leg and sending him to the floor too.
Ursula sighed loudly. Her shoes clicked as she walked, and she was standing
over Daniel as he stood. “What did you do wrong?”
“I stopped looking at him,” Daniel muttered, looking at her feet.
“That’s right. You’re lucky he’s too much of an idiot to take proper
advantage.” Her gaze shifted to Greg. “And you?”
“I…” Greg coughed. Daniel tried not to feel satisfaction. Looked like he wasn’t
the only one suited to being on his back. “I got too close to him.”
“No, you underestimated him, and overestimated yourself. You let the fact that
you’d been winning convince you that you’d continue winning. You’re lucky he’s
too soft to actually hurt you.” They were all ‘he’ to Ursula. She hadn’t asked
any of their names.
Another sigh. “Enough. Go eat.” As they all turned to go do that, Ursula put a
hand on Daniel’s shoulder, keeping him in place as a shiver ran down his back.
When the other boys were out of hearing range, she said, “You didn’t answer me
when I asked who knew what he’d done wrong.”
Daniel closed his eyes, wondering if he was about to get hit. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, it was a test and you passed.” Her hand left his shoulder.
“Never let anyone know what you’re capable of. Predictability is death.”
Daniel looked up at her, opening his eyes. She was watching him, dispassionate.
He nodded.
She nodded back, and gave him one of those terrifying smiles. “And next time
hit him three inches lower. He’ll have a harder time getting up from that.”
“Oh, good,” Marcus said, as Daniel opened his eyes. “You’re awake.”
“And you’re as observant as ever,” Daniel told him, stretching.
“If you’re feeling well enough to start being an asshole, I’m going to start
being one back again.”
“Did you stop?”
Marcus chuckled, tossed Daniel’s shirt at him a little harder than necessary.
“Get dressed. Benedict wants you.”
Daniel nodded, pulled the shirt over his head. He’d been getting called away
more and more to help with chores around the house lately. Which he knew was
Theodore’s doing. If you manage to come up with one, you may find your quality
of life will improve a little. Which Daniel took to mean that he wouldn’t be
scrubbing pots and cleaning windows all the time.
He didn’t have an answer and he never would. But at least the chores gave him
something to do other than sit in the room and feel sorry for himself. He could
be mobile and feel sorry for himself. It was a nice change.
“Where is he?”
“The grand staircase,” Marcus said, standing when Daniel did. “Come on.”
“He called you too?”
“No, but come on.” Marcus led him out of the room, and the two of them headed
for the front of the house. “Hugh’s already down there, I think. He’s the one
who told me to get you up. You sleep a lot, you know that?”
“Being asleep means I don’t have to think about him.” Daniel figured Marcus
would understand.
“You don’t dream about him?” Marcus asked, giving Daniel a look.
Daniel thought about lying, thought about saying what Marcus expected him to
say. But he shook his head. “No. I mostly dream about the time before he bought
me.”
Marcus nodded, looking away. “I barely even remember that,” he said quietly. “I
remember being hungry a lot. I lived with my grandmother, but she couldn’t
afford to feed me so I had to do it myself. And when the guard came to our
house one day because I’d gotten in a fight with someone and knocked over a
fruit stall, she took me to the market and sold me the next day so I wouldn’t
get her in any more trouble.”
“I’m sorry,” Daniel said, looking at the floor.
Marcus shrugged. “Whatever. I’m not hungry anymore.” There was a lot of weight
behind that statement, Daniel thought. “Why’d your parents sell you?”
It was Daniel’s turn to shrug. “They couldn’t afford to feed me and I was too
small to get hired on a fishing boat.”
“You are pretty tiny.”
“And you are pretty aggressive.”
Marcus snorted. “I guess those are good enough reasons to sell someone like
they’re a thing.”
“I guess so.”
They’d come to the front of the house now and stood looking down over the
foyer. Benedict was standing there at the railing, with a rag and a corked
bottle. “There you are,” he said, impatient. Daniel didn’t think he knew what
had happened, but he obviously knew that Theodore was punishing him. “This
banister needs polishing. You will do it.”
Daniel nodded dully. The banister was twenty-five paces long and then thirty
steps down, and thicker than his thigh. Polishing it would take hours. It
seemed like the dark wood was perfectly shiny to him, but what did Daniel know?
“Yes, sir.” He reached out and took the rag and bottle from Benedict, moving to
the wall where the banister emerged to start.
“Your help is not required,” Benedict told Marcus, who had bent down to grab
the spare rag that was there.
Marcus looked up at him. “Won’t it go faster if I help, sir?”
Benedict was silent for a moment, looking at Marcus and then the banister, and
at Daniel, who had uncorked the bottle of foul-smelling polish and dabbed some
onto the rag to begin. He was going to smell for days after this. “Very well.
If you insist, Marcus. I shall trust that the two of you don’t require constant
supervision, but don’t think I’m not watching.”
Daniel nodded, and Benedict walked off after a while. “Thank you.” He didn’t
bother telling Marcus that he hadn’t needed to do that.
“Why’s he so mad at you?” Marcus asked quietly, taking the bottle from Daniel
and dabbing polish on his own rag. He wasn’t talking about Benedict.
Daniel shook his head as he worked. “I lied to him.”
“About what?”
“Doesn’t matter. I wasn’t supposed to lie and I did.”
Daniel’s tone made it pretty clear that he wasn’t about to answer any other
questions, and so Marcus didn’t ask any. They just polished the banister in
silence, working slowly because the polish had to go on evenly. They were about
halfway to the staircase when Benedict returned, with Hugh in tow this time.
“The master will be arriving shortly,” he was saying to Hugh, giving Marcus and
Daniel just a brief glance.
Hugh nodded, hand subtly brushing Daniel’s back as he walked by, just a
reminder that he was there. It was a comforting gesture.
Beside him, Marcus had gone a little stiff, his movements not as fluid as they
had been. Daniel understood; his hand was cramping up too.
“Daniel?” Marcus asked, quietly so he wouldn’t be overheard from down there.
Daniel didn’t look up, but did glance down into the foyer, past the chandelier,
to where Benedict and Hugh were by the door.
“Yeah?”
“I’ve really started to care about you a lot. I really like you.”
Daniel blinked, and felt his cheeks warm a little. “I…” He wasn’t sure what to
say about that. He wasn’t sure what he felt about it.
“You don’t have to say anything. I just thought you should know.”
Daniel didn’t have a reply, and he just sent glanced at Marcus out of corner of
his eye as he worked.
They’d made if a few feet further down the banister when Daniel opened his
mouth to say something back. He still didn’t know what.
Benedict moved suddenly, pulling open the front doors. “Welcome home, sir,” he
said, as Theodore came in the house. Not alone.
Just behind him was a boy Daniel’s age or maybe younger. A bit bigger than
Daniel, his hair was the colour of honey and hung around his face in hundreds
of bouncy curls. He was naked and had a faint red mark on his neck where a
heavy iron collar had been until not long ago.
Marcus was polishing the banister methodically. Daniel did the same, not
looking up.
If he looked up, he wasn’t sure if he’d vomit or jump. If he took a running
leap, jumped on the banister, used it to jump off, he could grab the
chandelier, swing it forward, and land right on top of Theodore from here. Or
he could just sit on the banister and let himself fall. He’d probably survive,
though, it wasn’t that far.
Suddenly freezing cold, Daniel swallowed air as Theodore spoke. “Here we are,”
he said. To the boy, probably. “This is my home, and yours too, now.”
“No,” Daniel heard the boy whisper. The foyer had a way of making sound carry.
“You don’t understand. I’m not…”
“It’s a lot to get used to,” Theodore interrupted. “But you will soon enough.
Ah, Hugh. This is Simon. Would you take him down to the baths and help him
clean up? He’ll be eating supper with me. Duck, I think we’ll have.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Very good, sir.” Benedict would be nodding his head. Just as he had when
Theodore had brought Daniel into the house.
“Marcus,” Theodore called, raising his voice a bit. Marcus froze. “Why don’t
you accompany Hugh and Simon? There’s no reason for you to be doing such a
menial task up there.”
Hand shaking a little, Marcus dropped his rag. “Yes, Master,” he said, shooting
Daniel a quick apologetic glance before moving down the stairs. Leaving Daniel
up there by himself, polishing.
Simon kept muttering quiet protests about how he wasn’t meant to be here, how
there’d been a mistake. Hugh and Marcus led him into the house, and Daniel
couldn’t help but notice that they’d both grabbed one of his arms. Gently.
They’d done that to him too, Hugh and Trevor had, but Daniel hadn’t struggled.
Simon didn’t want to go, but they steadily drew him away, through a door down
there, leading him to the basement where the baths were. He heard the door
shut, leaving him alone.
“I suspect he will try to run the first night or two,” Theodore said to
Benedict, as the two of them headed up the stairs. “Do make sure the guards are
aware.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And remind them of the consequences should he be harmed, of course. It’s been
a while since we had a runner, I don’t want them to have forgotten.”
“I’ll see it done, sir.”
“Good. I shall also need to speak with the goldsmith about fashioning a collar
for him. A yellow stone, I think, to match his hair.”
They’d reached the top of the stairs. Daniel kept polishing, breathing in the
fumes to keep himself from moving anything but his arm.
“Yes, sir. I’ll summon her immediately. You received a missive from Mistress
Titlehorn while you were away. It awaits on your desk.”
They passed behind Daniel. Theodore didn’t even look in his direction. “Thank
you, Benedict.”
They disappeared into the hallway, door shutting behind them. Daniel could have
relaxed. He was the only one here now. But he couldn’t. He was tense, wound
like a spring and ready to break. He stood there for a long time, rigid, just
breathing in the polish in uneven, stuttered breaths. His hand never stopped
working, never stopped moving back and forth, back and forth.
Back and forth.
***** Sometimes When You’re Hurting, it Helps to Comfort Others Who Are Hurting
too *****
“Stop moving,” Darwin snapped, when Roderick dropped his book for the fifth
time. He had them standing still with books on their heads. Daniel would rather
learn to read the books, but they’d laughed at him. “It’s not that hard.”
Apparently the reason none of them could move properly was because they didn’t
know how to stand still.
“It is hard,” Roderick objected, picking up his book and putting it back on his
head.
“Do it anyway.”
Daniel had only dropped his book twice so far. He was standing with his eyes
closed about five feet from Roderick. He took a calm breath. “It’s easier if
you pretend that you’re balancing on a rope,” he said quietly. It was what he
was doing, and it was helping him not be hyper-aware of every movement he made
while still keeping himself steady. Darwin hadn’t told them the whole truth of
this exercise—he’d said they had to not move so their books wouldn’t fall, but
that wasn’t it. They needed to move the right way to keep them up there.
“That’s stupid,” Roderick told him.
“Yeah it is,” Darwin told him. “But he’s doing better than you are, isn’t he?
Trying listening instead of talking for once in your life. And you.” Darwin
rounded on Daniel, though Daniel didn’t open his eyes to see. “Worry about your
own shit. You guys aren’t friends, you’re competitors. It doesn’t do you any
good for him to do better.”
It would make Darwin stop talking. “Sorry.”
“Yeah, sure you are. We’re going to have to do some behaviour training so you
guys aren’t shit slaves when it’s time for that.” Darwin stalked off a ways,
back to the wall where he’d been sitting to watch them. “Next person to drop
their book stands on his hands until lunch.”
Daniel woke up with a kink in his neck, and tried to stretch it out before
opening his eyes.
“It’s not fair.”
Daniel sighed, wishing he was still asleep. He hadn’t realized Simon was here
in the room with them. Usually he was attending Theodore, sitting with him
while he worked, eating with him, following him around. All the same things
Daniel had used to do.
Like Theodore had said, he’d tried to run away two nights in a row. After being
brought back the second time, he’d stopped trying. Though Daniel thought the
look in his face was more one of someone who was thinking harder about his next
attempt.
Truth be told, Daniel preferred it when Simon wasn’t here in the room. All he
did was complain and Daniel didn’t feel right talking to him. Looking at Simon
made him want to hit something or cry and he wasn’t sure which it would be if
he tried.
But it was his room too, and here he was, complaining about his life to Marcus
and Hugh.
“No,” Hugh agreed. “It’s not fair. But it’s how it is.”
“It’s not,” Simon insisted, shaking his head. Daniel sat up, rubbing at his
eyes. “I’m not really a slave. I’m…” He swallowed some air as if he were
planning to cry again. “I’m not really a slave,” he repeated.
“Didn’t he buy you?” Marcus asked him. “Like, at a slave market? I’m not trying
to make you feel bad, but that makes you a slave.”
“No, I…” Simon let out an irritated sigh. “I’m not. My parents only sold me
because they needed money to buy medicine for my sister. She’s sick, and she
might die without it. I told them they could sell me to buy her the medicine.
But it’s only for a little while, see. My uncle’s a merchant and when he comes
back to down next month, they’re going to borrow money from him and use it to
buy me back. I’m not really a slave.”
Marcus and Hugh looked at each other. Daniel just watched. Trevor and Al seemed
to be ignoring the whole thing, which he understood. They’d mostly done that
for him too.
Hugh took a breath. Daniel could already hear what he was going to say. “Simon,
selling you means you’re a slave. Even if they were planning to buy you back,
as soon as they sold you, you were the market’s property to do whatever they
wanted with. I’m sorry.”
“No, no…” Simon shook his head, tears collecting in his eyes. He was definitely
younger than Daniel. “You’re wrong. And…even if you’re not, my parents, they’re
going to come looking for me.”
“Yeah,” Hugh agreed. Daniel could see Simon starting to fall apart. “They are.”
“And…and when they do, the market will tell them where I am, and they’ll come
here and get me.”
Hugh nodded, though he had to know that was a lie. “They probably will.”
“And they’ll give Theodore money to pay for me, and they’ll buy me back.”
“No, they won’t,” Marcus said, shaking his head. Simon’s eyes went wide and
Hugh glared at Marcus. “They won’t. Even if they do go to the market looking
for you and even if they do come find you, Theodore isn’t going to sell you
back to them. You belong to him now. Get used to it instead of pretending it’s
not true. It’s easier that way.”
“No…”
“Marcus, that isn’t helping.”
“Lying to him doesn’t help either, Hugh. He’s going to learn the truth
eventually.”
Between them, Simon’s eyes were watering, and he was about to start bawling
again. Daniel didn’t want him to do that, he was loud. He stood up, crossed the
small room and knelt in between Marcus and Hugh, taking Simon’s hands in his.
“Simon,” he said, drawing the boy’s watering gaze upwards. “What’s your
sister’s name?”
Simon blinked. “Susie.”
Daniel nodded, trying to smile. “It was really brave of you to offer to let
them sell you so they could help her.”
“Um…” Simon looked like he wanted to protest, but he just looked down. “I just
want her to get better.”
“She probably already is,” Daniel lied. “She’s going to be so happy when you
come home, don’t you think?”
Simon thought about it, and nodded. Then nodded again, more strongly. “Yeah.
She is.”
“She’s younger than you, right? She’ll probably want to hear stories about your
adventures while you were gone.”
“P-probably,” Simon said. He seemed more stable now.
“You should make up something exciting. She’ll get sad if you tell her you got
stuck in a cage. Tell her all about the castles you visited, and how you helped
the king fight an evil warlord.”
Simon laughed a little. “She’ll know I’m lying.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Daniel promised with a gentle smile. “Most people would
rather hear lies than the truth. They’re easier to hear.”
Simon nodded, but as the nod got slower, his eyes started to water again. “I’m
going to see her again,” he said.
“Yeah, of course you are.”
“My parents are going to come back for me.”
“Yes, they are.”
Simon nodded, and despite Daniel’s efforts he started crying again, surprising
Daniel with a sudden lunge forward, wrapping his arms around Daniel and crying
into his shirt.
Holding in a sigh, Daniel put his arms around Simon, hugged him. “It’s okay,”
he whispered. “You’re not alone, okay?”
Daniel glanced at Marcus and Hugh, who both looked different shades of worried,
and he shook his head. It wasn’t Simon’s fault that he was here. It wasn’t his
fault that Theodore was a monster. Daniel started to cry a little too, but not
for the reason he’d thought he might.
Simon was right. It wasn’t fair, none of it was fair. And all they could do was
hold onto each other and cry together.
***** Our Actions Don’t always Make Sense, Even to Ourselves *****
“This isn’t going to work,” Darwin muttered, so quietly that Daniel figured
none of them but Chance was supposed to be able to hear.
“That’s not for us to decide,” Chance said, hefting the dead boy over his
shoulder to be taken wherever he took them when they died. This was the third
one. It got less upsetting every time. He’d slipped trying one of Darwin’s
tricks, and he’d landed on his head. They’d all hit their heads more than once;
it hadn’t occurred to Daniel that doing it the wrong way could kill him.
Darwin sighed, shaking his head. “Whatever. I should never have agreed to help
you people with this.”
If Daniel didn’t know better, he’d say Darwin sounded upset.
“This is how the world sorts out the weak, Darwin. You want to bitch about it,
go to a church.”
“Weak.” Darwin snorted. “Unlucky. I guess it’s the same fucking thing. They
don’t need to know how to do any of this shit. All they need to kill a guy is
to know which end to hold the goddamn knife by. And this is the most
complicated possible way to kill this asshole. What’s the real plan here,
Chance? What did you not tell me? Or did the big boss not tell you either?”
“We have jobs to do, Darwin. Just do yours.”
“So he didn’t.” Darwin looked away, crossed his arms. Surveyed the surviving
boys. “Get up, all of you. We still have shit to do.”
Simon moved a lot in his sleep, which made it hard for Daniel to sleep, since
Simon had decided he needed to start sleeping with Daniel.
Soon, Daniel knew, Simon wouldn’t be sleeping in here very often. He’d get more
sleep then. And he hated himself for even thinking that, for even considering
that he might want that.
This time, though, instead of adjusting himself, rolling over, taking his shirt
off or putting it back on, Simon got up, probably to go to the privy. Daniel
lay there, quiet, not bothering to try for sleep again until he came back. He’d
just wake Daniel up when he came back in and curled up beside him again.
So he listened to Simon pad to the door, then pause, pull it open quietly, and
pause again before stepping outside, closing it behind him just as quietly.
It took Daniel nearly a full minute to realize that he wasn’t going to the
privy. Idiot, he thought, sitting up and rubbing his left eye. He’d stopped to
check on them all twice, to make sure they were all fast asleep, that they
wouldn’t notice him leaving.
He was planning on trying to run away again.
With a sigh, Daniel got up, followed Simon out of the room. He wasn’t going to
get far. The first time he’d tried, he hadn’t even gotten out of the house. The
second time, he’d been caught halfway across the yard. He’d been trying to walk
through the front gate. This time, Daniel figured he’d be at least a little
smarter.
When the guards brought Simon back, they were loud, and he was loud, and it
woke everyone up, and Daniel wanted to avoid that if possible.
Telling himself that was true, he moved quietly through the house, down the
back stairs. Sure enough, he heard the door opening and shutting as he went,
Simon’s desire for quiet still there but muted now.
Daniel moved the rest of the way down the stairs, keeping an eye out for
Theodore’s guards all the time. They didn’t really patrol the house or anything
at night, but they were supposed to be stationed by the doors. And yet this one
stood unguarded. Maybe the guard was using the privy or getting a snack, or
maybe he was just lazy. Daniel had never tried to escape, but he’d also never
found Theodore’s house guards to be that present, which they ought to be.
It was a cool night, or at least it felt cool on Daniel’s bare legs when he
stepped outside, looking around for any sign of the guards or Simon. He didn’t
see either; he was far enough behind Simon that he wasn’t visible in the dark.
But that didn’t matter, he’d been in this yard before, he knew where Simon
would go if he wanted to escape.
Near the eastern wall, there was a little gazebo that Theodore sometimes sat in
during the summer. Near it were some climbing plants that went over the wall.
They looked sturdy enough to climb but Daniel was pretty sure they weren’t.
Simon wouldn’t know that. Daniel headed over there, keeping an eye out for the
guards as he went. They did patrol the grounds at night, as far as he knew.
Sure enough, there was Simon, considering the plants, tugging at them as if
deciding where to start. “That’s not a good idea,” Daniel called quietly.
Simon jumped with a tiny yelp, turned and faced Daniel with eyes wide. “What
are you doing here?”
Daniel smiled at him. “Those aren’t as sturdy as they look, and the lattice
that they’re climbing isn’t nailed to the wall. You’ll fall and crash the whole
thing down with you. The guards will hear.” He was making the part about the
lattice up, but Simon wasn’t going to know that.
Eyes wide, Simon looked over his shoulder, then back at Daniel. “How did you
know where I was?”
“There are only two places where the wall seems climbable,” Daniel said. “This
is the easiest looking one. If you want to actually get over the wall, though,
you have to go to the back wall, there’s a tall tree that grows pretty close to
it. You’ll have to jump from a branch to the wall and then jump down from the
wall on the other side.”
“That wasn’t what I meant, I…” Simon hugged himself, looking like he might cry
again. “How do you know that? You thought about escaping too?”
“Of course I did.” Daniel smiled again. He’d had an entire escape route planned
for after he killed Theodore. “None of us want to be here, Simon.”
“They why didn’t you?”
Daniel shrugged. That was a good question. He knew why he hadn’t before, but
now, now that he had no chance of killing Theodore, he could escape. He could
steal some valuables from the house and escape, get over the wall and leave the
city, go somewhere slavery was illegal so he wouldn’t be returned. Maybe he
could even take Marcus and Hugh with him. “What you’re doing isn’t a good
idea.”
“Of course it is!” Simon didn’t raise his voice much, so at least he was self-
aware enough of that. “I can’t be here. I can’t. If I stay, If I…he’s going
to...” He started to breathe faster, eyes watering.
“I know,” Daniel said, to spare him saying it and to cut Simon’s hysterics off
before they could start. “I know what he’s going to do. But Simon, I don’t
think you’ve thought about this enough.”
“What? I…I did. I thought about how I’d get out of the house, and how I’d get
by the guards and get over the wall. I’ve been thinking about it since the last
time!”
Daniel shook his head, going and sitting on the steps to the gazebo. “What
about after you get over the wall? Where are you going to go?”
“Well…home.”
“And make your parents into criminals?”
Simon blinked, cautiously stepping closer to Daniel. “What?”
“Their house is the first place the guards will look when they realize there’s
a runaway slave. Simon, we’re not people, you and me. Slaves are property. If
your parents let you come back to them, the guard would consider them thieves.”
Daniel started to tear up a little just watching Simon crumble the more he
said. “You’re…you’re lying.”
Daniel shook his head. “I’m sorry. But who’s going to take care of Susie if
they get arrested and you get taken back here?”
Simon looked so lost, tears running down his cheeks, shaking his head. “It’s
not fair,” he cried.
“I know. Come here.” Simon did as he was told, coming to sit beside Daniel on
the steps. Daniel put his arms around the other boy, holding him there. “I’m
not going to stop you from running away. Especially before Theodore hurts you.
But you can’t go home if you do.”
And because of that, Daniel knew he wouldn’t try.
Simon nodded, sniffling. At least he was crying quietly. “How do you do it? How
do you…” He broke off into a gasp as he tried to avoid sobbing.
“I sleep a lot,” Daniel told him, not kidding. “The important thing is that you
always have to remember that it’s not okay, what’s happening, and that it’s not
normal or good.”
“I know that.”
Daniel nodded. “Theodore makes it very hard to know that. He’s very good at
making you think it’s okay. He’s very good at making people like him.”
“I hate him,” Simon asserted. “I hate him so much and he hasn’t even…”
“I know.” Daniel sighed. “I hate him too. But if you don’t want to spend your
time here being carried around by guards and locked up, you have to pretend
that’s not true, at least sometimes. And when you pretend something enough, it
gets hard to remember that it’s not real. Just try to remember what’s real.”
Simon nodded, though Daniel wondered how much he was hearing. “And what about
when he…how do I…” He couldn’t even make himself say it.
Daniel sighed, hating himself so much for what he was about to say. “Just let
him do what he wants. It won’t hurt your body very much. He’s very gentle.”
“But…”
“I didn’t say you’d like it. But you’re brave. If you do as he says, it won’t
hurt and it will be over faster.”
Simon squeezed his eyes shut, nodding. “Okay. I just…I just…”
Daniel took Simon’s hand, held it in his. “I know.” He looked around the yard,
saw nothing but dark. “We should go back to bed before someone finds us.”
Theodore had told the guards to handle Simon gently, but Daniel suspected that
order didn’t extend to him.
“Can…” Simon took what was probably supposed to be a steadying breath. “Can I
just be by myself for a few minutes? Just a few minutes, then I’ll come back,
okay?”
“Okay.” Daniel stood, patted Simon’s hair, the hair that Theodore liked. “Don’t
stay out too long.”
Simon nodded, still crying to himself, and Daniel left him there, headed back
for the house.
The guard was back at the door, which meant that Daniel wasn’t getting back in
undetected. After a moment’s indecision, he chose to just openly approach the
man, trying not to smile when the guard openly started at seeing him. Daniel
approached, giving an empty smile. “Simon is sitting in the gazebo by the east
wall. He’s not going to run. But in a few minutes, maybe you could go get him?”
The guard just looked at him, eyes narrowing. “How the hell did you two get out
here?”
“You were somewhere else,” Daniel said, just looking at him.
The guard went a bit splotchy in the face, but he turned and pulled the door
open. “Just…get inside and get back to your room, you…sir.”
Daniel’s heart skipped, and he looked up to see Theodore standing there in a
nightcoat, looking right at him. “I had a feeling from our conversation at
dinner that Simon was planning to make another escape attempt tonight,” he
said, slowly. “Lo and behold, when I looked out my window, I saw a slave
walking through the yard. The wrong one, it seems.”
Daniel’s throat was try, he didn’t have any words, but he opened his mouth
anyway. “Simon’s sitting in the gazebo.”
“Ah.” Theodore smiled, looked at the guard. “Do go retrieve him, will you?”
The guard nodded and hurried off. Theodore moved aside so Daniel could come in.
“You dissuaded him. Another surprise.”
“The guards are loud when they bring him back to the room,” Daniel said, hoping
that the dark hid that he was shaking. “I just wanted him come back on his own
so they didn’t wake everyone up.”
“Or perhaps you were encouraging him to escape so he’d be away from me,”
Theodore suggested. “Hard to say with you, isn’t it? I notice you didn’t
actually bring him back.”
Daniel wasn’t going to rise to that bait. He took another step into the house.
“I haven’t dismissed you.”
Daniel stopped walking. “I’m sorry, Master.”
“No doubt. How is Simon doing?”
Daniel doubted that Simon was hiding his feelings when he was with Theodore.
“He cries a lot. He still thinks his parents are coming to get him.”
“I see. He’s afraid of me.”
Of course he was. “Do you blame him?”
Theodore was quiet for a moment. “No,” he finally said. “I suppose I don’t. You
may go.”
Daniel sighed. “Tell him he’s brave.”
“Excuse me?”
“Tell him he’s brave. The way you used to tell me I was smart. That’s what he
wants to hear.” Daniel wanted to vomit.
“Thank you for the suggestion,” Theodore said, sounding thoughtful. “Goodnight,
Daniel.”
“Goodnight, Master.” Daniel moved off, up the stairs and into the house,
getting far, far out of Theodore’s hearing before he stopped, revulsion
sweeping through him. At Theodore, at himself. What was he doing? What was he
thinking?
Daniel didn’t even know. He wanted Simon to get away, to be free and happy. He
wanted Theodore to hurt Simon. He wanted Theodore to die. He wanted Theodore to
like him again. He wanted to have stabbed that stupid knife down that night. He
wanted to have never tried. He wanted...
Daniel didn’t even fucking know what he wanted anymore. He wanted not to be
standing here in a hallway in the middle of the night, crying and too confused
to walk. He wanted to stop hurting.
And he didn’t know if he ever would.
***** It’s Hard to See the Greater Good when its Collateral Damage Is Right in
Front of You *****
Chapter Notes
     The cycle just keeps turning.
“Your target is a man named Theodore,” Chance told them all, surveying them as
they sat, arrayed in front of him. They weren’t the scared, shaking little boys
they’d been. Or maybe they were. It was hard to tell sometimes. “He’s a rich
asshole in Merket who likes to buy boys your age as slaves and fuck them until
he’s bored.”
Daniel’s gut clenched a little, but they all knew better than to talk when
Chance was talking to them. He’d been worried that their target would be some
nice person or someone who didn’t deserve to die. At least that made it easier,
knowing that he was some monster who preyed on children.
“We’re going to sell you back to a slave market at a time when we know he’ll be
looking, and he’s going to buy one of you,” Chance went on. “Once you’re in his
house, you’ll wait until you get your opportunity, and you’re going to kill
him. How is up to you. When is up to you. How you escape after is up to you,
but make sure you’re not caught or we can’t help you. We’ll tell you where to
go once you’re out, and we’ll protect you, pay you, free you and get you out of
the city safely to do whatever you want with the rest of your life. That’s your
payment for killing him.”
“How much money?” Bradley asked, crossing his arms. Some of the other boys were
looking at each other.
“Five thousand gold pieces. More than enough to set you up for life if you’re
smart.”
Which none of them were, was the implication. But Daniel was, and he was
watching Chance. He knew how to hear what people weren’t saying when they
talked, and there was a lot Chance hadn’t said in there.
“Does he have a lot of guards?” Greg wanted to know, tapping his knee with a
finger.
“Enough that you don’t want to stab him in front of them.”
“You’re expecting us to let him rape us, aren’t you?”
Chance glared at Greg. “I’m expecting you to do your fucking job. If that’s
what it takes, it’s worth it.”
That was easy for Chance to say when he wasn’t the one who was going to be
raped. “How do you know he’s going to buy us?” Roderick asked. “Isn’t that a
huge risk?”
“We know this guy. We picked you all based on the types of boys he’s liked in
the past. He’ll pick you.”
“One of us,” Daniel said quietly, because it didn’t sound like anyone else had
realized it yet. All eyes moved to him, but he kept his on Chance, unwavering.
“What about the rest of us, the ones Theodore doesn’t buy?”
Chance glared at Daniel for a minute, as if he somehow hadn’t expected anyone
to ask that question. Now they were all watching Chance, waiting for his
answer. “You’ll be model slaves, you’ll keep your damn mouths shut, and you’ll
accept whatever happens to you until we can get you out.”
“You’ll rescue us?” Greg asked, into the tight air of the room.
“Not right away. We’ll be keeping our eyes on you. You breathe a word about
anything that’s happened since you were here, you become a liability. We don’t
suffer liabilities.” He drew a finger across his neck, an unnecessary threat,
Daniel thought.
“But if we stay quiet.”
“If you stay quiet, as soon as we get the chance, we’ll get you out of there.”
And who knew what would happen to them in the meantime, Daniel thought. It
didn’t matter anyway, because though it wasn’t until a good while later, he did
eventually realize that Chance had been lying.
Nobody was coming for them.
Knocking at the door woke Daniel, which was annoying because for once Simon was
sleeping quietly and letting Daniel sleep quietly as well. It wasn’t that late,
or at least it hadn’t been when he’d fallen asleep.
But it didn’t matter. The minute Daniel heard the knock he knew what it was,
and he felt sick. He held Simon protectively, glancing at Marcus, who was
playing cards with Hugh. Marcus’s face had gone grim, so Daniel wasn’t the only
one.
“Simon,” Daniel whispered, shaking him.
At the same time, Benedict’s voice sounded through the door. “Simon,” he said
clearly. “The master requests your presence in his bedchamber.”
“What…” Simon was just waking up, and Daniel helped him sit, trying to keep his
face clear of emotion. “What’s going on?”
“You have to go,” Daniel told him, brushing Simon’s hair out of his eyes.
“Theodore’s calling you.”
“What, but it’s night, why…” Simon trailed off, his eyes going wide as he woke
the rest of the way up, and he shook his head. “No. No, I can’t…”
“Yes, you can,” Daniel promised, standing and pulling Simon with him, tugging a
wrinkle out of his shirt. “You’ll be okay.”
“But, I…” Simon was looking around, breathing fast like he might start crying.
“I…”
“Just be brave,” Daniel said, brushing his cheek. “You can do it.”
Simon nodded, looking away. “Will…you be here when I come back?”
Simon wasn’t coming back for a few weeks if the way Theodore had treated Daniel
was any indication. “Of course I will be. Now go.”
Another nod, and Simon took a steeling breath. “Okay,” he said, in a broken
whisper. His eyes were watering. “Okay.”
Daniel walked him to the door, pulled it open for him. His eyes met Benedict’s
as Simon went out into the hallway, looking at his feet, and they looked at
each other for a long while.
You could stop this, Daniel was thinking.
You could have too, Benedict’s look back seemed to say.
“See you soon,” Daniel lied, hugging Simon for a moment.
“Okay,” Simon said, swallowing a cry. “Soon.”
“Be brave.”
“I will.” Daniel could feel Simon’s heart pounding.
“Come,” Benedict said, when the hug went on for a moment longer.
Simon nodded, stepped back from Daniel. And he turned and let Benedict lead him
down the hallway without another word.
Swallowing bile, Daniel turned and went back into the room, closing the door
behind him. He managed to get the door shut before tears started sliding down
his face, at least. “Oh, God…”
He could have stopped that. He could have killed Theodore and stopped that from
happening. He could have saved Simon from that.
And he hadn’t.
Theodore being alive made other people’s lives better. But was it worth it when
Daniel had to sit here and watch as he destroyed Simon? He was a nice boy. He
was a person.
“Damnit.” Daniel was such an idiot. “I hate him.”
“It’s okay,” Marcus said. Daniel didn’t know when he’d gotten there, but there
he was, pulling Daniel into a hug. “You’re okay.”
“Simon’s not.” Daniel let Marcus hold him. Simon wasn’t going to be okay ever
again now. He wasn’t going to recover from this. None of them had. It didn’t
matter how Daniel felt. Daniel had failed, and he’d ruined everything. And now
Simon was going to pay for it. “I hate him so much.”
“No, he’s not,” Marcus agreed. “But there’s nothing you could have done,
Daniel.”
“Yes, there was,” Daniel cried, shaking his head. “Yes, there was. And I
didn’t. Damnit.”
“Come here,” Marcus said, pulling him over to sit between himself and Hugh, who
joined in the hug. “You’re with us. It’s okay. Or at least as okay as it can
be.”
“You’re safe, and that’s what matters, Daniel,” Hugh agreed. “You can’t protect
Simon right now. Just be grateful it’s not you.”
Daniel nodded. “It didn’t have to be anyone,” he said, trying to get his tears
under control. “I just…I hate him, so much.”
“Yeah. We do too, Daniel. We do too.”
But they hadn’t had and thrown away the chance to kill Theodore. That wasn’t
what Hugh was saying, but it was what Daniel heard anyway. And he was right.
“Damnit.”
***** Things that Don’t Mean Anything Sometimes End up Meaning Something
Important *****
“Which one of us do you think he’ll pick?”
“Who?” Roderick asked, up on an elbow.
“You know who,” Greg said, rolling his eyes at Roderick. “They guy. Theodore.
Which of us do you think he’ll buy?”
“Oh. Me, of course.”
“Why?”
Because thinking that was the only way that he could make himself think this
was okay. Daniel understood. He was doing that too.
Roderick shrugged one shoulder. “Because I’m the best? I don’t know.”
Greg just grunted, shaking his head. “I’m serious. If you had to pick someone
other than yourself, who’d you go with?”
“How should I know? I’m not buying a slave. You, probably.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. You’re smart, and stuff. Why, what about you?”
“Not sure. You or Bradley. You’re both pretty strong.”
“That’s not what he wants us for, though,” Bradley put in. “He wants to fuck
us, remember?”
“Daniel, then,” another boy said, kicking Daniel’s foot. “He’s the most
fuckable.”
“Fuck you,” Daniel muttered, looking up at the ceiling.
“Careful, I just might.”
“Yeah, I dare you.” They’d been told in no uncertain terms not to touch each
other on their first night here, and now they knew why. Theodore preferred them
with no experience. “You’ll have a job as an opera singer for the rest of your
life.”
“You’re going to look real good decorating someone’s bed someday.”
“Shut it,” Roderick said, laying back. “What about you, Daniel?”
“Greg’s the most likely to get picked,” Daniel started, thinking it through.
Greg was attractive, young looking and had a nice smile.
“That’s not what he asked,” Greg himself interrupted. “He asked who you’d pick.
Come on, we’re all acknowledging our repressed attraction to one another here.
If you had to pick someone to buy, who’d you go with?”
Daniel sighed, a little dramatic. “Bradley,” he muttered, a little hot in the
face.
“Aw, thanks,” Bradley cooed. “Never knew you had a thing for me.”
“Shut up,” Daniel put an arm over his face. One dream, that was all it had
been.
“He’s even boning up,” Roderick pointed out. “Daniel’s thought about this one.”
Daniel just made a noise.
“At least he thinks about things,” Greg defended. “And he’s not the only one
there, Rod.”
“Ha, ha, you’re hilarious.” Roderick sighed. And he reached down, started
pulling on his erection. After almost two years sleeping together it wasn’t
like any of them had any shame about their bodies left. “Come on then, let’s
see who can shoot the fastest.”
It was a game they played a lot. That was the only night Daniel won.
Daniel woke up with a boner, which would have been less of a big deal if he had
been in the small room. But he’d fallen asleep in a cupboard where he’d been
putting towels away.
Rubbing his eyes, Daniel stood, wondering how long he’d been in here. They were
going to be wondering where he was. He felt wrong being in the room without
Simon there. He felt wrong sleeping at night when he knew Simon wasn’t. He’d
been napping in a lot of cupboards by accident.
He couldn’t hide his boner in this shirt, so Daniel just peeked out of the
cupboard before stepping outside, hoping that nobody would see him on his way
back to the room where he could do something about it.
He wouldn’t, but he theoretically could.
The sun was most of the way down, Daniel saw when he chanced by a window, so
he’d been asleep for about an hour. Not too bad, then. If he went back now he
could just say he got given some other chore before being allowed to return.
Marcus and Hugh tended to believe him when he said things. In a way that made
Daniel feel bad for lying.
It was kind of annoying.
He’d just come around the corner to go down the stairs that would take him to
the slaves’ room when he heard voices and sighed. So much for not getting seen
like this.
And then they got closer, and he realized one of those voices was Theodore.
No. Theodore wasn’t going to see Daniel. Not like this, not when he was going
to go into that room soon and hurt Simon. Daniel…
If Daniel saw Theodore right now, he’d kill him.
Nearby there was an alcove cut into the wall with a life-sized statue of Saint
Anthony, who’d written six books of scripture after visiting heaven in his
sleep. He was standing with a long scroll and his eyes closed, and Daniel
ducked behind him, realizing that he could be seen between the legs and, with
the voices drawing closer and nowhere else to go, lifting himself up and
standing on his hands with his arms behind Anthony’s legs to keep himself
hidden.
Daniel’s shirt fell down over his head, but his back pressed against the statue
stopped it going any farther.
“I hope that this can be an extremely productive partnership, for both of us,”
Theodore was saying.
“I hope so too, sir,” a woman’s voice said back. “If your intentions really are
as noble as you say, it’ll be good for us and for the city.”
“Agreed, Captain. I think it’s all of our duty to make Merket the best version
of itself that it can be, and that includes removing people who don’t feel that
way from power when possible.”
“When possible,” the woman—Theodore had called her Captain, which meant she was
Abigail Greentide, the city guard captain who he was talking to for help with
Clement’s slave market—said. “And ideally replacing then with people who do.”
“That’s how I feel as well.”
Their voices receded as they descended the stairs, and Daniel stood there, on
his hands behind the statue, vision obscured by his shirt, until he was sure
they were gone. He mentally tracked them in his mind, counting how long it
would take them to get to the bottom, to turn the corner, to head down the
hall, through the doors, into the foyer, down the grand staircase…
It was only when they were halfway down there by his count that he took a
breath, eased himself down, started shaking like crazy. He didn’t have time for
that, though, and he came out from behind the statue, heading down the stairs
himself before he had to worry about them coming back.
All he wanted to do was chase after them and tell Abigail Greentide that
Theodore wasn’t the person to replace Clement with. That he wasn’t going to
make Merket a better place.
But he was, and so Daniel didn’t. He just went to the slave’s room as fast as
he could, trying not to think of how easy it would be for him to rescue Simon
from the bedroom and grateful that he didn’t run into anyone else.
He got there and stopped, swallowing as he calmed himself. If he went in there
upset they’d ask him why. He pressed down all his emotions, trying to seem
normal. He even managed to stop shaking.
Now he noticed that during all that he hadn’t managed to lose the boner, which
really was just a goddamned insult.
But that was fine, Marcus could poke fun at him for that and maybe not notice
any residual fear on Daniel’s face, and then he could go to bed and it would be
fine.
Daniel nodded. “It’ll be fine,” He muttered, opening the door and stepping into
the room.
Where it turned out he wasn’t the only one with a boner. In fact, it was
apparently a group thing tonight. On their side of the room, Trevor was on his
back with Al on top of him, whispering with their arms around one another. And
on the other side, next to a pile of cards, Marcus looked up at Daniel, pausing
in the act of pressing his dick into Hugh. “Hey,” Marcus said, smiling.
“There you are.” Hugh was holding Marcus’s hand. “You fell asleep somewhere,
didn’t you?”
Daniel shrugged, closed the door behind him as he came into the room. “Don’t
stop,” he said, waving at them. “I’m just going to go to bed.”
Marcus looked down at Hugh. Hugh looked up at Marcus, and then they both looked
at him. “Sure you are,” Marcus said, waving him over. “Come on, we just started
the good part. This is Hugh’s reward for winning the card game.”
“He asked for this?” Daniel wondered about that. But Hugh nodded, so he
shrugged. “I’m good.”
“You’re pitching a tent,” Marcus reminded him, pointing. “Come on. We’ll just
assume you lost. You can suck Hugh off.”
Uncertain, Daniel looked at Hugh, who probably had wanted to do this alone with
Marcus. “I don’t want to get in your way if you’re…”
“It’s fine,” Hugh said, waving Daniel over. “Come on, no reason for you to be
the only one not dealing with it.”
“You’re just saying that because you want a blowjob,” Daniel muttered,
stripping out of his shirt as he came over, getting on his hands and knees.
“Obviously,” Hugh said, pulling him closer and pushing the cards aside so
Daniel could get in. “Now open up. And you,” he said to Marcus, “do something
useful with that dick.”
“Bossy,” Marcus accused, as he pushed himself farther inside Hugh, giving Hugh
a gasp.
“Damn right,” Hugh muttered, as Daniel took him in his mouth. He moved his hips
a little, sighing. “That’s better…” he muttered.
Daniel was tempted to just suck Hugh down in one go, but he held himself back,
only taking half of Hugh in his mouth and sucking gently, playing at the top of
his dick with his tongue. Hugh was panting under him, which Daniel hoped was at
least partially because of him.
Hugh’s hand came up and wrapped around Daniel’s boner, starting to stroke it in
tune with the thrusts Marcus was giving him. Daniel made a happy sound, and
another one when Marcus’s hand ended up in Daniel’s hair. He tried to push
Daniel further down on Hugh, but Daniel put his back into it and stayed where
he was since Hugh was obviously enjoying it.
So much so that, with a quiet cry, Hugh tightened his hand on Daniel as he
came, Marcus’s hand giving Daniel no choice but to swallow—which he would have
anyway—and stop sucking since he knew Hugh would be sensitive.
Hugh really picked up the pace on Daniel after that, and it wasn’t long before
Daniel was tensing, and he shot all over Hugh’s hand, just as Marcus whispered,
“Fuck, I’m…” and went totally still as he drove into Hugh.
When it was over, they collapsed into a sort of pile, Marcus pulling out of
Hugh as Daniel sat up, wiping his mouth. With a heavy breath, Marcus leaned in
and kissed Daniel on the mouth, smiling at him when he was done. Out of the
corner of his eye, Daniel could see Hugh looking a little quiet. So he smacked
Marcus on the arm. “Kiss Hugh, dumbass.”
It wasn’t that Daniel hadn’t liked the kiss. But he wasn’t the only one who
needed one.
“Oh,” Marcus looked sheepish, and he leaned down and did as Daniel told him.
“Sorry. And thanks.”
“Thank you,” Hugh answered, smiling at Marcus and kissing him back. “Here,
sleep with me.”
“Yeah, sure…” Marcus cast a glance at Daniel, who gave Hugh a kiss of his own
and then moved aside so Marcus could squeeze in between them, one arm around
each of them. It felt nice, and Daniel rested his head on Marcus’s shoulder.
“We should do this more often,” Marcus said, yawning.
“You’re bottoming next time,” Hugh muttered from Marcus’s other shoulder. “And
you’re helping me in the bath tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Marcus said. “I wish…that we could just have this. On our own.”
“Yeah,” Hugh said, expression guarded. “Me too.”
Daniel did too.
“So it’s settled,” Marcus held both of them closer. “We’ll run away and live on
a farm together or something.”
Hugh snorted. “Yeah.”
“We should,” Daniel said quietly, thinking about it. Marcus had meant it as a
joke, but…
There was no reason for Daniel to stay here. Eventually Theodore was going to
call Gideon over, and Gideon would see that Daniel had failed, and Theodore
would die anyway. And when that happened, who knew what was going to happen to
all of them.
Why hadn’t he thought of this before?
“Yeah, I know,” Marcus said, yawning again. “We’ll raise cows and never go
hungry, it’ll be great.”
“You wouldn’t know the first thing to do with a cow,” Hugh accused.
“I’m serious,” Daniel said, silencing both of them. “We could run away. I can
get us over the wall in the back.”
“Daniel.”
“All we’d have to do is get out of the city to somewhere where slavery is
illegal,” Daniel continued, not listening. “It wouldn’t be that hard,
actually.” There might be guards. Daniel could…Daniel could kill them.
They could do it. They could get away. It was totally possible. “We could steal
a few things, some gold or something. Some food. Nobody pays attention to where
we go.”
It was doable.
“Daniel, don’t,” Marcus said.
“Either wait for him to let Simon come back or just break him out of the room
when Theodore’s not home,” Daniel continued. “We could take Trevor and Al too,
though they might just want to wait until he lets them go. We could…”
“Daniel,” Hugh reached over, took Daniel’s hand. “Stop.”
Daniel demurred, looking away. “Sorry. I just…”
“I know. But they’d find us.”
“Yeah.” Daniel sighed.
He was pretty sure they wouldn’t.
“Go to sleep,” Hugh suggested, and yawned again with Marcus. Daniel followed
suit, and nodded.
“This is nice,” Daniel muttered as he drifted. “You guys. It’s nice.”
“Yeah,” Hugh sounded a bit sad.
A glance up showed that Marcus had already drifted off. “He likes you,” Daniel
said quietly.
“He likes you better.”
Daniel knew that. He sighed. “I don’t like him the same way.”
“You’re lying.”
Yes, he was.
“I’m sorry,” Daniel muttered.
“Not your fault,” Hugh squeezed Daniel’s hand again. “People like who they’re
going to like. Don’t worry about it. Go to sleep.”
Daniel nodded. “Okay. Goodnight, Hugh.”
“Goodnight.”
Daniel drifted off slowly, thinking about escape plans.
***** Reality Is Like a Dream; It Doesn’t always Follow the Rules *****
Chapter Notes
     I've had this chapter planned in a lot of detail from pretty much the
     beginning of the story.
They were in the cart again, clattering along the road. Maybe it was the same
cart. Maybe it wasn’t. He didn’t know.
Bradley, Roderick, Greg, Daniel. Four of them there, trying to sleep as they
headed back for where they’d come from.
No, Daniel thought idly, that wasn’t right. Pascal had been there too, curled
up in the corner. There’d been six of them in the cart, not four.
They were being taken to the slave market, to be sold. To be bought. To start
the job they’d been trained for, or not. They were freezing, having been washed
off with cold water, the dirt and grime scrubbed from their bodies. Their hair
had been cut straight and pretty. They needed to look their best.
Or their most fuckable, Darwin had muttered under his breath when he’d thought
none of them could hear.
Pascal had been there too, Daniel was sure of it even as he looked in the
corner and didn’t see him. He had been laying there, curled up in the corner,
miserable. Miserable because he knew. He knew before they’d even been sold it
wasn’t going to be him. He had a split lip, one he’d gotten in a fight with
another boy last night. Was a split lip enough to make Theodore not want to buy
him?
Probably, was what they all thought but weren’t saying.
The cart trundled along, loud. They were all asleep, or trying to be. Daniel
couldn’t sleep, he didn’t understand how the others could. Their lives were
about to be sold. Again. And there was nothing they could do about it.
The cart was old, the wood soft in places. It was fitted with brackets for them
to be chained to, heavy iron collars around their necks. A few of the brackets
could probably be pulled out of the wall with the right leverage, they were
loose.
Also loose was the door, which clattered as they moved, letting a lot of light
in through the gap. Daniel could reach through that gap with his hand and open
the latch on the other side if he wanted.
But where would he go? A naked, scared boy with a collar on his neck? The world
wasn’t kind enough to let someone friendly pick him up. Likely as not he’d be
taken to the slave market anyway. Or just taken to someone’s house at random.
No, they were here and there was nothing they could do about it. Theodore was
only going to buy one of them and there was nothing they could do about.
“You’re going to look real good decorating someone’s bed someday.”
The boy who’d said that to him was chained up across from Daniel, leaning on
the weak doors a little. He was the one who’d split Pascal’s lip, too.
Pascal had been the prettiest of the six of them.
They couldn’t control which of them was bought, but maybe they could play with
the odds a little.
They were all going to be raped. That was what people did to slaves. There was
no way of getting around that. All they could hope for was that it was Theodore
who ended up raping them, so they could do what they’d been trained to do.
It was sick, competing to see which of them could be violated by the person
they hoped to be doing the violating.
The other boys were sleeping. Daniel was the only one awake. He crawled quietly
across the cart, as far as his chain would allow, which was far enough. He
reached past the sleeping boy, grabbed the bracket keeping him chained to the
wall of the cart. The wood was soft, the bracket was old. Daniel wiggled and
worried it for a minute until it came loose, or loose enough. A hard pull would
yank it out. Daniel wasn’t strong enough to give a hard pull.
He backed up, heading for his spot. On the way by, he slipped his hand through
the crack in the doors and lifted the latch. The sleeping boy was leaning
against the door, now not secured shut. It opened, and he fell, and he fell
over the edge of the cart, and the pull of his weight pulled the bracket out of
the wall with a loud clatter, and the doors swung open, showing them the moving
road.
Pascal was the one who Theodore would have bought, and in the back of his mind,
Daniel knew he was dead. He was dead because of a split lip. Without it, it
might have been him, in Theodore’s house. It might have been Daniel who’d died.
Everything might have been better.
Daniel rested his head against his wall and closed his eyes, pretending to be
asleep. The cart was so noisy that the doors and the chain hadn’t even woken
anyone up. Bradley, Roderick, Greg, Daniel. Scared, naked little boys on their
way to be sold.
It was a half-hour before anyone woke up and noticed the open door, and what
had fallen through it.
“Daniel,” Hugh said quietly, giving him a shake.
“What?” Daniel grumped, annoyed that he was being woken up. “I’m sleeping.”
“I know, but I have to go pee and I can’t with your head on my shoulder.”
Daniel stayed there for a second, then realized what Hugh had said and nodded,
straightening with a yawn. “Sorry.” He was just going to lay down and go back
to sleep, but he had to pee too.
Sighing, Daniel stood with Hugh. “I’ll come with you. Where’s Marcus?” He
wasn’t anywhere in the room. In fact, he and Hugh were alone.
“Taking out the dining chairs with Trevor and Al,” Hugh told him, handing
Daniel his shirt to put on as they headed for the door. “Theodore’s having
people over.”
Daniel nodded. “I’m offended we weren’t ask to move chairs,” he said, a minute
later as they headed for the privy.
“I’m not. Being scrawny has to have upsides somewhere.” Hugh smiled. “Let
Marcus do all the sweating.”
“Yeah,” Daniel chuckled.
“I am kind of surprised they didn’t make you do it,” Hugh went on. “It would
keep with the theme.”
Daniel nodded. “I’m not going to complain too loudly.”
“Why’s he so mad at you?”
Daniel went quiet. “I’m sorry,” Hugh said. “It’s just…weird.”
“I broke the rules.” They turned the corner to where the privy was, went in
together.
“We all break the rules sometimes,” Hugh said, hiking up his shirt to pee,
waiting for Daniel to do the same before reaching out to hold Daniel’s. Daniel
grabbed Hugh as well and let his bladder go. “He doesn’t punish us for weeks.”
“Not those rules.” Daniel shook his head, making his Hugh’s stream collide with
his for fun. Hugh made a face at him. “One of the ones he plays by that the
rest of us don’t know about.”
“What do you…”
“He’s the one who gets to decide when he’s done with us,” Daniel said,
concentrating. “It’s always him deciding that, deciding everything. He’s mad at
me because I decided we were done. Not him.”
Hugh looked at Daniel, and Daniel just focused on emptying his bladder, and
when he was done Hugh let him go, and Daniel shook off the droplets before
dropping his shirt. “What does that mean?” Hugh asked as Daniel let go of him
too.
Daniel wetted his hands in the small basin and shook them dry. “I tried to kill
him.”
He said it quietly, but it didn’t matter. He could feel Hugh’s eyes on him, and
Daniel left the privy to get away. But he waited outside, because Hugh was
going to find him anyway. He just needed a second to himself.
That was all he got, because Hugh came out right after him. Hugh usually didn’t
wash his hands. “What does that mean?”
“It means what it sounds like.” Daniel tried not to snap, he did. He started
walking back to the room.
Hugh followed after him, grabbed Daniel’s hand in his. “You’re not a killer,
Daniel.”
Daniel looked down at the floor. “Obviously. Or we wouldn’t be in this house
anymore, would we? I could have saved us all.”
“No, you couldn’t have,” Hugh said, sadly. “Nobody can save us, Daniel.
Unless…”
Unless? Daniel looked up, question in his eyes. Hugh smiled. “Were you serious,
the other night, when you said we should all try to escape? Do you really think
we’d make it?”
Daniel looked at Hugh, trying to decide if he was serious. He couldn’t tell,
but he nodded. “Yes,” he said. “I do.”
“Tell me how.”
“It wouldn’t be that hard,” Daniel said, walking back to the room. “He keeps
some money in his study for emergencies, it’s easier to steal than from the
gold vault since that’s locked. We’d have to go to his bedroom anyway to get
Simon. It’s not hard to get food out of the kitchen. If we wait until he’s not
likely to come in there…”
“You want to go during the day?”
Daniel shrugged. “Or when he’s having a fancy dinner with all his friends.”
“You’re insane,” Hugh muttered.
‘The guards don’t pay very much attention. Simon managed to get all the way to
the gazebo and he’s not very sneaky. If we climb the big tree near the back
wall, we can get over it. We’d just have to sneak until we got out of the
city.” Daniel took a breath, organizing his thoughts. “We could go south, or
west to White Cape. Slavery is illegal in both places, and once we were
somewhere it was, they wouldn’t return us here.”
Daniel didn’t know that last part for certain, but it seemed like if they
didn’t believe in slavery down south, they wouldn’t return people north to be
sold into it again.
“If we went to White Cape,” Hugh mused, “we could get on a boat and go wherever
we wanted.”
“Nobody would find us,” Daniel insisted. “The world’s really big.”
Hugh was quiet for a minute, looking at the floor. He swallowed, and met
Daniel’s eyes. “We’re bringing Trevor and Al too.”
Daniel nodded. “Okay.”
“I know I mostly spend time with you and Marcus, but…they’re my friends too.
They were really nice to me after…after Theodore brought Marcus here.” Hugh
took a breath. “And we can’t let them tell Theodore we’re leaving.”
Daniel smiled. “As long as you can talk them into coming, it’s fine.”
“Simon will do whatever you tell him to. But you’ll have to convince Marcus. He
won’t listen to me.”
There was a sad note in Hugh’s voice at that, and Daniel took his hand and
squeezed it. “I’ll talk to him.”
“The idea will scare him but he won’t want to admit it.”
“I can handle Marcus,” Daniel promised, walking towards the room again. They
couldn’t have someone come along and see them conspiring in the hallway. “What
made you change your mind? The other night you wouldn’t even let me talk about
this.”
“I just…” Hugh looked away, still holding Daniel’s hand. “I can’t stand to
watch him hurt the people I care about anymore. He hurts us without even seeing
us.”
“Yeah,” Daniel agreed, nodding. “He’s really good at…” Daniel cut himself off,
hearing what sounded like a crash in the distance. “Did you hear that?”
Hugh nodded. “Sounds like something fell over.”
“The foyer is that way,” Daniel said, looking down the hall. “I wonder if
anyone got hurt.”
“Theodore was out,” Hugh said. “Maybe he tripped when he came in?”
A shout rang out. Daniel picked up his pace, heading there. “Daniel, we should
just…”
“Aren’t you curious?” Daniel asked. The shout had sounded like one of pain.
Maybe Theodore was hurt. If he was, Daniel wanted to see it.
As they neared the foyer, Daniel slowed a little, just so they wouldn’t be
visible right away. The front doors were thrown open, bringing an autumn wind
into the house. Theodore and Benedict were down there, with three other people
in long coats. Theodore was on the floor, Benedict standing in front of him.
The stranger in the middle had a crossbow.
“Oh, God…” Hugh whispered, going pale. “Do you think…”
Daniel didn’t think. He let go of Hugh’s hand, broke into a run without pause.
“Daniel!”
Daniel measured the banister in his head, looking up at the chandelier hanging
over the foyer. Time to find out if he’d been right in his measurements. He
leapt onto the banister in a long bound, bending his leg and kicking off from
it in a leap that had him soaring through the air. It was too far away, he
realized immediately; the chandelier was farther than he’d realized, and he…
He managed to get his hands to the gold spokes, swinging the chandelier
forwards in a clatter of glass and crystal, eyes focused on the main with the
crossbow. He let go, his trajectory taking him right there, and by the time the
man had thought to look up, Daniel was already colliding with his chest,
sending them both to the ground in a clutter of limbs.
The man was swearing and trying to push Daniel off, which he would do because
he was far heavier than Daniel. Scrambling, Daniel turned around, tangled a
little in his shirt, the man’s hands on his legs. He gave a quick glance at
what he could see. Theodore was on the floor, seemingly unhurt. Benedict’s arm
was bleeding. One killer was behind Daniel and the other was just about in
front of him, drawing a long knife and running at Benedict.
Something went still inside Daniel and he stopped struggling, let the man pull
him away. On his way, Daniel reached down and grabbed the knife the man was
wearing out of its sheath, using his other hand to change his momentum again,
lunging forward and stabbing the heavy man in the chest before pulling back,
spinning and tossing the knife at the second man, taking him in the neck before
he could reach Benedict. Everything was moving slowly. There was no sound.
A shout behind him had Daniel turning, still in a crouch, and grabbing the
discarded crossbow of the first man. It was heavier than he expected but he
pointed it, shot. Took the man in the ribs as he prepared to throw his own
knife, which missed by a foot thanks to the hit. Daniel grabbed it, tossed it
back, right into the man’s stomach.
Everything rushed back all at once and Daniel fell back, away from the body,
suddenly suffocating. He couldn’t breathe. Three people. He’d killed all three
of them. How had he…
Daniel felt himself start to throw up, raised his hand to his mouth to stop it,
ending up just coughing vomit all over his hand. He was shaking, feeling
distant from the house, from the bodies, from his body.
“Daniel.”
Theodore’s voice had him snapping around. Theodore was standing up, looking
pale. Behind him was a broken display case. He wasn’t hurt. He was alive.
Daniel started to cry. It was too much. He had acted without thinking, and now
this. He couldn’t, he couldn’t…
Theodore just looked at Daniel as he brought his hands up to his head, tried to
hide. And he turned to Benedict. “Get someone in here to clean this up,” he
said quietly, voice shaking. “And get yourself tended to. They said they wanted
the stones—if they know I have them, they may know where they are. I’m going to
move them, and check on Simon.” He cast a glance at Daniel. “Take care of him.”
“Yes, sir,” Benedict said, holding his bleeding arm. He’d been shot.
Hugh was looking down at them from above, pale as death.
Daniel couldn’t do anything but shake there on the floor while Theodore turned
and headed up the stairs. “Hugh,” he heard Theodore say. “Come with me, will
you?”
“But…”
“Hugh,” Theodore said, in a much more dangerous tone.
“Yes, Master…” Hugh said, and out of the corner of Daniel’s eye, he saw them
both retreat into the house.
For a minute he just sat there, and Benedict looked around. “Very impressive,”
Benedict said.
“I didn’t mean to,” Daniel cried, rocking back and forth. “I didn’t mean to. I
just saw the weapons and I…”
And everything that Daniel had been taught had overtaken him. To do the exact
opposite of what he’d been taught it for. To save Theodore’s life. Daniel was
going to throw up again.
“Seeing weapons was not enough to drive me to kill three assassins,” Benedict
said, wincing.
“Just thugs,” Daniel whispered, trying to stand up, finding himself unsteady.
“Most assassins are just thugs.” He had to, he had to get it together. He had
to push this back, to get past it. He couldn’t afford to freak out now. These
people had probably been sent by the same people who’d hired Chance and them to
train Daniel. He took a staggering step towards the body of the man with the
crossbow, kneeling in front of him. “A real assassin could…” he paused, looking
down at the body. Dead people didn’t look like they were sleeping.
“Are you a real assassin?” Benedict asked, approaching from behind.
“No,” Daniel whispered, swallowing, wiping his hands on the dead man’s shirt
and looking through his pockets. “I’m just a scared, naked little boy.” There
was some coin, a flask, some string. There. Daniel found a wallet, folded. In
it was a piece of paper. “His orders.”
“Foolish to keep them in his pocket.”
“Guild assassins just do what they’re told. He probably only got them this
morning,” Daniel muttered, opening the paper, squinting at the words. He was
okay, he could do this. He could keep it together long enough to do this.
“It’s just the master’s name and address,” Benedict said, looking over Daniel’s
shoulder. “The date, and…does that say ‘two stones, bedroom study?’”
Daniel nodded, shivering. “This sign here. It’s for the Jerang Assassin’s
Guild.” And here he’d thought that information would never be useful. Darwin
had been good for a lot of things. “They’re used for political assassinations.
They’re violent and not very subtle. They use that five-pointed flower as their
sign because they usually work in groups of…” Daniel trailed off, looking at
the flower.
There were three bodies.
“Five.” Benedict’s voice was quiet. He sounded scared.
Daniel stood, turning. “Stay here,” he said, dropping the note and heading for
the stairs. On the way, he reached down to grab the knife out of the second
assassin’s neck.
“Daniel.”
“Get the guards to do something useful for once in their lives!” Daniel called,
bounding up the stairs. Benedict called after him, but Daniel didn’t hear what
he said. Hugh was with Theodore. Simon was in the room. If there were more
assassins, both of them could be in danger.
That was all Daniel thought about as he ran through the halls, thinking only of
what was ahead of him, thinking only of Hugh and Simon, and how he was going to
save them. They were going to escape together, all of them. He had to save
them.
He wasn’t going to let Theodore be the death of them.
Theodore had walked to the bedroom where Daniel had gone at a flat run, and
just as he turned the last corner, Theodore was putting his hand on the handle,
pushing the door open.
“Hugh!” Daniel shouted, racing towards him. Hugh looked up, eyes going wide as
he saw Daniel running at him with a bloody knife, but Daniel didn’t have time
to explain. He grabbed Hugh by the arm and pulled, using Hugh to push himself
forward and getting Hugh away from the door. And Daniel tackled Theodore,
pushing him away from the entrance.
“Daniel!” Theodore’s arms came up, grabbing Daniel’s shoulders, and both of
them managed to keep their feet. Hugh shouted in alarm behind them.
Daniel turned as the assassin stepped out of the bedroom, long knife in front
of him, looking annoyed.
Daniel didn’t give him time to raise the knife, stepping under his arm and
stabbing him in the gut, twice. Then, as the man doubled over with a shout,
Daniel reversed the knife and stabbed him in the back three times, until he
fell to the ground.
Sweating, panting, Daniel took a step into the room.
The fifth assassin was standing there, holding a knife to Simon’s throat. “Just
stand right there, kid,” he said, voice quivering. Simon was crying, struggling
futilely. He had a black eye. “Or your buddy…”
Daniel’s vision had gone narrow. He was shaking, his heart was pounding in his
ears. He wasn’t made to do this for more than a few seconds. He didn’t hear the
rest of the killer’s threat, the drive in him to just move making him take a
step, watching the knife in the killer’s hand.
And he thought that if the man were busy cutting Simon’s throat, he wouldn’t be
able to defend himself. And for an endless second, Daniel considered. Here, in
Theodore’s bedroom. In front of the chair where Theodore had taught Daniel how
to read. This was Daniel’s place, not Simon’s, Simon had no right to…
If Simon died, things would go back to normal.
Things weren’t normal. They’d never been normal. They could never be normal as
long as Daniel was wearing a collar on his neck. Simon was crying. Around his
neck was a gold collar with a pale yellow gem set in it.
Daniel stumbled, stopping moving, made as if to drop the knife. And whipped it
underhanded to strike the man’s shoulder.
He cried out in pain, dropping his knife arm. Daniel saw some blood.
Now he raced forward, grabbing Simon and shoving him aside, preparing to attack
the assassin, the fact that he had no weapon forgotten in his fury.
Pain, white. Daniel looked down, saw the assassin’s knife in his chest. On the
right side. On the wrong side to kill someone right away. Coughing, he tasted
blood, heard shouting from somewhere. Maybe Theodore? But Theodore didn’t care
about him, had never cared about him. A red stain was spreading over his white
shirt.
Daniel reached up, yanked his knife out of the assassin’s shoulder, and drove
it into the man’s heart. That was the right side, the left was the right side
to kill someone quickly.
And sure enough, the colour drained out of the man’s face and onto his shirt,
onto Daniel’s hand, and he fell to the side.
Daniel collapsed too, first to his knees, then back. “Daniel!”
He was caught, and looked up. Theodore was looking down at him, terrified. Why
was he afraid? “It’s okay,” Daniel said, chest hurting with the intake of
breath. “They’re dead now. You’re…fine…”
“Hugh,” Theodore said, voice harder than Daniel had ever heard it. “Run. Tell
Benedict to summon Gideon immediately.”
“No!” Daniel tried to sit up, but he couldn’t find the floor, and he also
couldn’t really move, so he coughed up some blood instead, staining Theodore’s
shirt. His own shirt had that growing red spot on it. The white was stained by
vomit and blood. “Not Gideon. Don’t…Gideon.”
“Go, Hugh.”
“He’ll kill us…” Daniel coughed. “He’ll kill you. Gideon is…Gideon, Darwin.
He…taught me…Don’t…Gideon…” If Theodore called Gideon, all of this would have
been pointless. All of whatever the hell Daniel had done here would have meant
nothing.
God, he was stupid. Why hadn’t he just let them kill Theodore? He could have
escaped with the other slaves in the chaos. He could have, he could have…
“Tell Benedict to summon Cassiopeia,” Theodore said, not looking up. His
expression was so dark. Like someone important was dying. But nobody important
was dying. Just a slave. Just Daniel. Nobody cared. “Immediately.”
“You’re going to be okay, Daniel,” Theodore promised, rocking him in his arms.
“Please, just hold on.”
“Why’re you…crying…” Daniel wanted to know. All he could see was Theodore’s
face. “You’re…fine…”
“Stop talking. You’ll make the bleeding worse.”
“M fine…” Daniel told him, closing his eyes for a bit. “Doesn’t even…hurt…”
“Daniel!”
“Shut up…” Daniel mumbled, sinking. “Trying to…sleep…”
In the back of the noisy cart with Pascal, Daniel looked out at the road
through the open doors.
“You shouldn’t have done that for me,” Pascal said, through his split lip.
“I didn’t do it for you,” Daniel told him, watching the road.
Pascal nodded. He wasn’t chained up. Neither of them were anymore. “Do you
think he got away?”
“I hope so.” The world wasn’t that kind to anyone, though.
“No, you don’t. You don’t even remember his name.”
“You don’t know me anymore,” Daniel told Pascal. “I didn’t at the time. I do
now.”
Pascal snorted. “Where do you think they’re taking us?”
Daniel shrugged. “This is just a dream. So wherever we want, I guess.”
“What makes you think it’s a dream?”
“Because I’m not tired. And also this.” Daniel smiled, tapped his neck.
There was no collar there.
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