 |
|||
|
|
The man replaced his pen in the holder and turned from the aged mahogany desk with a satisfied expression on his face. Leaning back in the leather chair he slid it smoothly from under the desk and watched as the naked young man with him fetched a neat scotch from the decanter on a side table. As he’d done before too many times to count, the aging man couldn’t help admiring the youth’s beautiful body as he moved gracefully to the table. It was hard to imagine he was much older than seventeen, despite his twenty four years of age. It was even harder to believe how deadly he could be, hard to see past the face and body that were so undeniably…pretty. It was only because he had known the boy so long that he noticed the litheness of his body and the smooth control he exhibited with every movement – and only through experience that he knew that the economy of action that made him so graceful also added to his unmatched martial skills.
The young man came back, placing the small glass on the desk beside the man and kneeling before him in one smooth movement, back straight and head bowed, ever patient as the older man’s thoughts wandered. After a moment the older man, Andre, came back to the present and the far-off look in his eyes vanished as he completed the last part of his affairs.
“It is done.” He said to the boy at his feet – even after all these years it was hard to actually think of him as the man he was – and reached down to gently cup his chin and lift his face to meet his eyes.
“Yes, Master” The look in his unusual silver-coloured eyes was resigned, but Andre could see the sorrow he tried so hard to mask.
“You will remember what to do, Kori? You will do everything necessary?” His eyes were hard as he made his voice as commanding as possible, unwilling to allow the young man any doubt as to his wishes in the matter. He tightened his grip, trying to convey the threat of grim consequences if he suspected there was anything other than complete obedience in the young man’s mind.
“I won’t fail you, Master” A hurt look flittered across the boy’s face, and his tone was harder than the meekness the boy usually displayed, trying to convey determination and surety. His eyes flickered downwards in obedience, before he looked up again to meet his master’s eyes and prove he was telling the truth as he continued. “I swear it, Master; I will do everything exactly as you wish it. I will always obey you.” He swallowed slightly, and looked down to cover the start of tears that he blinked away, while resuming in a softer voice. “Even if I haven’t been good enough…done well enough…to be granted the honour of dying with you…I swear, I will do exactly as you wish, and whatever my new master wishes too.”
“No, Korian.” Andre replied immediately, “Look at me”, while forcing him to look back up again, somewhat more harshly than he had intended. It was so hard sometimes, to get him to understand, so hard to combat some of his natural cultural beliefs, even after all this time. But lets be honest here, he admitted to himself, he’s been a lot more successful in converting you to his way of thinking and living than you’ve been at converting him. “You’ve been brilliant, never doubt that. These last twelve years have been better than I could ever have imagined. Listen to me. I love you, Kori, more than I can ever really say. You’ve given me so much…which is precisely why I can’t let you die with me. I love you; the last thing I ever want to do is cause your death. You’re simply amazing; I have never understood how you can do all the things you do, and you’re far too precious to me to die for no reason. You’ve barely begun your life – you’re only twenty four – and you have so much ahead of you…I will not let you die with me, you deserve so much more. Besides,” He added with a slight smile, trying to lighten the tone, “It amuses me no end to think what life will be like for you with my nephew. How he will ever cope with your ways. His parents were far too straight-laced; this should definitely be good for him.”
“Yes, Master” Korian replied obediently. Andre sighed and let go of him as he leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his scotch. It was always hard to tell whether he’d gotten through to the boy or not; whenever they had an argument – or rather, whenever Andre’s temper was sparked by something the boy said – Korian just gave in, obediently going along with whatever Andre said and was usually overly timid and submissive for the rest of the day, as if to make up for doing something wrong.
“And you won’t say anything of the sort to your new master, after I’ve gone. I’ve said you can have a year to grieve and forget about everything, before you must face your new master and submit to him, but after that, you forget all of this nonsense about wanting to die. You understand me? It’ll all be hard enough for my nephew as it is, without you saying thoughtless things like that. After I’m gone, he is your master and you obey him completely, serve him completely, as you’ve served me and with no indication whatsoever that you might be disappointed or sorrowful at having to serve him. You understand, Korian?”
“Yes, Master. I have sworn. I will be his completely.” The repetition of his earlier determined tone reminded Andre that he’d probably repeated the same sentiments too many times now. It did seem to be all he was saying at the moment, but it had taken so long to decide what to do about Korian and in the end he was still nervous about the fate of the person that mattered more to him than anyone else. He knew the transition wouldn’t be easy, and he knew his nephew would probably resist it as much, if not more, than he had at the beginning, but it was the only real option he had, and he’d say the same things to Korian hundreds of times if it would do anything at all to ease the inevitable culture clash.
* * *
Korian shifted around to the side slightly, leaning his head against Andre’s knee. There was still a part of him that tried to protest this was far too overly familiar and cringed in anticipation of his Master’s wrath, but for the most part he’d been able to overcome such feelings with this Master. This Master was different from any he’d ever known. Of course, his whole world had changed after his Master had taken him out of his old home, and it was all different from anything he’d ever known. There didn’t even seem to be slaves here, at least none that he could tell. There were some from the master races that he’d met with his Master that claimed to be slaves or “submissives” or some such, but they didn’t seem to be slaves like he was, and there was nothing like the slave race back in his old home. He’d partly become this new sort of slave for his new Master, since it seemed to be the only way his Master was willing to accept having a slave, but he’d used it to be the slave he truly was, the one he was born as, in a way his Master found acceptable.
Korian felt his Master’s hand come down to stroke his hair and relaxed almost imperceptibly at the implied approval of his actions. The action might have been too familiar for any of his previous masters, but this one said he loved him. His Master loved him! Him, a slave, and not even a good one at that! Korian didn’t understand how such a wonder could happen, but didn’t allow himself to ask the whys or the hows for fear of finding that it had all been a dreadful mistake and his Master would suddenly realise there really was no reason why he should be loved. And now the Master that loved him was going to die. The inevitable reminder came. He couldn’t stop himself thinking about it; every time he managed to put it from his mind for a bit it came back and caught him again, a fresh blow that never ceased to knock his breath from him and have him fighting back tears. He’d never felt this vulnerable before, not even when he’d been back in his old home with his previous masters, even considering everything he’d had to endure. He hated the vulnerability; he’d always been weaker than the other slaves he’d grown up with, and he despised the weakness in himself, which he’d tried so hard to eradicate. And he wouldn’t even be allowed to die with his Master. He turned his mind from such thoughts, trying to convince himself it was due to the customs of his Master and the world he now lived in, instead of his own failures, but it was hard. The idea he’d failed this Master, who had given him so much, tore him up inside. I will do better next time. I swear, I will do better with this next master; I will not fail my Master in this, whatever this new master is like, whatever he demands of me, I will do it all. Without hesitation, or question, or failure. For my Master, I will not fail this new one-- His thoughts cut off suddenly as he realized his mistake. If he obeyed this new master because of his old one…that wasn’t right, and he would never be able to fully give himself to the new one, not while he was still so dedicated to this one. He swallowed slightly, and continued in his vow, I will not fail this new master in anything, my life will be his and I will give myself fully to him, be as devoted to him as I am to my current Master, even if he doesn’t care for me the way this one does, it doesn’t matter, all that matters is him. I swear, all that will matter is him.
Korian felt himself relax a little as he forced himself to come to terms with his future. Yes, perhaps he had failed his current Master in some way, and that would continue to eat at him, but there was nothing he could do about it now. His Master had already arranged everything, already decided, so there was no way to redeem himself and be granted death by his Master’s side. So he would give himself to the future, whatever it was, and his future master, whatever he was like, and hope that perhaps he could overcome his weaknesses and his failures, and be the slave that he was so desperate to be, that he was so desperate to prove he was good enough to be, despite what they had said at home. With that thought, he allowed his mind to turn to his future for the first time, and to contemplate life after his Master’s death; life with his new master. It seemed wrong somehow, to think about his future instead of his Master’s – oddly selfish somehow, and completely wrong for a slave – but then again, thinking of any future without his Master was too wrong to contemplate, so he ignored the feeling and let himself wonder about his new master.
“Do you think he’ll accept me, Master?” He asked in a soft voice, barely above a whisper, not at all sure he really wanted his Master to hear.
* * *
Andre came back to the present with a start, his mind lost in pursuing the same question Kori had just asked. He wanted to sigh, but knew that it would probably be taken the wrong way, and he didn’t want to discourage this sort of discussion. He was somewhat surprised; it was the first time Kori had ever willingly started talking about either his death or the period after it.
“Yes, I think he will come to accept you, and love you as I do; who could not, after they come to know you and realize what a beautiful, marvellous creature you are? But it might be like it was with me, at first. Our cultures are very different, and he has no experience with owning a slave and will never have heard of your people or your culture, so it might take a little time for him to come to accept it in the way I have. It just doesn’t happen here, and a lot of people consider it wrong.” Biggest understatement of the century, he thought to himself, but he didn’t want to be too discouraging. “It might be harder for him because he has a high-powered job in the city, instead of being a recluse like me. But I am well experienced with your persistence and I have no doubt that you’ll get him to come to terms with it as well as I have. He doesn’t really have a choice, after all. But you’ll probably have to help him; have to explain your actions and reactions, and your customs, and you’ll probably have to help him learn how to fulfill his role. Whatever he does, stick with him, OK? Just go about everything quietly until he can accept it all. You’ll get there eventually, I’m sure.”
It probably wasn’t the most reassuring speech he had ever made, but it would help no one to lie to the boy. Richard would understand little enough of what was going on, so it was important at least one of the two understood how things would be. He shook his head; he couldn’t stop the doubts that kept coming back to haunt his mind. He didn’t know enough about his nephew, really. He didn’t know if his nephew was truly dominant, whether the hints he’d glimpsed occasionally were real or whether he was mistaken. His nephew was the one member of his family that he felt was most like himself, and it worried him how much he was relying on that. He couldn’t really believe Richard would exploit Korian – certainly most of his fears were that Richard wouldn’t accept Kori and the situation – but he knew from experience that it was difficult to get the right balance, especially considering the way Korian behaved. He laughed slightly at himself as he considered his thoughts; it had never been like this in business, he could make decisions – often with a lot of risk attached – and never feel any regret or doubt after he’d made them; there was, after all, just no point to it. But this had been such a hard decision to make, and in the end there had been no right answer, nothing that he could see working perfectly, and since it was the future of the person he cared about more than any other it somehow mattered a whole lot more than his business decisions had. But in the end, there had been no real choice. There wasn’t anyone else he could entrust him to, he had few real friends and he’d been estranged from most of his family for a long time. He had briefly considered his sister Kate, but although she could certainly understand and satisfy some of Kori’s needs, she wouldn’t care for him like he did. He had, of course, for what seemed like the millionth time, considered setting him free – even giving him his large fortune as well – but he knew it wouldn’t work. It had taken a long time, but he understood now what Kori had meant when he said his Master was his life; he’d been born and bred a slave and if he hadn’t been able to change his attitude throughout his life, freeing him on his death would solve nothing. It would probably make it worse, as well. Andre could just imagine what would happen; Kori would use his newfound freedom to follow his Master into death and the thought of that was enough to make him steer clear of that idea. No, it was decided, Kori needed a new Master – a new life – a new purpose to help him get through his death, and it was the greatest gift he could ever give to the one member of his family that had loved and accepted him just the way he was, and ignored the disdain and possible stigma the rest of the family might have attached to him through association.
Ahh, Richard, I wish you luck and happiness in dealing with this one. He’ll give you everything and anything you could ever want; I just hope you’re brave enough to accept what’s offered to you. Then he laughed slightly. Hell, I don’t think you could make a much bigger mess than I did at the beginning.
|
|
|