"Arabian Nights"
Part 24
by Beryll
The high corridors of the palace lay quiet and nearly deserted in the earliest hour of the morning. The sun was still asleep behind the horizon and the only light lighting the long hallways was shed by delicate oil-lamps, dangling from the columns, rising up to meet the roof.
Elijah trotted along quietly, not paying much attention to his surroundings. He was quite upset.
It had taken him a lot of courage to follow the captain of the caliph's guard and his gentle golden slave when they had finally left the prince's quarters only half an hour ago after spending most of the night lost in talk about politics and battles.
Elijah had at some point fallen asleep, curled up on one of the soft pillows, close to 'Sean'. He had not dared to snuggle up to the other slave like he had so much longed to do, under the watchful eyes of his own master and that of the barbarian slave. The few moments that the strong arms of the foreigner had offered him comfort in the bath, before they had both returned to the prince and his guest, had seemed like a heavenly refuge from all the fear and anger he had experienced in the last few weeks.
When the captain of the guard had said his good-byes at last, the prince had withdrawn to his bedroom with Orlando in tow, leaving the seemingly still asleep Elijah alone in the sitting room. But he had been wide awake, creeping out of the room and after the captain and his slave in the hope that he might be able to steal another moment of Sean's company somehow.
He had been thoroughly disappointed when the captain arrived at his quarters and Sean followed him inside. He should have none that the captain would keep such an exotic, expensive slave always by his side. He had shuddered at the thought of what the slightly drunken warrior might be doing to his slave inside those rooms, while Elijah stood outside.
He had seen the terrible scars covering Sean's body. Even familiar with the cruelty with which his father treated his slaves, he had never seen the likes. He could now well understand, why Sean's eyes seemed so devoid of life most of the time, why he kept quiet and did not look at his master unless he absolutely had to.
Still some hope remained in Elijah's heart, that the warrior's soul in the other slave was not entirely broken yet. After all Sean had smiled at him. After all he had offered comfort. The thought that maybe, just maybe, he would be able to make Sean smile again, that maybe he could find the comfort he so sorely needed with this valiant man and offer some comfort in return, made Elijah smile a little.
He was startled from his thoughts, when a harsh hand suddenly grabbed him by the arm and stopped him.
"Well, well... what do we have here?" an oily voice asked. "Are you lost, little beauty?"
Elijah looked up to find himself face to face with a middle-aged man, wearing the finery of a court noble. The hungry glint in his black eyes made him shudder. He knew that look, had seen it earlier in the eyes of the captain of the guard.
The hand drew him closer, the grip on his arm tightening. "Maybe I'd better take you to a safe place, hmm? Pretty boys like you shouldn't wander the palace alone, don't you think?"
Elijah tried to pull free but the other man was much stronger. "Let me go!" he said, feeling anger and fear battle inside him.
"And why would I do that, pretty?" the noble asked, now openly leering. "Palace slaves should serve the guests, shouldn't they? Maybe it's time somebody taught you some manners, little minx."
"I..." Elijah nearly choked on the words but he pressed them out anyway. "I belong to the prince."
The noble just snickered. "Yeah... sure... that's why you sneak about instead of being locked up securely in his serrail." He started pulling Elijah with him.
Elijah felt panic rise. There was no way he was going to be able to fight this man. And he obviously wouldn't believe him. Why should he? He was right after all - by all rights Elijah should have stayed in the prince's quarters.
In vain he tried to pull free again, when suddenly another figure stepped from the shadows of a column. Elijah had only a moment to stare at Orlando in surprise. Then the streetrat kicked the noble against the shin hard, making the man yelp in pain and let go of Elijah.
"RUN!" Orlando shouted and darted down the corridor.
Elijah needed only a split-second to react, than he was after the other boy.
---
"...was just about to take the little minx back to your quarters to make sure nothing untoward happened to him when this beast attacked me from behind!"
"But that's not true!" Orlando angrily interrupted the report of the noble, standing in front of Viggo.
Both Orlando and Elijah were kneeling on the floor next to their master but Orlando looked ready to jump up and kick the noble again.
Viggo tiredly rubbed his aching brow. This was really not what he had hoped to wake up to. Not after he had had too much wine during the long night.
"You insolent brat!" the noble fumed, looking like he wanted to wring the young slave's neck.
Then he turned back to Viggo. "My prince, I demand that this slave be punished for the injury he has caused me!"
"I just kicked your shin, you bastard!" Orlando spat back, now half rising.
The heavy hand of Karl, who stood behind the two boys, looking just as tired and unnerved as Viggo, kept him down.
The noble ignored the slave and instead waited for his prince's answer. Viggo felt his heart constrict. He knew full well, that he had no other choice but to order Orlando punished. He could not afford to anger this noble more. Silently he wondered why Orlando had to pick one of the more important nobles of court for his antics.
"What were both of you doing out of my quarters at that hour of night anyway?" Viggo asked both of the boys, his tone of voice making it clear that he was anything but amused.
Orlando sank back to his knees, glancing first at Elijah, then back at Viggo and then at the floor, his lips pressing together in a thin line. He wasn't going to tell, so much was clear.
Viggo felt anger stir in himself. Maybe the noble was right. Orlando did behave like an insolent brat.
"I've had enough of your behavior, Orlando." Viggo hissed, managing to keep his rage in check this time. To the noble he said "Do not worry, they will both be punished."
The noble nodded, his dignity restored.
Orlando looked up at Viggo in disbelief.
Viggo ignored the hurt he saw in those chocolate eyes. "See that he is beaten." he told Karl, ignoring the visible flinch of both Orlando and Elijah as well.
"May I suggest you give them into capable hands to have them trained for court live properly." Karl said, his hand still on Orlando's shoulder keeping him down, when Orlando looked back at him, obviously feeling betrayed by the captain of the guard.
Viggo again rubbed his brow. He did not want to see Orlando or Elijah punished. Neither did he want to miss them by his side. But is was clear that they would just get into more trouble, if they were not trained. He nodded slowly.
---
Ian looked at his two new charges with quiet determination. It had been a while since he had been charged with training any slave's for the serrail of the caliph. But none of those had ever looked as stubborn or angry as the two boys that Karl had just deposited in his care this morning.
Still Ian did not doubt, that he would be able to ingrain into them, what it meant to be a harem slave to the caliph or the prince. They were both spoiled, Ian could see that even on the first glance. One by a rich life without care or work, the other by freedom. But he just viewed that as a challenge.
"Listen to me, boys." he addressed them and both looked up from their brooding. They were both kneeling on the hard stone floor of the inner yard of the slave training grounds of the palace. And had been since Karl had brought them in two hours ago, after submitting Orlando to 5 lashes with an offended noble watching.
"You are now in my care. I will teach you what it means to be a slave to a noble man like prince Viggo. You will learn how to serve his pleasure in various ways. You will also learn how to obey."
He could see the brown eyed boy bristling at that, but he just continued. "I will not tolerate any disobedience. Do not think that your master will come to your aid. You will not see him again, until I deem you ready."
That brought a different reaction. It was almost desolation he could see in Orlando's eyes. Ian's voice was gentler when he continued. "Your behavior has brought this upon you, boys. The education you will receive now, will not only make you better slaves to your master, it will also serve to protect you and your master from the wrath of other nobles. Court is a dangerous place for one who does not know it's rules. You can be your master's assets, if you know how to use those rules. But you can just as well be a dagger in his back if you chose to ignore them."
He gave both of them a moment to consider this.
"Now go tend to those lashes. I expect you back here in half an hour. And then your training will begin."
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to: Beryll
go to PART 25