Fic: The Servant (7/?)
Kris woke up alone. It was still dark out and the camp seemed quiet. Kris wondered where Prince Adam was but was smart enough to stay put. He put the events of the night before out of his mind. He wasn’t ready to deal with his emotions. A half hour later. The Prince came back and smelled like he had just bathed.
“Were you taking a bath?”
The Prince laughed, “I wish but I did wash up with a bucket. You are going to ride with Tommy again. I just spoke with him so he knows.”
“Did you just happen to bump into him outside?”
The Prince looked over, “Excuse me?”
Kris quickly backtracked, “I just wondered if everyone was out and about.”
The Prince seemed to accept his excuse, “Everyone will be waking up shortly. We will have a few days rest in the village. You should get up now since you are slow. Do you need help moving?”
“No, your highness, I can hobble on my own.”
“Good. I’ll send someone to assist you with our shelter.”
With that said the Prince left and Andrew showed up a few minutes later. Kris noticed he had a black eye, “Are you ok?”
“I am fine, Kris. Unfortunately for us, the other soldiers don’t get the option of fucking anyone in camp like your Prince does. I saw him leave your tent early this morning and seek pleasure with that small blonde soldier. So, is he just that virile or is he giving you some sort of reprieve?”
Knowing Andrew was like a wounded animal, Kris gave a vague answer, “I think the Prince prefers coupling with his own kind.”
“So you aren’t having sex with him?”
Kris didn’t want to respond, “Look, we all have to do things we wouldn’t choose to do. Does it really help to talk about it?”
Andrew became angry, “You and your father led us here and now we are being hurt while you seem to have some kind of gilded existence. Where are your bruises? I have been raped by five different soldiers! How many have had you?”
Kris felt horrible, “I am sorry, Andrew. Believe me, if I could help you I would. I have tried to talk to the Prince but he doesn’t exactly listen to me. I even offered to be a willing partner if he would protect you all. He declined.”
Andrew just sighed, “We are going to die here and go to hell. I only hope God takes mercy on our soul since we came to save our families.”
Kris looked at Andrew’s beaten expression and felt his sense of responsibility take over. His men needed hope, “Andrew, we need to survive this and convince the barbarians that we villagers are people too. Maybe God is testing us and we need to emancipate these barbarians from sin.”
Andrew’s expression grew hopeful, “You mean like spreading the word of God? Do you think we are here on a mission from God?”
Kris felt conflicted but wanted to give Andrew something to hold onto, “Yes. I think the Prince is a demon and has corrupted all these people. God wants us to defeat him and convert these sinners into God fearing people. We can only do that by surviving. We already lost more than half our men. We need to bide our time and win their trust.”
Andrew nodded, “OK, Do you think it’s a sin to have sex with men if in the end it is to help defeat evil?”
“I think we have few choices right now and if giving in means you are not hurt then you should do it. We just shouldn’t enjoy it.” Kris shuddered because he knew he had thoroughly enjoyed what the Prince had done to him the night before. In fact, nothing in his life matched the pleasure he experienced when the Prince had taken him fully into his mouth.
He noticed Andrew shaking his head, “Enjoy it? How could anyone enjoy the searing pain and humiliation? I have barely eaten any solid food for fear of having to go to the bathroom.”
“That bad?”
Andrew nodded and Kris hugged him, “Stay strong and we will eventually be victorious.”
Andrew looked down, “I am sorry we were going to leave you to die.”
Kris shrugged, “This has not been easy on any of us.” As the village leader’s son, Kris had to be the more mature person and show forgiveness. Andrew helped him pack everything. He was grateful he had patched things up with Andrew.
A few minutes later they were on the move again. Kris’ ankle was slowly healing but he still couldn’t walk so he sat behind Tommy as they rode out. Kris was curious what Tommy’s relationship was with the Prince, “How long have you been with the Prince?”
“All my life. I am part of his royal clan although quite distant from the Prince. His mother’s grandmother is the sister of my mother’s great Aunt. Basically, most of his clan would have to die before I could inherit the throne. Raja is actually the Prince’s cousin but we don’t formally recognize paternal lines when it comes to inheriting. Raja father is the Prince’s father’s brother.”
“They are first cousins and have sex?”
Tommy laughed, “I doubt Raja will get pregnant even if he occasionally dresses like a goddess. However, if he was a girl he would not be allowed to marry Adam. Back in the day of the first empire, families tried to keep power by marrying close family. Rumor has it the kids kept getting dumber and weirder so one of the King’s forbid any royalty to marry within their own clan. It is also believed that he did that to expand power.”
“Are you in love with the Prince?”
Tommy laughed, “I love the Prince and would do anything for him. However, I could never live with the Prince and to be frank, I prefer women in my bed. I don’t mind pleasuring the Prince but I’d rather bed a maiden.”
“Does the Prince know your preferences?”
“Of course, he is just so arrogant he can’t conceive of me choosing someone over him. I think he assumes he is the exception to the rule.”
“Did you sleep with him last night?”
“What do you care since you aren’t sleeping with him?”
“How do you know I didn’t?”
“You don’t have a glow about you that usually accompanies having sex with a demon. I told you the Prince’s essence was powerful and so naturally it leaves a residual effect. Can’t you see it on me?”
Kris hadn’t noticed anything unusual. “Not that I noticed.”
“Well, either you didn’t know what to look for or maybe villagers can’t see it.”
Kris wasn’t sure he believed Tommy but he had been right about the demon thing. Kris started to think about his plan to convert the barbarians, “So, you said the Prince could transfer his power through sex. How much sex would it take?”
“I am not sure. I don’t know if it takes years or if you could have sex a lot in a short period of time.”
“You aren’t tempted to be immortal?”
Tommy was hesitant, “Prince Adam has to willingly give it. He will only give it to someone he loves and who loves him back.”
So much for that plan. As much as strength and immortality would help him save his people, the chances of winning over the Prince was far too slim to even bother. Kris’ hopes were dashed, “So if he doesn’t want to share his strength, then the sex is just normal?”
Tommy became annoyed, “Look, stop interrogating me! I already told you things I shouldn’t. Do you bother the Prince with all these questions?”
“Yeah, but he gets annoyed too.”
“I am surprised he hasn’t let you freeze to death. Let’s just ride in silence for a while.”
After an hour Kris could see smoke in the distance. As they drew closer, Kris was amazed at seeing all the structure ahead. They were coming up on an ice town. This was no small village, instead there were hundreds of houses and a surrounded by a huge wall with guards. Kris was shocked, “I thought you were all nomadic?”
Tommy laughed, “We have a few permanent places that are well protected. Where did you think we kept the women and children? We can’t eat them all. Actually, sometimes when we have to torch a village, we relocate some of the women and children to our villages. They become servants.”
“Don’t they rebel since you murdered their husbands?”
Tommy shrugged, “Dunno. You are badgering me again.”
They entered through the gates and were met by a crowd of people that hailed them as heroes. An exotic woman tanned woman came over. She looked to be middle age and important. Raja came down off his horse and hugged her.
“Is that Raja’s mother?”
“Yes.”
Prince Adam came down off his horse and hugged the woman after Raja. Kris was surprised to see the affection. The woman started bellowing orders to people. Suddenly, everything seemed to be in motion. A young boy came over to take the horse. Tommy and Kris got down. Kris was surprised a woman was issuing orders.
“Where is her husband?”
“He is probably out fighting. Even if he was here he wouldn’t interfere with Mona. She runs the village just like Prince Adam’s mother runs the town. Men are warriors so it isn’t practical for us to be in charge since we are never home. Besides, women are better at that stuff.”
Kris was shocked that women had so much power. He realized he was very ignorant of their culture and had never considered that they actually had a structure. He assumed they were just lawless bands of nomads that stole from others. Tommy left him to go by some girls. Kris saw Andrew talking to the soldier that had abused him the day before. The soldier seemed to be laughing. One of the barbarian villagers gave the soldier a drink and he shared it with Andrew. Kris wondered if Andrew was making progress on his conversion campaign.
Kris saw a young woman with flame red hair appear. She seemed very vibrant and ran right over to the Prince and almost barreled into him. He hugged her and twirled her around obviously happy to see her. Kris went closer to see the girl. He had never seen such vibrant hair and the girl seemed to be chattering nonstop.
Raja’s mother came over and looked at Kris and said something in a foreign tongue. Kris just smiled at he woman. She smiled back and yelled at Prince Adam in the native tongue, “For a minute I thought you had that good for nothing troublemaker with you but instead you found a cute lookalike. He seems a little dumb but that is probably a good thing.”
The Prince laughed, “He speaks our language but you are right he is a little dumb.”
The red headed girl came over by Kris and looked him over, “He is a hundred times cuter than Brad. Plus, he looks trustworthy. I am Princess Allison, Adam’s wife.”
Wife?