| |
The first sunny day of early summer graced Toraskah, the capital of Aylian, with a warm breeze drifting in from the coast to the west. It carried the faint smell of sea water and the shouting of dockworkers unloading the fishing boats that had come in from their morning trip.
It was Robert's favourite breeze.
When the winds blew from the sprawling spaceport to the east, the acrid smell of engine exhaust and the roaring of spaceships landing and taking off was annoying. However, it was preferable to the rare occasions when there was a breeze from the north.
There, snuggled up against the foothills of the Tor'Tecla mountains, the demons had their newly built landing field. The tepid stench of the huge behemoths landing, resting and taking off was unbearable.
In the first few weeks after his arrival, their strange, piercing bleats had rattled him awake with no clue as to where he was or what had happened to him. He knew that eventually, he would get used to it, the way he had gotten used to every other change in living conditions he had experienced through the years. So he had tried to ignore it, more or less successfully.
But as soon as he heard the soft snore of his master, he knew perfectly well where he was. Not that this made it any easier to believe. There had been a few masters who had allowed him to share their bed not just for sex but afterwards as well; years ago, when he had been young and desirable. None of them had expected him to be there every single night like the young duke did. Robert didn't have a bed or room of his own. He slept in the Duke's bed, his clothes hung in the same wardrobe as the Duke's, and unless the Duke was too busy, they shared most meals.
Most mornings, the Duke was already busy with arranging his day's schedule, but Robert always made a point of being awake enough to be pleasant company, should his master require it. Even if he was struggling to keep up with the energy of a man twenty years his junior.
Probably, it was merely the novelty of having a pet that seemed to fascinate the Duke without end. Once that novelty wore off, and Robert ran out of stories and anecdotes of the places he had been and the masters who had owned him, the Duke would gradually lose interest until Robert ended up discarded again.
At least, that was what Robert tried to drum into his own head. But when the Duke listened to him in rapt attention, his breakfast bread roll forgotten in his hand, dripping jam all over his fingers, he struggled to believe it. When the Duke laughed at Robert's tales, his eyes sparkled with amusement. When the Duke left for work and Robert took stock of the pleasant aches and soreness in various parts of his body which had not seen as much use in years... It wouldn't last. It couldn't last. It was too good to be true.
He nervously fingered the pet earrings his master had bestowed on him the day of his arrival. One in the colours of Aylian with a tiny gold dot to announce that his master was the duke. The other a clear crystal ring, telling everyone that he was strictly hands-off. Short of an Imperial or Lotus Knight earring, that was the best protection any pet could ask for. But they could be taken away as easily as they had been given.
He took a deep breath of the welcome, western breeze, gazing out the narrow, tall windows which dominated one side of the throne room. This high above the ground, he had an unobstructed view of the glowing, purple ring of the demon gate hanging in the sky over the capital. It appeared to be about three times the size of Aylian's moon, but in reality it was only about a kilometre in diameter. It was just much closer to the planet's surface, on the edge of its atmosphere.
As Robert watched, it flared up brighter, signalling yet another behemoth passing through. Robert very much hoped that he would never have to get close to any of those giant creatures the demons used as shuttles.
So far, travel between the Virasana Empire and the Aliaerean Realms heavily restricted and closely monitored by forces from Temple Verata and Belligra, yet it was increasing day by day. 'Just another non-human race' was the motto given out by the Emperor, but as far as Robert had been able to gather, that was a highly simplified statement. Those were still demons, extradimensional creatures, primarily spiritual, commonly material, rarely organic. But now that their realms were latched on to this universe like a smaller soap bubble to a larger one, they were beginning to change. 'Eigenrealität' was the word that always came up in the discussions about the weird changes the demons brought to Aylian and that this universe brought to the demons. Incidentally, it was also the signal for Robert to tune out of the discussion. Even looking at the creatures made his head hurt. Listening to people explain demonic dimensions was definitely way too out there, and nothing a good pet should know anything about in the first place.
He turned away from the window to instead watch the proceedings inside the throne room.
Today was the first time the Duke had 'brought him to work' and also the first time he had left the Duke's suite. Being locked up in a serail or a single cell was normal for a pet, and Robert had never minded. While the furniture of the ducal quarters wasn't as ostentatious as would have fitted his rank, it was one of the cosiest places Robert had ever been confined to and with his reading pad, he wouldn't have had trouble keeping himself amused for a long time.
But being paraded around was also an important part of being a high-quality pet, so when the Duke had told him that he would be coming to today's audience, Robert had prepared to look his best. There wasn't anything he could do about his age and the fact that nowadays he looked ridiculous in the skimpy outfits one would normally choose to show off a pet's qualities, so he had chosen his best dress pants and shirt instead, leaving the top buttons open to show a hint of chest hair. His goatee had received a probably unnecessary extra trimming, as had his hair.
Decent, but definitely not good enough for a duke. However, it wasn't his place to decide.
He wasn't entirely sure whether he was disappointed or grateful that his master had parked him on the sidelines instead of decoratively putting him on display at the foot of the throne. It probably was a good thing that nobody was interested in him. It certainly was healthier for a pet not to be the centre of attention.
The throne room was packed with people. The court of Aylian plus an amazing variety of foreign dignitaries, both human, N'Ptalini and demon.
These days, everyone wanted the ear of the duke who controlled access to the Aliaerean Empire by virtue of ruling the one planet that was right next to the portal. What had nearly been the ruin of Aylian had turned into a priceless asset. Now, no-one would call Aylian a backwater planet anymore.
The portal had opened a little over half a year ago, completely out of the blue, spitting out an unprecedented invasion fleet of demons. They descended onto the planet, overrunning its meagre defences and conquering it without much trouble. It had taken the Empire a few hours to respond, but respond they did. Led by Saint Cornelius, the combined might of the Imperial Fleet, the Noble Houses and the Church had overrun the demon forces on Aylian in almost ironic symmetry.
The Masters of the Psions Guild and the Emperor's Lotus Knights had done the unimaginable and taken the fight to the other side of the demon portal. They had been the first to figure out that these demons were different from the comparatively minor nuisance of those summoned by demonists. While those only came into the world partly and would be banished back to their home realm when killed, these invaders were fully manifest because their realm now had a physical connection to the universe – the portal above Aylian. The invaders were all part of one big demonic empire, ruled by the most powerful demon ever encountered, a Demon Empress, a being of almost god-like powers and scope.
And within hours of the human-led counter-attack, Empress Erea proved that she was also one of the smartest creatures ever encountered. Once she realised this wasn't another demonic realm she could overrun and add to her vast collection, she switched gears from conquest to negotiation so sharply, it gave everyone mental whiplash. Her negotiators brought the head of the invasion forces' general on a silver platter as a sign of good will and offered most generous reparations in return for peace, trade and cultural exchange.
The Good Emperor had agreed to the talks, and suddenly, Aylian was now sitting on the sole gateway to a more-or-less friendly empire with several billion souls. No, not souls. People. Souls were a touchy subject.
But people, yes. And that meant potential customers. Consumers. New wares, new riches.
And the young duke of Aylian was the one to decide who got access.
But he didn't seem overwhelmed, quite the contrary. Robert's master was wringing every last bit of advantage out of the situation with a ruthlessness that went beyond the trademark of his House and well into the territory of personal delight.
Right now, Duke Thomar of Aylian was lounging in a relaxed pose on the huge obsidian monstrosity that served as his throne: one leg thrown over the armrest, the other drawn up so his foot rested on the seat and his elbow on the knee. The throne was one of the few pieces that had been neither stolen nor damaged by looting demon hordes – it was too unwieldy to steal and, honestly, just a big rock. He appeared to be incredibly bored, studying the ceiling, the rich tapestries on the walls, the murals on the columns supporting the roof and a flock of colourfully dressed courtiers standing close to one column, whispering. The one thing he was not paying attention to were the two people in front of his throne, who were performing an amazing display of complete disregard of the decorum expected of them.
The guild trader was red faced, shaking his meaty fists in the face of the much taller, green tinted creature with swarthy skin and huge, glistening black horns and fangs that towered above him. Said creature furiously hissed back, trying to somehow convey the various nuances of his outrage.
Robert's knowledge of demon culture was largely non-existent. Did they even have anything like a culture? Learning about it quickly would probably be a good idea. Once the young duke grew tired of him, he might very well find himself in the possession of some lesser demon lord. He might be a novelty item to such an alien creature. His knowledge about demons had been exactly zero prior to his arrival on Aylian, but the Church was kind enough to hand out easy-to-understand pamphlets all over the planet, explaining what kinds of demons there were, what they wanted and a handy list of dos and don'ts. In essence, apart from the metaphysical stuff, they didn't seem that different to his many previous masters. Just significantly more diverse in shape.
Robert listened as the trader claimed he had never, ever cheated anyone in his life. Of course he was lying, but the demon was just as likely to be lying. After all he – or she? it? – was a demon.
As the highest local authority, it was the Duke's unpleasant duty to listen to such petitions and judge. At least no one expected him to judge fairly. People were becoming very careful about what kind of grievances they decided to present at court. It had happened often enough that both parties had been removed from existence for 'wasting the Duke's time'. Clearly he was borrowing a page from the book of Emperor Gregorius, the infamous, first Quetzal emperor, and he was doing so with style and relish.
He did, however, take care to be equally offensive.
No one had given him more than a month back when he had ascended to the throne, as he liked to remind everyone with gleeful spite. That had been six months ago and by now, he had everyone with business on Aylian on their toes and on a tight leash, choking them whenever he felt like it. And it sure had helped that the Good Emperor had repeatedly and publicly approved of his handling of the situation.
Robert watched his duke closely. He was trying to figure out the rules. Some masters were kind enough to clearly state them when they got a new pet, but this one was leaving it to Robert to figure out what was expected of him, piece by piece. Having been through that game countless times already, Robert didn't mind too much.
In fact, he was feeling dangerously content. The Duke had yet to treat him with anything but youthful enthusiasm and a kindness that was surprising for such a young master – and a Quetzal to boot.
Robert smiled ruefully, recalling his state of mind before his sale. He had been well past caring about anything. He had been hoping with a kind of detached cynicism that someone would finally put him out of his misery as one might shoot a lame horse.
He had felt many things in his life, but content had rarely been among them. It wasn't a good state of mind for a pet, especially one in a situation as uncertain as his own. He needed to stay sharp, stay clever, figure out ways to remain relevant.
Of all the possible people he could have imagined being owned by – an eighteen year old boy who one moment was as vicious as an angry cat and the next a purring, sensual creature that drove him to the edge of his stamina and well past it, just didn’t seem credible.
It was supposed to be the other way around. A distinguished, experienced owner with a cute boytoy.
Adapting wasn't easy, but, again, dangerously pleasurable. He should not allow himself to get used to this, but here he was, barely a week in, and already he was finding himself losing that fight.
He had very boldly dared to ask the Duke why ever he had chosen Robert as his pet. His new owner had shrugged and said: “I am young, cute and sexy. Why would I need a pet which is the same?”
His owner was a complex creature, but Robert had another theory why he had been chosen over every other option: he could be trusted to never betray his master. A younger pet might be foolish enough to fall for honeyed promises from another noble. That also explained why Robert currently was the Duke's only pet. Robert had no doubt that eventually someone with such a healthy appetite as his young master would acquire a wide selection of pets to pick from. Which, in Robert's humble opinion, would have been fitting for such a high-ranking noble. It also held the vague promise that if the Duke grew tired of him, he might remain in his possession, able to disappear into a crowd of younger pets and maybe even be kept as a trainer for them.
That his owner also seemed to like him was something he struggled to ignore as it couldn't possibly be anything but wishful thinking on his part. It would certainly have helped if his master wasn't such an attractive young man himself.
Almost as if he had somehow caught that thought, the Duke's roaming eyes landed on him and his bored expression changed minutely. Anyone other than a pet trained to catch the slightest shift in his master's mood wouldn't have noticed, but the sudden indecent sparkle in the Duke's eyes, combined with a dirty little smirk made Robert shiver with anticipation. The effect he was having on his pet wasn't lost on the Duke and he took the time to seductively smirk at Robert before finally returning his attention to the proceedings in front of him.
A very stiff drink would have been helpful now, Robert thought. Still, remaining sober and on his toes seemed like the better choice. The audience would last for at least another hour and it was only late morning. The duke had a long workday ahead and Robert had no idea how long his presence would be required. All things considered, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing he wasn't required to kneel next to the throne.
He turned back to the window to enjoy some more of the view before he would be locked up again for God knew how long.