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WHAM!
The door to the ducal quarters slammed shut in an impact that would have made lesser walls tremble.
Robert didn't worry about them, however. The walls of the ducal fortress were thick and made from hewn stone reinforced with a steel core. The foundations dated back to over two thousand years ago, when humans had first settled on the planet, and had withstood rebellions, wars, the N'Ptalini occupation during the Urchin War and lately a demon assault.
They were entirely unfazed by the temper tantrums of the Duke.
The human denizens within these walls were another story, of course. Robert could picture the servants, as well as the ordinary human guards, flinching away from their master's outburst. Granted, the Duke rarely hurt anyone but the high and mighty who constantly annoyed him. In the two months since his arrival on Aylian, Robert had only occasionally seen his master snap at clumsy servants and have one human guard severely punished for incompetence. And anyway, it was never a bad idea to have a healthy amount of respect for the noble who held your life in his hands.
Really the only ones safe from his wrath were his cadre of personal N'Ptalini bodyguards. They were all on first name terms with the Duke, which had made them of great interest to Robert. After all, they seemed to be the only people his young master considered friends and truly trustworthy. Carefully listening to gossip among the palace servants and the use of some gentle prodding to produce more of it had revealed that the N'Ptalini had been a group of insurgents and trouble makers, imprisoned and sentenced to death. The demon invasion had disrupted the execution plans and once the new duke had come into power, he had freed them and made them his personal guard.
Rationally, it didn't seem like a smart move, but it also seemed to have worked exceptionally well for this particular duke.
Robert had settled into his favourite armchair near the huge fireplace about half an hour ago, after a solitary dinner, fully expecting to spend a quiet and equally solitary evening with the latest volume in a series of exceedingly sappy romance novels he had started reading years ago. Sappy and romantic had never happened to him, so it had always been a welcome escape. Now, it was more of a guilty pleasure, but he considered himself too old to be required to give up any vices.
The Duke had earlier sent word that he would be busy all evening with an important meeting. From the terse wording of the note, Robert had guessed that his master had already been in a foul mood. And apparently, the meeting had been terminated early for some reason.
Robert looked up from his reading pad, glimpsing over the rims of his reading glasses as the young duke stalked into the room.
Duke Thomar Quetzal of Aylian looked like the kind of young man that would make a schoolgirl swoon. He wasn't tall yet, but in the short time that Robert had known him, he had already grown a bit. He had the body of a runner, lean, with narrow hips and long legs.
Robert never tired of looking at him.
He liked wearing black – tight pants and shirt and a jacket with the severe cut of a uniform, only without rank insignia.
What made him special though was his pretty face, with its large, brown eyes that were often partially hidden behind floppy, light brown hair that he was growing out and which almost reached his shoulders, now.
Those eyes could be soft and vulnerable as a doe's. Robert had learned quickly that was nothing but a well calculated manoeuvre to put enemies at ease. The razor sharp mind behind those eyes was constantly looking for new ways to get the better of everyone around him.
Now, those eyes were smouldering with intense rage, much truer to the Duke's personality. He spotted Robert in his armchair by the fireplace and stopped in a posture that could only be called combat-ready.
“Don't. Ask.” he hissed.
Robert couldn't shake the image of a cat fluffing up it's tail and neck, and showing its claws.
He smiled pleasantly at his master, closed his reading pad, took off his glasses and got up to walk over to his enraged feline. His approach was cautiously watched. He took up a position behind the Duke and the young man craned his head to keep an eye on him. It was intimidating, but it was a pet's sole job to take care of his master in any way necessary. Sometimes, that included providing an easy target, so if his master wished to take out his aggression on him, Robert would take that, too. Being useful was paramount.
Robert gently laid his hands on his master's shoulders and began kneading them. At first the tense muscles refused to yield, but, presently, Thomar slumped and let his head hang, relaxing. With the worst of his resistance dealt with, Robert helped the Duke out of his jacket and continued his firm massage, working with practised ease.
His master offered no explanation for his early appearance and Robert didn't ask. He was sure he would learn in the morning from some servant what had riled His Grace so much.
Mentally, he was going through a list of things to do to pacify the Duke. Massage first, afterwards maybe a bath. He had probably skipped dinner again, working, so serving some appetisers at the bathtub would help him realise how hungry he was. A proper dinner. That would take Thomar's mind firmly off his duties which meant next would be a vigorous sexual workout. The Duke was inventive and curious in bed and had the advantage of the short recovery times of youth. Sometimes, Robert was hard pressed to keep up, but he had experience on his side.
“Robert...?” The Duke's voice pulled him out of his musings and he realised that Thomar was again looking at him over his shoulder. The smouldering rage in his eyes was gone and had been replaced by a long lashed innocence that made all warning bells go off in Robert's head. If there was one word he did not associate with his master it was 'innocence'.
“Yes, my lord?”
The Duke chewed his lower lip in a perfect imitation of guileless youth. “I was thinking ... it must be pretty boring for you to always be hanging out in the palace, waiting for me to finish with work. I think we need to do something about that.”
That sounded kind and considerate. Robert had no doubt it wasn't.
“Is that so, my lord?”
Thomar turned around under his hands and smiled up at him. Give him a year or two and he would grow taller than Robert, but right now he still had the opportunity to glance up sweetly .
“Absolutely. I've been such a bad master. I need to remedy that. I think we should go out and have some fun. We deserve that.”
Robert looked down at the Duke in silence, feeling something rise in his throat that could have been panic. Of course he was much too old to be panicked by anything, but he had the sinking feeling that his master wasn't thinking about a well-planned excursion with a proper escort when he talked about 'going out and having some fun'. And obviously, this wasn't about Robert but all about Thomar.
“Well...?” his master asked, his mask of cuteness firmly in place.
“I'm perfectly fine with staying in the palace.”
Immediately the mask cracked and turned into an annoyed pout.
“I'm not.” Thomar turned away and started pacing, reminding Robert unpleasantly of a caged predator.
Which wasn't so off an impression maybe, taking his history into account. The late Duke of Aylian had had four children already when Thomar had been born. Since his chances of inheriting anything had been rather low, his parents had found something useful to do with him right after his birth.
He had been given to the N'Ptalini to be raised at one of their remote, mountain villages. During the Urchin War, almost two-thousand years ago, the N'Ptalini had invaded and occupied Aylian for nearly a century. For a couple of centuries, after humanity had defeated them for good, the peace between humans and N'Ptalini had been shaky at best, with their home world Geshi N'Ptah being the only planet they were allowed to rule themselves. For a long time, the N'Ptalini had been treated no better than slaves and there had been constant rebellions.
But gradually, relations had improved and now, they lived side by side with humans almost everywhere. Aylian was one of the few planets remaining were they and humans still treated each other with distrust, the ancient history of occupation not quite forgotten.
Thomar's father had decided that giving them his youngest son – whom he didn't need for anything else – would be a good way to strengthen the ties between the ducal family and the non-human community.
So Thomar had been raised by fierce N'Ptalini warriors, growing up in a cavern village, located in a remote mountain range far up in the northern hemisphere of the planet, the S'batha T'cla, fully expecting never to return to his genetic family, and not even knowing them.
And then the demon portal had opened in orbit above Aylian.
The duke and his remaining children had been killed before the Good Emperor and Empress Erea could agree on a ceasefire.
With the Duke and all his heirs dead, the Duchess had suddenly found herself ruler of Aylian. Even the kindest description could only make her out as a rather brainless breeding mare, a pretty accessory of the late Duke’s. She had coped with the sudden pressure for a few weeks, then, she had been found dead, poisoned, in her bed. It wasn't clear if she had killed herself or had been assassinated, but it had suddenly brought Thomar back to everyone's attention.
So the boy had been dragged back from his remote home by the Emperor's Ruby Guards and installed as the new Duke of Aylian.
Robert had heard many accounts of Thomar's first few days at court.
Everyone had expected a naive, untried youth, easily manipulated and more easily removed. Instead they had found a young man, trained to fight and survive since he could walk, with a deeply ingrained mistrust of humans. He had also inherited his father’s sharp mind and the N'Ptalini training had honed it to a fine edge, their not-quite-human way of thinking making his decisions unnervingly unpredictable to the court.
His dealing with the demons had been vicious but brutally fair, earning their grudging respect. They respected power and ruthlessness, and he had proven he possessed both. The human court hated and feared him equally. Maybe not a great set up, but certainly not the worst. The general population liked him well enough. He did his best to deal with the wounds inflicted on the planet by the demon invasion and made sure all reparations the demons provided were distributed evenly.
Considering he was the youngest duke ever to rule a planet in the Virasana Empire, he was doing an amazing job.
But under all that power, ruthlessness and fierceness, he was a young man, complete with moody, selfish wishes which were satisfied much too rarely.
Of course it wasn't Robert's place to judge his master or have an opinion of his own at all. His sole job was to keep his master happy. That didn't change the fact that he also felt a keen interest in keeping him safe.
His master was still pacing restlessly, so Robert dared a question, “So ... what did you have in mind, my lord?”
“I was thinking we should sneak out of the palace and go to some disco in the commercial district. I want to go dancing, have a drink.”
That wasn't nearly as outrageous as it could have been, but not what Robert considered a 'safe' thing for a duke to do.
“I'm sure your captain of the guard can put together an escort and pick a suitable place even on such short notice,” Robert suggested without much hope.
His master sighed dramatically. “I would spend the whole evening being told what to do. Not what I want. Come on, where is your sense of adventure? This will be fun.”
A younger pet would probably have agreed. And it wasn't like he had a chance of stopping the young duke, which suddenly made him wonder why he had been asked to come along in the first place. It wasn't as if he would be much use on a disco dancefloor.
Before he could voice his question, his master had already stepped close to him again and put his sweet boy face back on. “Robert, please? I promise we won't get into trouble,” he begged. It was hard to deny him anything when he looked like that.
“Don't you think people will recognise you anyway?” he tried a last objection.
“Not if you come along.” Thomar grinned. “You are part of my disguise. You see, a young duke with a pet like you – that draws a lot of attention. However, a distinguished gentleman with a cute little pet: perfectly normal.”
Robert looked down at his master in silent shock. “You want me to pretend to be your master? You do realise that posing as a commoner is a criminal offence for a slave, punishable by death?” The moment the words were out of his mouth, he wanted to bite his tongue. Of course his master would know that. He was duke of the planet, and well aware of the Empire's laws. And it absolutely wasn't Robert's place to ask such insolent questions.
Thomar rolled his eyes. “Rrright... and who would do the executing? In case you didn't notice: I'm the Duke. I am the Law.”
That was true, too. There were a million other objections Robert would have liked to voice, but again – it was his place to shut up and follow the commands of his master, no matter how outrageous. He shrugged helplessly.
“Okay, now that we have cleared all that up let's get going,” the young Duke announced cheerfully and started pushing Robert towards their bedroom. “I have the perfect costume for you.”
“You have planned all this!” Again the words slipped out too fast for Robert to stop them. Why was he feeling so shocked? Of course, Thomar would have prepared in advance. He always did, in some unexpected way.
***
The music was so loud it was impossible to communicate with anything but hand gestures and Robert felt as though the bass vibrated right in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't familiar with this style of music, to him, it sounded very little like music and very much like noise. But Thomar had happily explained that this was the kind of music he enjoyed so Robert had added finding out more about it to his ever-growing list of things to update himself on to please his master.
Coloured lights flashed and humans, N'Ptalini, demons and even two tall Felids filled the dancefloor with rapidly moving bodies.
Robert felt deeply grateful that he was not expected to become a part of that gyrating mass. He was allowed to remain safely seated on a comfortable couch, out of the way with a drink and occasional glimpses of his master enjoying himself dancing with various partners.
Their 'escape' from the palace had been frighteningly uneventful.
First Thomar had presented him with the outfit he had picked for Robert.
Normally, he preferred casual wear, slacks which accentuated his still-trim ass and legs, turtle-neck pullovers that were tight enough to show off broad shoulders but didn't reveal much skin, or partly unbuttoned dress shirts. Dark blue, green, and cream were his favourite colours.
Now, he was wearing an elaborately embroidered, rust-red overcoat and a black dress shirt over the same slacks, and he had to admit that he looked like a completely different person. With his carefully trimmed goatee, his shoulder-length hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, he did look exactly like his young master had promised – a distinguished gentleman. Thomar had even provided sinfully expensive silver cufflinks.
What had surprised him more was that he liked that look on himself.
The truly scary moment had been when Thomar asked him to take off the earrings marking him as the Duke's property. They were the greatest protection Robert had ever had and even with them safely tucked away in his pocket, he felt naked and defenceless.
Thomar himself had put on simple blue jeans, a t-shirt with the faded logo of some band and heavy boots. Robert felt slightly panicked about the lack of pet earrings on his master, but of course those were reserved for the pets of nobles who could actually provide protection and Robert would never dare to pose as a noble. At least, Thomar didn't dress like some cheap sex toy in nothing but hot-pants and nipple piercings, so hopefully he would not attract too much attention. Robert thought that he would have been hard pressed to keep people who would want to borrow him at bay. Still, it was decidedly odd. He didn't look like himself. Which of course was the whole point.
They had left the palace via a well hidden secret passage in Thomar's private office room that Robert had had no idea existed. He couldn't help but wonder how often the duke had already slipped out from under his nose to go God knew where. The passage branched off repeatedly and probably riddled most of the palace. They had headed straight down several narrow stairs and followed a long tunnel to an exit that deposited them in a badly lit alley a few streets away from the palace.
Stepping out onto a main street, Robert had hailed a hovertaxi for both of them and Thomar had instructed the driver on where to take them with the happy, innocent giddiness any pet his age would have exhibited. He was playing his role perfectly, snuggling up against Robert in the backseat and excitedly pointing at things rushing by outside.
Robert had decided that quiet, dignified and slightly aloof would do perfectly well for his disguise and served best to mask the boiling panic inside of him. He smiled in what he hoped was an indulgent way. He was completely out of his depth, but he wasn't going to show it.
The disco his master had picked was large and located on the fringe between the commercial district and the docks. Nobody had spared them a second glance when they entered, apart from some guests appreciatively checking out Thomar.
Robert sipped his drink and tried to relax. He had carefully chosen something mostly consisting of fruit juice and very little alcohol. Alcohol would have been great to numb his panic, but it would also have dulled his other senses and with a master like his, he would be better off having all of them on full alert.
He tried to remember other times when he had gone out with masters, but it had never been like this. The few masters who had actually taken him anywhere had demanded he stay by their side, mostly kneeling next to them, paying attention to them exclusively.
This felt weird. Almost like... almost like a free man might feel. He leaned back, trying to copy the posture of easy arrogance most of his previous owners had assumed in situations like these. Thomar awarded him more freedoms than he had known in a long time. At first, he hadn't liked leaving the ducal quarters on his own, but slowly he was starting to enjoy taking walks on the fortress walls. Doing serious exercise like a younger pet would do to stay in perfect shape felt too strenuous when Thomar seemed perfectly happy with his level of fitness. The walks were good for him, fresh air, stretching his legs. and, most importantly, the great view. It felt like he was suddenly living in a bigger world, not comprised solely of walls. It was scary, too, but overall he thought he was coping well with what the young Duke seemed to expect of him.
Slowly, he felt the tension start to drain away and he did relax. The music was too loud and fast and unmelodious, there were too many people and his heartbeat picked up painfully every time someone made a sudden move in his direction. But nothing horrible happened. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.
That was the moment he realised it had been several minutes since he had spotted his master among the people on the dancefloor. Immediately, panic made him choke as he scanned the crowd, got up, and craned his neck to catch a glimpse of the young duke somewhere.
Nothing.
Plenty of people, but none of them his master.
He wanted to cower back into his seat, hold on to his drink and preferably turn invisible, but at the same time he needed to know that he wasn't alone in this suddenly intimidating crowd. His master could protect him.
He forced himself to set his drink down on the table in front of him. To get up and move through the crowd. He made his way around the dance floor, trying to get a look at as many people as possible. Thomar had to be somewhere. The thought that his master had abandoned him here was too scary to examine more closely. Maybe he was paying a short visit to the restrooms. Robert reached that area and paused in front of the door. He couldn't go in and look for his master. His master laughing at him would be the best outcome. At worst, he would be angry at this invasion of his privacy when the whole point of this excursion was getting out from the constant supervision he was under at the palace. So far, he had managed not to anger his master and he very much wanted to keep it that way. Young nobles were very creative when it came to punishments. He would wait here a moment and hope his master would emerge.
Deeply worried, Robert pushed his hands through his hair and straightened his coat. He would not panic! Who was he trying to fool? He was panicking.
Back here, the music was not as deafening, but that didn't calm his nerves. Suddenly, he heard the voice of his master, saying something and laughing. It had come in from outside through one of the small windows high up the wall. Apparently, his master was outside, in an alley behind the building.
Robert had no idea what he was doing there. He had sounded amused enough but that didn't reassure him at all. Anything could happen to the young Duke out there.
After a short, frantic search he came to a heavy, metal security door that led outside. He pushed it open, stepped outside, and quickly made his way down the alley to where he thought he had heard his master's voice.
There wasn't much light, but when he spotted two figures leaning against one of the walls, closely entwined and obviously kissing, he recognised the one with his back to the wall as Thomar.
That stopped him in his tracks. It certainly wasn't safe out here, but he was only a slave and that was his master there, obviously having fun. It wasn't his place to interrupt. Maybe Thomar knew perfectly well what he was doing. After all, he was a lot more practised at being a free man than Robert. And what did he think he was doing out here anyway? It wasn't as if he would have known what to do if it had turned out his master was in any sort of danger.
Unsure what to do next, Robert watched as the man who was kissing his master worked one hand into Thomar's jeans and started fondling his crotch. Robert took a slow step backwards, but stopped again, mesmerised as he heard his master groan in pleasure.
This was bad. Very bad.
Stumbling across them and nearly interrupting was bad enough, but watching from the dark... That was...
Still Robert couldn't help it. He wasn't capable of moving.
He watched as both men rubbed against each other, kissing and biting. Thomar was spun around roughly and braced himself against the wall while his new friend kneaded his ass.
They were going to fuck. Right here in the alley.
Robert wasn't sure why he was surprised. After all, his master wasn't just a horny young man, he was also Quetzal, and that Noble House was infamous for not giving a fuck, especially when it came to sexual mores. Of course his master would consider this part of a 'fun night out'.
It was the annoying prick of jealousy, Robert realised. He wouldn't have minded at all if he had been the one fucking his pretty master against that wall. But he hadn't been invited. He didn't deserve to fantasise about something like this. And of course, he had no right to be jealous. After all, he was just a pet. On closer inspection, this reaction was disturbing and Robert realised that it would need to be examined carefully, though it was pretty obvious where it came from.
Before the young Duke had bought him he had gone a long, long time without anyone using him. For a pet bred and trained for sexual services, that wasn't a healthy thing. It had changed instantly with his arrival on Aylian, but the Duke hadn't allowed anyone but himself to touch Robert. Being kept so exclusively usually only happened with fresh pets. It was flattering, but it also meant that all of Robert's attention was solely focused on his master – which was probably the point.
His interest in watching rapidly cooling, he took another step back when he noticed that the man who was now trying to push down Thomar's jeans with one hand was gesturing with the other to someone further down the alley. As two more men emerged from the murky shadows, Robert realised with horror that this was some sort of set up and these thugs had lured his master out here, probably planning on some joint 'fun' with the cute boy.
He had to do something to protect his master who had not noticed the danger he was in. He was a helpless pet and the proper course of action would have been cowering and begging, but he couldn't. Not with this master, who had shown him so much kindness. Scanning the alley his eyes came to rest on a piece of metal pipe lying on the ground.
Before he could reconsider what he was about to do, he picked up the pipe and closed in on the thugs who were now crowding around Thomar and were greeting his master with a sleazy, “Hey, pretty...”
Taking a deep breath, Robert tried to steel himself and clubbed one of the thugs over the head from behind. He was surprised when the man crumbled to the ground like a sack of grains. He had never attacked anyone in his life and hadn't expected such a success. He also hadn't expected the sudden thrill running through his veins.
The one who had been fondling Thomar turned around, loudly exclaiming, “What the fuck..?!”
The other was much quicker to react and Robert's exhilaration was cut short by the impact of a meaty fist against the side of his head which sent him sprawling against the other alley wall , the pipe uselessly clattering to the ground. The world around him went out of focus as pain blossomed where he had been hit.
It wasn't so much that he wasn't used to pain, he thought with detached fascination, it was that this pain was so blunt and unrefined and sudden. Still, he ought to concentrate, some part of him demanded. This was not a moment for idle musings. He tried to re-focus on his surroundings, but what he saw didn't make sense.
The man who had hit him was in a loving embrace with his master, bodies locked tightly together, the man jerking in pleasure. And why was he bleeding so profusely? Almost as if someone had slit his throat...
He blinked repeatedly to clear his vision, but lost a few crucial seconds again, apparently, as the next thing he noticed was Thomar, crouching in front of him, his face swimming in and out of focus but decidedly worried.
“Robert? Robert, can you hear me?”
Robert tried to nod.
Bad idea.
Pain stabbed through his skull and he grabbed at it with both hands, sudden tears stinging his eyes.
“Easy there, easy,” his master's gentle voice admonished, “let me see that.”
His hands were pried away and Thomar's cool fingers gently touched his temple.
“Just a minor concussion, probably.”
Weirdly enough, Robert could have sworn his voice held an approving, proud undertone.
“You tried to protect me. That was very brave of you.”
Robert's short laugh sounded more like a croak. “Not like ... like you needed protecting it seems,” he groaned, now carefully probing his temple, too. No blood, thank the gods. Wouldn't do to get his face scarred.
“Still,” there was a serious note in Thomar's voice that made Robert look up at him, “thank you.”
It seemed his master really did mean that.
He glanced at the bodies of the men who had tried to take Thomar. They all looked very dead, their clothes soaked with generous amounts of blood. Looking back at his master, he watched as Thomar cleaned a vicious-looking dagger on the shirt of one of the men like it was routine and let the weapon disappear in his boot. There was no blood on him at all.
'There is no such thing as an unarmed Quetzal' the voice of one of his long-gone trainers lectured in the back of his head.
Indeed.
“Here, let me help you up.” Thomar offered his hand and Robert gladly accepted, slowly getting to his feet, bracing against the wall. His head was spinning.
“I think that's enough fun for one night, don't you agree?” his master suggested, gently leading him through the alley back to the front of the disco.
Robert agreed, but refrained from nodding.
“I'm sorry,” Thomar said softly before they reached the lights at the front, “I promised we wouldn't get into trouble. That was my fault. I was careless.”
“Just ... don't do it again ... okay?” Robert bravely ventured, not very like a devoted pet at all.
“Promised.”
Unfortunately, Robert was pretty sure his master would find ample opportunity to get into trouble nonetheless.