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Whatever the brilliant scientists working on fixing Aylian's climate had done, it was definitely working, Robert mused as he stepped out onto one of the balconies overlooking the capital. The night air caressing his skin felt balmy. Cool enough to be pleasantly refreshing after the heat of many active bodies packed into a room filled with music, laughter, and the smells of unfamiliar food, alcohol, and sex. He breathed the fresh air with delight.
Most of his life, he would have served as entertainment at such a party, fucked by his master or the guests, probably both. Now, he was a guest himself to be treated politely and with respect or even deference.
Not too long ago, he would have been safely locked up in the ducal quarters now, where there was no danger of him accidentally being used or abused by some noble. Those times were past as well. By now, everyone who was someone at court knew that he was entirely off-limits. More importantly, though, Thomar trusted him to take care of himself. Of course, there still was a N'Ptalini guard hidden somewhere in the shadows of the balcony. But he would only interfere if there was real need.
Robert sighed softly. He missed having T’lark as his constant companion, watching over him. The other N'Ptalini were polite enough, but they weren’t his friends. At least, T’lark was even more annoyed than Robert at being banned from active duty until his broken arm was fully healed. He was already out of the infirmary and bored out of his mind.
Compared to F’leer, he was lucky, though. After falling prey to that succubus, F'leer had been forced to submit to examinations by a team of N'Ptalini priests and Verata. Not a pleasant procedure. But his name was cleared and he was back on his job, both embarrassed and furious at the fact that he had been manipulated.
Making sure that his guards would be better protected from demonic influence in the future was only one of the things the young Duke was fixing after the whole affair.
For once, Robert was keeping up to date on the details even though they were bordering very close on politics, which he hated to get involved in. The Imperial Intelligence Service had sent agents to investigate the plot against the Duke after Thomar had informed them. It turned out that it hadn’t so much been a plan to take control of Aylian as a plot hatched to control the only portal between their universe and the demon realm. Thankfully, Lady Karr hadn't been involved in the whole mess in any way. Networking with their counterparts from the demon side, it was uncovered that ultimately, the conspirators had aimed at toppling the Demon Empress. They didn’t receive full details, but apparently a few players on the demon side were publicly and very messily removed by the Empress’ assassins to send a clear signal to other would-be conspirators.
Only a few days ago, Thomar had received a private message from the Empress herself, delivered by one of her champions, in which she apologised for the trouble her unruly subjects had caused. From a near-god-like entity known to devour entire demon realms to further her power, that was a generous gesture indeed, and oddly considerate.
Despite all the anguish Robert had suffered while the fake duke had banned him from court, he now couldn’t help but feel that, ultimately, it had been a good thing. He and Thomar now knew exactly where they stood with each other. If anything similar should happen tonight, Robert wouldn’t fall into bleak despair – he would know beyond the shadow of a doubt that his lover would never discard him and he would immediately act to find out what was wrong.
It was more than that, though. Knowing that he wasn’t only loved but had a friend to trust in had given him something he had lacked his whole life. Confidence. His status hadn’t changed. He still was the Duke’s pet, no more, no less, and he liked it that way. And yet, he had noticed another subtle shift in how members of court treated him, and that could only be a result of the way he carried himself. There had been a time when this would have worried him, when he would have spent hours considering all the possible negative consequences of his actions. Now, he didn’t. He just lived.
Of course, it was only a matter of time before Thomar did something outrageous again that would send Robert into another panicked breakdown. But that was part of being with Thomar, part of what made life with the young Duke so exciting.
With a warm smile, he reached for Alain’s amulet. And of course his wonderful, brave demonhound was part of his life as well. Alain had spent a few days sleeping in the amulet after his injury and had emerged as good as new. Only now he sported a roughish, faint scar across his snout where the demon monster had scraped him. It made him look daring and more mature and Robert had caught his little darling looking at himself in a mirror approvingly, turning his head this way and that, studying the scar. He was hopelessly vain and it was one of the cutest things he had ever seen.
Which reminded Robert of the other cute and dangerous creature in his life and that he should probably go back inside to find out what his impossible master was up to now.
At least no one but him and Thomar was aware that this party was actually for Robert. It was Thomar's way of making up for the coronation anniversary banquet Robert had missed. If it had been up to Thomar, he would have officially made it in Robert's honour, but Robert had managed to convince his lover that it would have been too much attention on him for him to feel comfortable. And that was another subtle change in their relationship. Robert didn't hesitate anymore to speak up when he didn't like something.
He was just about to turn around to go back in when he heard the sound of running, naked feet. A small figure burst out onto the balcony at full speed and crashed into him. He barely managed to catch the slight body but kept them both from falling over.
In the dim light, he could make out long, flowing auburn hair, delicate curves and huge, terror-filled blue eyes, staring up at him. Around the girl’s neck, a thin, gold collar identified her as a slave. Judging by her beauty, her thin, revealing dress and the two pet earrings she wore, she had to be the property of one of the guests.
“Please, let me go!” she pleaded breathlessly, glancing over her bare shoulder.
There was cheerful shouting and swift, heavy footsteps approaching the balcony.
Robert felt immensely sorry for the poor girl, but there was no point in running for a pet.
“You can't run away from your master, love.”
Tears spilled over, trailing black tracks from her mascara. “Nonono...” she whispered, frantically trying to free herself from his grip, “My master would never hurt me. He'd just left for a minute when they...”
“There's that little bitch!” a strong, male voice exclaimed as a trio of nobles stepped out onto the balcony.
They were all dressed in expensive attire of varying degrees of outrageousness, but all of them sported shiny, green feathers and a flying serpent blazon somewhere, announcing them as Quetzal nobles. Two of them were big, brutish young men, while the third was a rat-faced teenager. Robert didn't need to imagine what they would do with the pet. He had been that pet often enough.
“You caught her!” one of the brutes addressed Robert, his face nearly splitting with a leering grin. “That's a good boy!”
There was no other exit from the balcony, nowhere to run for the girl, and she gasped in fear. Without a thought, Robert pushed her behind himself and faced the three nobles. He put on a pleasant smile.
“Gentlemen, I'm afraid you are mistaken,” he said evenly, “You can't have her.”
Behind him, the girl pressed close against him, suddenly all thoughts of flight gone as she had found the impossible – someone to protect her.
The three nobles stared at him, dumbstruck by his failure to kneel and grovel. They didn't reek of too much drink, so Robert surmised it had to be lack of intelligence.
“Hey, watch it, slave!” the other brute demanded, “Hand her over!”
“No,” Robert said and crossed his arms, coolly staring them down.
It was a look he had seen often enough on Thomar to be able to copy it exactly. He felt giddy with excitement as the nobles uneasily shifted and looked at each other for ideas on how to deal with this unexpected obstacle.
He had never seen them at court before, so they were probably here with their parents, visiting from some remote country estate or from off-planet. That meant they didn't know who he was and the fact that he wore a slave collar just like the girl would have made them cocky. But that he treated them with haughty disdain warned them that he was more than a mere pet. No noble unable to read such subtle social warnings survived for long.
One of the brutes apparently decided to ignore that warning, as he took a threatening step towards Robert. “Listen, slave, you better do what you're told or we'll smash your teeth in!”
Not the most creative threat Robert had ever heard by a long shot and certainly not one he felt threatened by.
“Listen, boy,” he sneered back, putting emphasis on the second word, “You better run back to your mommy or I'll have your head removed from your neck.”
He was enjoying himself tremendously. Knowing that there was a N'Ptalini guard watching and waiting to strike if necessary made him bold.
The young noble was sputtering speechlessly, unable to comprehend how a mere pet could dare to stand up to him this way.
“Shit!” The rat-faced boy suddenly whispered, pointing at Robert's earrings. “That's the Duke's pet!”
Robert smirked at them cruelly with another expression borrowed from his master. The effect was extremely satisfying, as all three young men recoiled as if he had suddenly sprouted horns and venomous claws.
“Hey, we didn't mean anything...” the brute raised his hands in a calming gesture while simultaneously withdrawing two steps, looking genuinely scared.
Robert loved it.
He wondered if he should push them a little more and make them apologise to the slave girl, but they made their escape back inside before he could make up his mind.
Robert felt slim arms sneak around his waist. He had just had the chance to turn around and smile down at the girl before she hugged him tightly, her face buried against his chest. He gently hugged her back. For a long moment, she remained in his safe embrace.
“Thank you, sir,” she said, putting on a brave smile which looked all the cuter with her slightly smeared makeup.
“You're welcome, love,” he answered with a smile of his own and tucked a strand of her hair back behind her ear. There was no point in correcting her addressing him with a noble title.
She was a sweet thing and he very much hoped her owner appreciated her like he should.
Almost on cue, another person stormed out onto the balcony.
“Rain?!”
Robert turned to find another young Quetzal, this one dressed in more modest clothes but quite pretty himself. He looked about as frantic as the slave girl had when she first collided with him. He spotted the pet in the same moment as she separated from Robert to fling herself into his arms.
“Simon!” Genuine happiness and relief at being back where she belonged were now in her voice and reassured Robert that this master meant her no harm.
“Rain!” He tried to hug her, check her for injuries, and glare threateningly at Robert all at the same time. “Have they hurt you? Has anyone hurt you?!”
Robert couldn’t help but smile at his protectiveness. She was definitely in good hands with this one.
“No!” Rain laughed with relief, “This wonderful man rescued me!”
Immediately, the stance of the young noble changed as he looked at Robert more closely. He could tell by his face when he realised who he was dealing with, but his reaction was not one Robert had thought he'd ever get from a noble. The young man bowed deeply.
“Thank you for protecting my beautiful Rain, Master Robert. I am in your debt,” he said with the courtesy one would have expected him to pay a higher-ranking noble, and he was even choosing an appropriate form of address. This was a young man to keep an eye on.
Once again, Robert found himself borrowing a gesture from Thomar as he inclined his head politely.
“You are most welcome.”
It was obvious that the young Quetzal was struggling with trying to be polite and wanting to take care of his pet. So Robert gave him the easy way out and turned back to the view of Toraskah below after a friendly farewell nod.
That way, neither of the two young people saw his huge grin as Rain whispered to her master, “He was so awesome! Like a knight in shining armour right out of a fairy tale!”