I dreaded the Master’s return and yet, he did not make an appearance and that made it worse. Every time I heard Steen’s footsteps approaching, I went out of my mind only to be relieved when I realized it was the manservant. He washed me, put soothing unguents on my back, ass and stomach and when they had healed enough, a soft woolen shift over me that he promised would not stick to the wounds. He fed me and took care of my need to relieve myself, all without complaint or disgust. When I asked him why, he said because the Master had ordered it and because he remembered how it felt.
“You?” I asked around the rim of a crystal goblet filled with watered wine. I was barely conscious and thought he might be a dream.
“Did you think you were the first and only one, Corbel?” He shook his head. “The Master found me in Bergman, I was the youngest son of one of the Golden Treaty Diplomats. Webster took me, raped me before my twelfth birthday, did it for a year and then trained me, sold me to a brothel in Denaria. When I was sufficiently broken, meek and skilled as both a valet and a catamite, he brought me back to serve in his house.” He lifted his silken tunic and the scars on his chest and back were faded white lines. Burned into his shoulder were the words PROPERTY OF THE MASTER-LW. “That’s not all he did to me, Corbel.” he smiled sadly. “He took my manhood from me so that I can never feel pleasure again.”
Instinctively, I cupped my balls and paled.
“I would have killed myself, too. But the Master had put a geas on me that prevents me from harming myself or others. So don’t worry when I touch you in those places, it means only that I am treating your hurts, it means naught to me.”
“I’m sorry, Steen,” I cringed. “Did he send you out to kill for him, too?”
“No,” he said and now I saw tears in his eyes. “He sent me out to whore for him.” Gently, he put down the crystal goblet and picked up my plate. “Another bite?”
Sickened, unable to eat, I shook my head no and stared at my limited view from the Still Room’s table. All I could see was the door, the far wall and the row of windows where freedom teased me. He traced my line of sight and said softly, “there is no escape, Corbel. I know. I tried myself. For twenty years, I never made it farther than the Thrids. He let them have me.”
“But, the poison from their seed---it’s toxic!” I protested.
He nodded. “So they say, it ate my insides but I survived. One of the few humans ever to be fucked by a score of Thrids and survive.”
“You didn’t go insane?” I marveled that he had called me brave.
“For three years, I lived in the kennels with his hounds until my wits returned. The Master does not easily give up his slaves,” he said dryly.
“Will you help me, Steen?”
He shook his head. “My advice is to pretend to enjoy it and he’ll lose interest quickly. Fight him and he’ll enjoy it more and won’t stop pursuing you.” He picked up the dishes and set them aside to restrain me loosely before leaving me on my own.
“Steen,” I called twisting my head so I could watch him leave. “Steen, please. A knife, bring me a knife.”
He shut the door so quietly, it was as if a ghost had slipped through but I heard no latch of a lock or spell uttered to seal the door. Of the spells the Master had taught me, several would aid me in releasing the bindings on me. The problem I encountered first was that my body refused to obey me, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t raise myself up to get off the table. Rocking was beyond my scope of movement and the more I frustrated myself trying, the more my muscles cramped up. Finally, I gave over to sleep and let my subconscious work freely.
The next person in the room was the cleaning crew. Youngsters not much younger than me, two boys who had that downy cheeked look of the pre-teen, armed with buckets, mops and brooms. They skittered nervously around the table and came no closer. As if they were afraid I would attack or contaminate them.
“The Queen,” I asked, my voice a rasp. I was very thirsty. They stopped sweeping to murmur quietly to one another. “You won’t be punished for talking to me, will you? Please, tell me how the Queen fares?”
The younger boy had grayish green eyes and dark brown hair, his brother was taller by a head. I didn’t know them but the Master had scores of servants I’d not had contact with. “What are your names, boys?”
“Grelor and Brinn,” the taller said. “Is it true you rode a dragon and killed the King of Amber?”
“I rode the dragon, ‘tis true but King Random is alive and well,” I sighed.
“He’s declared war on the Master and shadow worlds that back him. Spies have reported a massive army on their way here. Led by a giant on a black demon that shoots flames from his nostrils,” Brinn reported. “The Prince and the King of the Courts ride with him.”
“They come to avenge the Queen’s honor and rescue her,” I said and winced as my pain escalated.
“Not rescue you, Blackbird?” He touched me and even that innocent hand on my skin made my flesh cringe in terror.
“Please don’t touch me,” I mumbled. “I can’t stand it. Will you bring me a blade?”
His eyes turned round and his skin whitened to pale gray. “No-o,” he gasped. “If we did that, the Master would have our heads.” He turned and furiously attacked the floor as if a year’s worth of grime was stuck to the tiles. The pair spent an hour cleaning until the room was spotless, even emptying the chamber pot Steen had helped me use. I watched despondently until my neck ached from twisting and they were at the door, packing up their dirty tools. At the last, Grelor ran back towards me, bent down and whispered in my ear, “the Queen fares well, my sister Nellie serves her.”
“Thank you,” I whispered back and the sound of the door slamming shut was gravid. I turned my head into my bicep and dozed.
I knew it was he by his scent even before he stroked his palms down my backbone and cupped the mounds of my ass. He felt the sudden ripple of my flesh as I cringed from him.
“You tasted divine, Corbel,” he said into my ear. “I’ve experienced every type of sex there is and none has ever given me the same satisfaction as I achieved with you. Don’t worry, you’re safe from the Thrid, I would never let them touch you and ruin my sex slave.”
“And what will you say to Random and Julian when they stand outside your gates?” I returned. He looked startled as I had the nerve to caution him.
“I thought you suitably chastened and meek, Corbel. Do you wish for another lesson?” He laughed as if my defiance delighted him. His whip was coiled at his side and he stroked it lovingly.
“If my words would incite you to kill me, I would shout them to the world, Master. But, it matters not, you will have your way no matter what I say or do so fuck me until your prick falls off.” I closed my eyes and waited patiently for the assault to begin and after five minutes when nothing happened, opened them to find the room empty and alone.
Steen came in later, to feed me supper and there was a huge bruise on his face, one eye nearly swollen shut, black, blue and purple as blood pooled beneath the skin.
“Who did that to you, Steen?” I gaped.
“The Master hit me when I inquired about you, Corbel. He seemed...perturbed.” He untied me, swiveled me around and upright in a chair near the windows. “Don’t even think about it,” he warned as I looked to see if one was open. “I will use the stun rod on you if you so much as lift a leg.”
“He wanted to fuck me again, Steen and I said go ahead. Do it and get it over with. He couldn’t get hard and after awhile, he left,” I said in wonder. “I’m sorry if he took it out on you.”
He turned to face me head on and I saw undisguised rage in his whole body as tears slipped out to run silently down his cheeks. “He killed the boys,” he growled. “He hung them from their heels and sliced every bit of skin off each child and fed it to his hounds. He cut off their penises and threw them to the Thrids. Then, he went to their muscles. They lived almost to the point where their bones showed. He let the Thrids eat the rest, they cracked their bones to get at the marrow, Corbel. Those beasts did the same to their brains.”
“Why?” My heart stopped in fear of what he would say.
“You know why, Corbel,” he returned. “The older boy tried to smuggle a note from the Queen to you.”
“I swear I never said for them to do that!” I protested. “I asked only how the Queen fared.”
He sobbed. “They were my boys, Blackbird. The only children I would and could ever have.”
I was silent but made a promise that I would not die until my hand took the Master’s heart.