The Prince's Pet Read online

  Issander's hand curved around my waist, resting there. When he didn't move again, I held my breath.

  It was a minute before he leaned in, closer to my pillowed head. “Go to sleep.” He said. He paused for a moment, and I imagined he must be smirking at me.

  I listened as his breathing deepened and became regular. His hand grew heavier where it rested on me. But I remained awake, unable to ignore the presence of his naked body a bare inch from mine.

  It was warm – cozy and comfortable. Almost as though we were lovers simply falling asleep together. What would happen if I simply rolled in his arms and embraced him right now? Would he continue to stroke me, perhaps kiss me... or more?

  For a long while, I grappled with the impulse to do just that. The only thing stopping me was my own self-loathing. Could my captor win me over with only a gentle word and a simple touch? Was I so fickle?

  And yet, I yearned.

  Chapter 6

  I was exhausted by the time I finally slept, and I didn't even wake up when my master got out of bed in the morning. He left me sleeping in the bed, and I woke to the late morning sun streaming in through the open curtains.

  The chambers had that complete silence that told me no one was around. Not even the servants had come in yet. I threw the covers off and stretched lazily, tempted to just lay naked on the bed and let the sun warm me all morning – but I didn't want him to come back and see me idle.

  So I pulled on yesterday's dress and rang the bell for breakfast.

  A kitchen girl brought salted pork, eggs, toast and fruit juice. It was strange and wonderful to eat a full meal all to myself.

  I felt almost like a noble lady as the slaves trickled in to clean and tidy, and the thought made me guilty. I made sure to thank them in my crude Cimbrai when they were done. They smiled, confused but polite, as they left.

  I washed myself with the fresh water they'd left in the basin, and picked one of the dresses from my collection. I looked in the mirror to comb my hair until it shined. I wanted to put it up, but of course there were no hair ornaments I could use in the Prince's chambers.

  When I was done with the routine, I felt refreshed and somehow stronger. I went to the window to stand in the sun, and was surprised to find that it was not a window, but a double-door that opened out onto a balcony.

  Smiling in delight, I stepped outside. I could see a wing of the palace's first floor stretching out underneath where I stood, and a stretch of green gardens. I could see part of the walled courtyard of the temple.

  I stood leaning against the stone railing, watching the breeze blowing the palms, and the occasional person walk by below. Groups of ladies, brightly dressed and veiled, soldiers, and the occasional servant or slave.

  The front doors closed heavily, and startled, I turned back to the room. Issander appeared in the doorway to his bedroom, and glanced at me. I wondered for a moment if I were in trouble for being on the balcony, but he only raised his eyebrows questioningly.

  “Sleep well?”

  I bowed my head, a breeze picking up my hair and blowing it in front of my eyes. I brushed it away absently. Why did he always make me blush? “Yes, my Lord. Thank you.”

  “Come,” he said. “Take this armor off me.”

  I obliged. Then I called for his breakfast, and sat with him while he ate.

  “Ellys approached me today,” Issander began, and I looked up in surprise. “He asked that you be allowed to visit the temple.”

  I remembered telling the eunuch I wanted to know more about his gods. I drew in a breath, hoping Ellys hadn't risked the prince's ire for my sake. “Yes, my Lord?”

  He nodded, chewing his toast. “I think it would be a good idea. Many of the slaves attend to pray, and you should learn of our culture. You might learn some of our language in the process.”

  I smiled a genuine smile. “Thank you, I would like that.”

  “You will wait for Ellys to escort you. Understood? I must visit my father, so I told Ellys you can go today. He will collect you soon.”

  I nodded happily. I was eager to stretch my legs, and to find out more about the temple. “Aye, my Lord. Thank you.”

  "Esstair, The king of Gods – he reigns over the sun and sky, and all the other gods."

  I stood before the statue of the large bearded man who held a ball of energy between his hands.

  Ellys allowed me to look for a moment before leading me to the next. This one was robed, his face concealed by a deep hood, and his hands skeletal. "Vaelau," the eunuch explained, "who is death, and reigns over the afterlife."

  There was Ylera, the self-created – loved by entrepreneurs and merchants. The statue was that of the slim, androgynous figure. The god was both male and female, and the Cimbrites believed he had willed himself into existence.

  Next was Moraunil the warrior's god, who gave strength in battle, and Nal'keli, the trickster – worshiped by entertainers and sometimes criminals. Que-sayil was the goddess of revelry, music and art. She was a petite, winged and veiled figure with an instrument in one hand. Ashaleim, the law god who decided the fate of the guilty and the innocent in trials of combat, and who mortals prayed to for justice. Moryn, the antagonist, the cause of all the world's ills. Casyn the god who granted wisdom, beloved of scribes and scholars.

  And of course Iele, goddess of desire, passion, love, and servitude in the name of these.

  My mind reeled with questions. "Do your people have to choose one god to pray to, or do they take several?”

  Ellys smiled. "Many people worship only one. But others pray to whoever they need. Some do not invoke the gods at all."

  "Are the gods not jealous? The Thessian canon says there is one God only, and he does not tolerate any others."

  "So I've heard. But no. It is said that some of them do not like each other, and worshiping two such is considered counter-productive. That's all."

  "You serve Iele."

  He nodded .

  "How can she be the goddess of love and passion - and also servitude?"

  "Because servitude can be an aspect of love."

  I thought for a moment. "As a wife serves a husband?"

  Ellys smiled, looking pleased. "That is one aspect, yes. Though it is more complex than that. A husband and wife may have a traditional relationship, yet in the bedroom it may be the wife who dominates him. He may enjoy being humiliated or disciplined. Or indeed, the wife may enjoy being bound."

  We sat in a side room, on thick silken cushions. There was a lovely painted image of the goddess on one of the walls. I stared up at the image. "I am afraid I know little of bedroom matters."

  The eunuch nodded.

  "Why does a-" I broke off, smothering the question I'd been about to ask, and biting my lip.

  Ellys raised an eyebrow at me. "Go on."

  I looked away, embarrassed. "I do not want to cause offense."

  "Ah, you want to ask me a personal question.” He laughed, and waved a hand. “Go ahead. I assure you, I've heard them all before."

  I sighed. "I was going to ask - why would a eunuch serve the goddess of desire?"

  Looking unsurprised, he nodded. "Firstly, who makes a better pleasure slave than a eunuch?"

  My mouth hung open. "I... I don't know."

  "In foreign palaces," he explained, "many young men are made so, either to guard the women of the harem, or to perform as bed slaves. We can not produce children, and depending on how one is cut, may still be able to copulate. It is widely believed that, lacking much desire of our own, we are better able to concentrate on the pleasure of our masters or mistresses."

  "I see."

  "The process is not common in Cimbra, thank the Lady."

  We were silent for a while, contemplating the murals. I wondered if Ellys were happy with his lot in life. He was well respected here, and seemed content. If someone like him could be at peace with himself, perhaps I could learn to be, too.

  "Something you said before..." I started.

  Ellys
nodded.

  "The Prince... after I sneaked out the other day, he... punished me."

  "I expected he would. Did he hurt you?"

  I shook my head. "Not badly. He was... he was fair. But he..." I almost shivered at the memory. “He seemed to enjoy it." I looked at Ellys, and saw his eyes crinkle at the edges as he smiled lightly.

  "Yes." He said. Then he reached out to pat my hand where it sat on the pillow between us.

  "Then is he going to want to hurt me every time we...?"

  The eunuch shook his head. "Not necessarily."

  I sighed in relief.

  "But Eveline," Ellys said. "He is your master. You must learn to please him in all ways, even if that means being disciplined or punished for no reason other than his own amusement. Or if you are bound, or commanded to do something you do not like."

  I stared at him, deflating. "Aye. Yes, I know."

  "Do not worry.” He smiled. “He is a good man, underneath it all. And the good news is, you can come to enjoy it all as much as he does."

  "Really?"

  He nodded and chuckled. "Really." And he looked back at the image on the wall, of the beautiful goddess, dancing naked under the light of the moon.

  Atshye walked in soon after. She was beautiful in colorful diaphanous silks and a golden belt to match her collar, her flat midriff and long brown arms exposed.

  I was surprised to see her, but Ellys told me he had arranged for her to come for my lesson. She seemed contrite, at first refusing to meet my eyes. But when I took her hand and squeezed it, she brightened.

  "You must not tell the details of what we discuss here." She told me, while Ellys nodded. "It is sacred and secret among Iele's servants."

  "Of course," I answered, "but if my master asks...”

  "He will not." Ellys said. "The service of Iele is well known among royalty - an accepted outlet for slaves. They respect our privacy in this, if nothing else."

  "Besides," said Atshye with a wink, "your master is the one who will reap the rewards."

  Ellys left us alone for a while, and Atshye started with the basics. The correct way to kneel; Before my master, I was to sink to my knees on the floor and bend forward with my palms on the floor, fingers splayed and forehead close to the floor, but not touching.

  Before others, there was a modified version. Sitting back on my heels with my palms resting on my lap and head bowed.

  “This is also the position we used when told to wait for our masters.” Atshye said. “A simple bow of the head is adequate for meeting strangers of unknown status, unless told explicitly to kneel. And if you know them, the higher their status the deeper you should bend.” She demonstrated a graceful low bow, and I copied her. She made me repeat it several times until I got it right.

  She taught me how to pour correctly, making me demonstrate with cups and water, over and over until I had it right. When serving at table, I must stand unobtrusively behind my master, and approach to refill his glass whenever it was below half empty.

  If we were alone I was to sit on a cushion at his feet and take his glass to refill it from the tray in front of me. I was to keep my own glass full as well so that he wouldn't be drinking alone - though Atshye cautioned me against drinking too much. "It makes you clumsy." She said. “But you will master the art of pretending to sip, yet drinking little.”

  There were so many protocols, traditions and rules, and by the time we were done my mind was reeling. There was much more discipline to serving than I had thought possible.

  "I will teach you so many things." Atshye told me excitedly. "There are no other pleasure slaves here, only concubines... and they don't want to learn anything." She made a sour face. "We must teach you to dance, and play an instrument, and of course," she leaned toward me conspiratorially, "the five pleasures."

  "What are the five pleasures?" I asked, curious.

  "I am so glad you asked. I can show you the first right now." She smiled. "The rest must wait." She jumped up, poked her head out the door, and clapped her hands loudly.

  In a moment, someone else entered the room. It was Leander, the young man I'd met the other day. He was in the same sky-blue robes, and wore the same warm smile.

  “This is Leander, a priest of Iele.” She told me, before turning to speak to him in rapid Cimbrai. He nodded, following her expressive hand gestures, laughing softly once or twice. He bowed low, I noticed, as though she was his superior.

  He closed the door, and sat calmly on a cushion. Atshye stood before us, and spread her arms. "The first pleasure." She said with a flourish. "The Laenael. The arousal. This can of course take many forms. But it is for this purpose that Iele has given us the dance."

  She broke into sinuous movement, swaying her arms and shaking her hips. I stared in disbelief at the incredible use of her muscles as she flexed her stomach and danced to a non-existent rhythm.

  She looked joyous as she moved, a smile lighting her face. She tossed her dark hair and moved her delicate feet in a silent step, and I held my breath at the beauty of it.

  As she danced, she moved closer to where Leander sat cross-legged on his cushion. Then she began to move more slowly, standing over the young man and slowly turning, rotating her hips in slow arcs.

  Leander laughed and reached out to grab her, and she quickly and gracefully stepped to avoid his touch. "Teasing," she said, "and tantalizing. This dance is sometimes performed for a group, to music. But when alone with our masters is becomes something else entirely."

  Atshye stepped around Leander, winding around him as she performed. The young man looked up at her, rapt. She bent backwards showing an incredible flexibility, winding her arms gracefully together. She sank to her knees up against the priest and did the same again, giving him a direct look at her taut stomach. She came back up, and pressed up against him, winding her arms around his neck and planting a soft kiss on his cheek before getting to her feet, spinning away and ending the dance with a laugh of delight.

  I let out the breath I didn't know I'd been holding. "And you can teach me to do that?" I asked, incredulous. I'd danced perhaps twice in my life, not counting at home alone with a broom. And I'd certainly never seen anything like this.

  She giggled. "Of course. It takes time to develop the coordination, though. Like the mens' Kai La, you must constantly train. Don't worry - the dance is not a secret. As I said, I've performed for the king, for visiting nobles, and at feasts. You can tell your Prince that's what you do when you come here every day."

  I nodded. I still couldn't imagine being able to move as she did. "I would love to try it."

  She assumed a businesslike air. "Then get up," she said, "and try it."

  We spent the next hour practicing the dance. I was not very good - lacking the ability to isolate my muscles in the necessary way. But Atshye was a good and enthusiastic teacher. She showed me a few basic moves that as she said, "any beginner can learn passably."

  Leander stayed to watch, and we all laughed and joked in a mixture of my language and theirs as they tried to teach me. For the first time in what seemed like forever, I was having fun. It felt almost like a dream... and I was almost afraid of it.

  As for the dance - at the end of the hour I felt that perhaps, with a lot of practice, I might even learn to be good at it.

  "You mentioned five pleasures," I said, still mildly out of breath as Leander left us alone and Atshye and I sat down to rest. "What are the others?"

  She cocked her head at me with a wicked smile. "They are lessons for another day. Not for virgins."

  "How do you know I -" I sputtered.

  She shrugged. "It is written all over you.

  "Why are the lessons not... not for virgins?"

  This too, she found amusing, covering her mouth as she smiled. "Because," she said. "Men like their virgins to be virgins."

  Blushing, I snapped my mouth closed.

  "There's no shame in it." Atshye smiled, touching my arm. "If your Prince hasn't taken you yet, it only mean
s he thinks of you as more than a common whore."

  "Does he?" I murmured, grimacing. "And am I?"

  Atshye laughed, showing her perfect teeth. "Oh yes. Far more. Don't you know? According to Ellys, it was Iele that him to you."

  Until the room started to grow dim, the sun moving over in the late afternoon, we sat talking. When Ellys returned, they spent some time speaking in Cimbrai to me, lessoning me on the names of objects as they would a small child, and teaching me phrases I would need.

  Finally, the eunuch informed me it was time to go.

  "Do you pray to your goddess?" I asked him as he set his brisk pace through the halls, escorting me back to my master's rooms. “Should I?”

  "Eh?" He looked at me surprised, then smiled. "If you like. But Iele is not like other gods. If you choose to serve her, you serve her in everything you do. In every pleasurable moment. With obedience of every command from your master. With grace of movement and with beauty."

  I shook my head, barely comprehending.

  "You must focus on learning to open yourself to him." Ellys said. "Pleasure comes with the banishment of fear."

  "How do I stop being afraid?" I murmured, half to myself.

  I felt his hand on my back momentarily, a reassuring pat. "Trust in your master. Give yourself over to him. Feel Iele's presence. Trust in her."

  I nodded, unsure. But it was a pleasant idea. It must be nice to have the faith that he had. "I will try."

  I arrived back in my master's chambers before he was home. I was clammy from sweat, and my thigh and stomach muscles ached from the unfamiliar exertion. As soon as I got inside, I called for bath water, and sank with relief into the steaming tub as soon as it was poured.

  I washed my hair, and relaxed back, resting my head on the edge. I thought about everything I'd learned at the temple, trying to reconcile the new information with my old beliefs.

  I wondered why Ellys believed the goddess had directed him to me, and what that might mean. If these gods even existed, of course. And if they did, did that mean the Thessian God I had spurned my whole life existed as well?