Master of Slaves

A/N: Sprocket I love you! I’m so happy someone caught my Puscifer quote!!! When people pick up on the little things it makes the whole endeavor worthwhile! So thank you again!

I’m going to take the opportunity here to promote my story Gravity Defied. If you haven’t read it please do, I think it’s one of my better pieces! If you like my style, you’ll love this story!

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Master of Slaves

By: Baby Chiba

Chapter 9: Porphyria

Dedication: To Sprocket, Angels-Obsession, my new friend uruwashii uso, and the ever lovely Chemotaxis

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Porphyria

Blood-fire.

It smoldered in his darkening eyes.

The passion to fight, the anger to main, the will to kill…

He seldom saw it in his slaves. He scarcely saw it in most men.

And it set his loins aflame.

Like an obour starved for blood, tasting with only the tip of his forked tongue, the essence of man.

It wasn’t enough.

It was intoxicating.

It was riveting. The sight of pale naked flesh subdued by those heavy bonds. Stretched out and splayed for his hungry eyes to feast.

And how his tongue twitched to taste where the metallic touched.

Those smoldering eyes narrowed and burned into his.

He yanked at his chains.

A dark smile touched the blonde’s lips as he bowed his head and continued writing on his parchment.

His quill vigorously scratched upon the parchment, a letter to an unknown. It was the only sound heard through the vast den for some time before Squall yanked at his chains again.

His movements were swift and definitive. Not attempts at escape, but calculating taunts aimed towards his captor.

He darted his emerald eyes sharply towards the fiery brunet across the room.

The brunet had been doing this all afternoon.

Squall would wait until Seifer steeled himself to his work and then he would clank and clatter against his chains, in what proved a potent distraction.

With each clatter the blonde’s cock twitched.

It took a great deal of concentration to settle his nerves and focus on his task once more.

Then the persistent brunet would clank again.

He was playing a game with the blonde.

Deep within those smoldering gray eyes were the embers of mischief.

He knew Seifer wouldn’t lay a hand on him. And if he didn’t…he was testing him.

Seifer couldn’t help but beam at his slave’s vindictive playfulness.

It put him on edge.

However, his pride hindered him from simply taking the brunet by force. He was consumed with the desire to make the brunet submit. It would make his conquest that much sweeter.

Nida perched his chin on Seifer’s thigh from his knelt position on the floor. Seifer tore his eyes away from Squall and gently ran his fingers through Nida’s locks.

He unconsciously continued combing Nida’s hair as he went about with his quill and tried in vain to forget about the half naked torment chained to his den wall.

Another jerk at his restrictive links and Seifer stilled his quill.

“ I wouldn’t have to keep you chained if you weren’t so obstinate Squall.” Seifer hummed in mocking satisfaction.

At the use of his name his jaw tightened and he tugged with even more force at his bondage in defiance.

Seifer shut his eyes and exhaled slowly.

He was only a man.

And as it were, he was tempted, too tempted to continue in this state of arousal.

He rose slowly from his seat; Nida’s head sliding off his thigh, lifting his eyes sharply like that of a predator towards Squall.

Squall met his eyes with equal fervor, refusing to shrink away from Seifer’s advancing figure.

Seifer stood towering above Squall, his eyes level with Seifer’s crotch, just inches from his face.

Squall tried to look past the giant bulge that stretched the fabric of his pants and into the man’s face, but the angle was too sharp for his neck.

He tore his face to the side, scrunching his eyes at the incredible heat from Seifer’s crotch. It scorched his cheeks.

Above him the towering blonde chuckled, his fingers curling under Squall’s chin and lifting it to meet with the noticeable bulge.

“ Do you know what seeing such a pretty thing tied up does to me?” Seifer purred.

Squall recoiled from the hot hand that stained his cheeks brilliant rouge, much to Squall’s chagrin.

The intimacy of such closeness with another man made his body react in ways that conflicted with his mind.

He ground his teeth in silent resentment of his body,

And Seifer.

He didn’t loathe the man, as much as he wanted to, and it didn’t help that the blonde was attractive, and that heat! The dreaded heat against his face and neck pooling from Seifer’s midsection made his stomach curl in knots.

Seifer chuckled again, “ I’d be careful if I were you not to taunt me so.”

At the challenge Squall snapped back viciously, “ You won’t touch me.”

Seifer came down to level his eyes with Squall, and pressed their foreheads together, their scars perfect mirrors.

“ Are you so sure? You are my property.” Seifer breathed softly against Squall’s lips.

The brunet’s pupils dilated at being called ‘property’.

“ Fuck you.”

Seifer pulled back before Squall could head butt him and stood to his full height.

He eyed him warily, a smile twinkling in his eyes.

“ In time…” Seifer uttered before turning away from the brunet.

Squall yanked roughly at his chains again and again. Embarrassment and anger intermingled into one unpleasant ball of discomfort in his stomach.

Seifer snapped his fingers and called Nida’s name. The obedient slave crawled rapidly towards his master and followed him into an adjacent room.

Watching the boy still freshly healed follow at Seifer’s heels like some hound disgusted Squall.

He had yet to fathom how any human being could degrade themselves in such a manner. Since this morning he’d wanted to scream at Nida.

A deep masculine moan tore him from his thoughts.

Squall craned his neck in the direction of it, the adjacent room the duo retreated to.

It came again, a very audible, startling moan.

It came from Seifer’s mouth. It was too deep to be Nida’s.

Squall quirked a brow.

He curiously leaned forward.

He didn’t want to think of where his curiosity stemmed from.

Another moan.

His arms were pulled taut behind his back and his neck craned as far as it could go in order to see what was going on.

And what he witnessed would be forever burned into his retinas.

His breath hitched in his throat.

The blonde stood with his trousers unbuttoned and his thick length protruding in all its glory.

Nida knelt before him and wrapped his lips around the throbbing length.

Seifer threaded his fingers through Nida’s chocolate locks and shallowly thrust his hips into the boy’s open mouth.

Squall swallowed hard.

He should have been disgusted; he should have turned away.

He was frozen in place, unable to turn his eyes away from Nida’s lips around Seifer’s member.

Squall could see the tightened flesh glistened with saliva as Nida’s lips pulled off Seifer’s cock with a pop.

Seifer moaned loudly again in his very masculine way and pushed Nida onto his shaft again.

Nida took it all so gracefully.

He was no amateur to the act.

This must have been a routine part of Nida’s ‘slave’ training that Seifer provided.

Squall’s cheeks burned.

Squall was no stranger to the act, but he had never been the voyeur before.

He had never witnessed the gentle cave of the cheeks that occurred from the suction, or the delicate flush that spread from the neck to the cheeks, to the tip of a weeping cock.

He felt anger; he felt offense; he felt embarrassment.

He was no voyeur, and yet, he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

But it was human nature, these voyeuristic tendencies.

And he was only human.

He felt guilty; he felt disgusted; he felt intrigued.

Seifer’s breathing picked up and both he and Squall watched as his thick shaft was sheathed and unsheathed by Nida’s skilled mouth.

He felt hot, he felt panicked, and then he felt a pang of heat rush to his groin.

Squall furrowed his brows and shot a look down between his own legs.

He cursed his betraying body as his own length started coming to life and blessed his stars that he had the robe partially covering his lap.

He ground his teeth and whispered a litany of profane curses, while frantically trying to will his erection away.

This shouldn’t be arousing.

This should be revolting!

And yet, he turned his eyes back towards Seifer’s impressive erection as it twitched within Nida’s hot mouth.

Seifer did not arouse him, not the man or the man’s organ.

It was only natural that seeing such a sexual act would bring one to a state of excitement.

It was human nature.

And he was only a man…

Or so he tried to convince himself.

He blamed the blonde’s perversions for his state of arousal.

He had manipulated him!

That was the litany he screamed repeatedly in his head while he watched with eyes wide as saucers Seifer’s hips buck and seed spill into Nida’s waiting mouth.

For a suspended second in time he gaped as Nida lapped at the softening cock. Squall then turned away, cheeks hot with shame.

Bastard…

He was disgusted with himself, confused by the conflict between his body and mind.

He suddenly felt small and vulnerable. The last person he wanted to confront was Seifer. He wanted to hide but those damned chains prevented him from escaping!

Fucking bastard!

The bastard that took his freedom!

A dangerous growl escaped his throat and he tugged ferociously against his bondage, pulling tight enough for the shackles to cut into his wrists.

Moments later Seifer emerged to the sound and arched a brow at Squall.

The boy’s eyes were black and his chest heaved with the force of his hard breathing.

The boy was trembling. It was slight but Seifer noticed it.

A smug smile played on his lips.

So he was not all fire and rage…

This provoked him.

Hands on hips he stood haughty as ever.

“ Did you like what you saw?”

Squall grimaced.

Seifer grinned.

“ If you behave I’ll grant you the same privilege.” Seifer teased.

Squall violently lurched forward in his chains.

“ You fucking pig!” He hissed.

That damn smirk reappeared on his lips.

“ Nida, ask the servants to prepare some food. Squall and I must have a little talk.” Seifer commanded without breaking eye contact with the brunet.

“ Yes Master.” Nida meekly replied and bowed before scurrying on all fours out the den and to the kitchen.

The sight was enough to make Squall audibly growl, and then he snapped his neck to Seifer who casually leaned against his desk, arms crossed over his chest and legs at the ankles.

“ I want nothing to do with you.”

Terse and venomous.

Seifer pushed off his desk and gamboled leisurely over to Squall.

“ Ah, but on contrar.” Seifer hummed happily, while crouching to become eye level with Squall once again.

Squall recoiled his limbs as far back as he could from the blonde, knowing, and fearing where it might lead.

And his fears were confirmed.

In one swift and merciless motion Seifer yanked the robe from Squall’s lap, revealing the brunet’s erect cock that jut from between his pale thighs.

“ Well, well…” Seifer chuckled, his voice laden with lust as his eyes unabatedly soaked in the sultry sight.

Trembling with pure mortification Squall was forced to turn his eyes away from Seifer. His thighs tense and his muscles pulled taut in trying to close his legs and hide his humiliation between them.

Just watching the man watching him was too much.

And though his nerves were frayed, his rage sang.

“ You disgust me!” Squall growled coarsely.

“ Your body says otherwise.” Seifer retorted arrogantly.

A brief moment of silence filtrated the room. It was the heaviest silence Squall had ever had to bear. Though his head was tilted away from the blonde, he knew the blonde’s eyes were all over his most intimate areas.

Squall swallowed hard, the hairs on his skin rising.

Seifer hummed with a lick to his lips and broke that burdening silence.

“ I could remedy this.”

Squall’s heart skipped two beats, one of fear and one of excitement. His body’s reaction made his stomach curl.

At ends Squall tensed even more, his muscles quivering. He whipped his head around at Seifer.

“ Don’t touch me!” He made sure his voice was as adamant as his eyes.

However Seifer was the master at discerning details. And he caught the small sparkle of uncertainty in those dark glossy eyes.

And his took on the visage of a predator.

“ No, I won’t. I said I could, not that I would.” Seifer’s silkily sharp voice sliced through his accusation.

He leaned in to Squall, his lips grazing the boy’s ear, “ Only good boys get release.” And delivered a light lick to his lobe.

Squall inhaled sharply and shivered from the overwhelming heat coursing through his veins.

His rage faltered.

It was hard to keep defiant when it felt so good.

His loins burned. Squall knew it was beyond a matter of pride. On a basic physiological level, he needed release.

However, he would never ask this man to grant him that. His body would suffer in his defiance.

Pulling away Seifer chuckled lewdly. He eyed the way the boy’s pale skin was flushed, like a rash that had started at his groin and swept over his body.

“ If you’d let me be the generous master I want to be with you I could show you the more enjoyable aspects that come with being a slave.” Seifer spoke huskily.

Squall let his eyes slide shut, his body succumbing to his mind, though he fought it, valiantly.

“ Like sucking you off?” Squall breathed harshly, eyes snapping open sharply.

Seifer stood to his full looming height and chuckled again.

“ Nida volunteers himself for that. He is under no obligation to do so, just as he is under no obligation to stay here with me, but he does… why do you think that is?” Seifer goaded in his rich baritone voice.

“ Because you’ve bewitched him.” Squall snapped back.

Seifer laughed.

Squall fought to control his ragged breaths. This was a losing battle. And he was not ready for that. He settled for silence trying to separate the anger from the despair from the excitement. He closed his eyes to do so, but his ears remained alert.

They followed Seifer’s retreating footsteps and taunting laughter.

He heard him rummage through his desk.

“ I’ve given you too many liberties as of late. It’s time you had a reminder of your place.” The blonde proclaimed with only a hint of amusement edging his words.

“ Because these shackles aren’t reminder enough?” Squall spoke in a deceivingly steady tone.

Seifer hummed and pulled something from his desk. Squall heard his heavy boots ambling towards him once again and felt the gust of wind swept over his feverish body.

Seifer crouched in front of Squall.

Squall felt his shadow fall over his body. He shivered, unwilling to open his eyes and let the man catch him in a state of vulnerability.

The blonde’s voice came out smooth and sultry, “ Once you were able to claim release by your own hand, now it will be by mine and mine alone.”

Squall felt hot heavy hands on his exposed erection.

His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.

Those hands roughly slide something over the tip and rolled it down his shaft to the base of his straining cock.

His protests dyed in his throat as a strangled groan followed the pain that accompanied the strange device placed upon him.

The hands abruptly left him then.

His cock throbbed. The blood pulsated and turned his shaft an angry red.

“ Your body belongs to me. This shall serve as your reminder.” Seifer whispered gruffly, lust coloring his words.

Aghast, Squall looked at the painfully obtrusive object strangling his erection.

A black rubber ring hugged his shaft tightly. It pressed against the protruding vein on the underside of his member.

It prevented release.

Eyes still wide in shock, he stuttered a slew of incoherent words.

Seifer smirked darkly.

“ This is the sign of my ownership over you.” That deep voice dripped with desire.

Squall felt dizzy.

“ Fucking bastard! Take it off! Take it off! Now!” Squall seethed in blood-curdling rage.

Seifer chuckled ominously and his knuckles stroked Squall’s red-hot cheek.

Squall jerked away and lurched forward against his bondage. He yanked against his chains not caring that the cuffs were cutting into his wrists and small rivets of blood leaked down his arms.

He was ravenous.

He only saw visions of breaking Seifer’s neck.

“ Take it off!” The brunet screamed against the violent clanking of his chains.

Seifer merely smirked, a dark craving gleaming in his eyes.

“ You will earn release from me. You will ask for it.” Seifer said in soft passion.

“ Fucking snake! I’ll kill you! Let me go! Fucking let me go!” The brunet continued to roar.

“ It is uncomfortable, I know. But it isn’t enough to do any real harm to your organ.” Seifer continued over the cacophony of curses and threats from the brunet.

Squall’s heart was pounding wildly in his ears. He heard it louder than the metal shackles that clanged against each other and the wall behind him.

If he was cursing at Seifer he didn’t distinguish it from the rest of the discordant sound in the room, but when Seifer spoke it cut through the sound like a blade, right into Squall’s chest.

He was heaving and panting in his exertion.

He was panicked.

He felt dizzy.

How could this be happening? No… this was a nightmare. This couldn’t be happening!

Why?

Why?

Why?

All the while hawk like jade eyes pierced through him. They watched him for a few moments. Scrutinizing, judging, allowing the uproar to continue. And then he snaked his hand out abruptly and roughly wound his fingers around Squall’s neck.

His head was slammed against the wall in Seifer’s forcefulness. Those fingers gripped his pale neck with bruising vigor, no doubt leaving bruises in their wake. They curled tighter and tighter with a power that reminded Squall that he was at the mercy of this man. And so he was silenced.

Squall swallowed with some effort as his neck was craned up. Seifer could feel his Adam’s apple bobbing under his palm. When all that was heard was Squall gasping roughly for breaths under Seifer’s fingers he spoke.

“ That’s better.” He spoke dangerously soft. “ Now… you will always be half hard with this ring around you.”

His burning green eyes dropped down to Squall’s lap.

Squall squirmed but he was held firmly in place.

“ I will remove it periodically, but conditionally.” With the last word he looked straight into Squall’s stormy silver eyes.

“ My conditions are; that you must earn it, and that you must ask for it.” Seifer said sternly, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Squall wheezed violently through his teeth.

Seifer only tightened his hold and Squall stilled and silenced completely. The intake of air became impossible.

Seifer could hear the brunet’s heart pumping vigorously under his flesh and bone. The boy’s eyes became tiny pinpoints of black, the silver flushing the black away.

“ Defy me all you like, but even the strongest of men have fallen to this restriction. You are only a man, and you need this freedom. Remember that.” With that Seifer released his hold on Squall’s neck.

The brunet fell forward like a broken rag doll held up only by his tattered strings. He coughed and wheezed violently, his lungs trying to compensate for the lack of oxygen in them. Small streaks of saliva fell from his lips and dribbled down his chin. His whole body drooped in trembling exhaustion. He felt phantom fingers curling brutally around his sore neck. He couldn’t see the white imprint of a hand staining his skin.

Seifer watched as Squall’s coughing fit dissipated into silence. He watched him still as he conceded to defeat and recognition.

His disheveled locks shrouded his wide eyes as he finally looked up at Seifer’s dark silhouette towering over him.

“ Do we have an understanding?” Seifer more demanded than asked.

For a moment it seemed as if Squall would concede and nod his silent consent.

However, that was just wishful thinking on Seifer’s part.

“ Go to hell.” Squall hissed hoarsely, his throat stinging.

Seifer huffed and crouched down, grabbed a fistful of Squall’s hair and yanked his neck back.

“ We’ll see…” Seifer promised in a menacingly low pitch.

Seifer was impressed to see that though the boy was visible shaken, his eyes held strong. Silver battled jade for dominance, neither yielding until a foreign voice interrupted.

“ Um, Master.” A timid female voice said.

Rinoa stood indecisively under the threshold of the door in a defensive stance. She couldn’t hold eye contact with her irate Master as he snapped his eyes from Squall to her.

She nervously wrung her hands in her apron as she spoke, “ Sir Kinneas requests an audience.” She paused a fraction of a second, but it came out sounding like a stutter, “ shall I show him up, Sir?”

She loathed interrupting her master, especially when it came to the slaves. She squirmed with discomfort towards the acts she witnessed, and acts of the past. Doing her job made her feel like a perverse voyeur during training sessions. And though she longed for that kind of attention from her master she was repulsed to watch it unfold upon others.

With every slave trained under his roof she felt a pang of betrayal wrench her heart.

She watched her master look on at her but say nothing for a moment. The hand still wrung in Squall’s hair disturbing her. She felt utterly vulnerable under his strong gaze. His eyes then darted past her at Nida kneeling on the floor at her heels with a tray of food arranged orderly before him. His head bowed obediently. There was no telling how long he had been sitting there waiting for his master to summon him in.

The residual glaze melted from his eyes and he looked back to his servant girl with the proper reservation of a gentleman.

“ Thank you, but no need. I will meet with him in just a moment.” Seifer replied evenly with a hint of class distinction in his tone.

Rinoa nodded in recognition and turned on her heels to leave, however she clumsily ran into the hard body of Irvine showing himself into Seifer’s den.
She let out a squeal of girlish surprise before regaining her composure.

“ ‘Cuse me ma’am.” He drawled in his casual way, his hands on her shoulders to balance her before pushing her aside.

She frowned with apprehension. He wasn’t given permission to enter, however she knew her master wouldn’t fault her for his friend’s brashness. Seifer’s eyes met with Irvine’s in silence disapproval but he gave no sign of showing the man out. Irvine stopped at the doorway seeing he was interrupting a serious matter, but grinned toothily nonetheless.

Sensing she was no longer necessary, Rinoa stalked off in her girlish stamp of petulance, but not without one last glance over her shoulder at her master. It crushed her to see that his eyes were immediately on that burdensome slave of his. And she cursed him.

Seifer’s eyes locked with Squall’s for a final moment, silently declaring his victory before releasing his hold on Squall’s hair. The brunet’s head roughly fell forward again. He bit back a groan of pain. He throbbed intensely at every end of his body.

Seifer stepped away from him and veered his body towards Irvine.

The blonde was visibly tense, his shoulders high and stiff and his lips drawn into a thin line.

He was in a mood.

And it amused Irvine to see him so engrossed in his training of the defiant brunet. He grinned warmly and leaned his shoulder against the doorframe in a relaxed manner, his violet eyes catching sight of the ring around Squall’s wilting erection.

Irvine raised his brows and chuckled, “Impressive.”

“ Irvine.” Seifer warned.

Irvine heard it loud and clear and put his hands up in mock surrender, “ Your toy, I got it. I wasn’t gonna touch him.”

“ The other room. Now.” Seifer barked not waiting for his friend’s response before moving towards the door.

He stalked out the doorway, stopping only briefly to speak to Nida, “ feed him, you may give him some lenience if he eats, I’ll be back momentarily.”

Nida nodded and picked up the tray in both hands before entering his master’s den now laden with the pungent smell of male domination and defeat.

He stopped in front of Squall and knelt once more. He placed the tray between his knees and the splayed knees of the brunet.

He waited for acknowledgement.

None came.

Squall simply stayed in place with his head sagging between his strung up shoulders.

Nida could hear his ragged breaths coming in angry rushes between his teeth.

The obedient slave pushed the tray closer to Squall until the edge of it tapped his thigh.

Slowly, the brunet brought his face up. The boy’s hair was sloppily plastered against his forehead and swollen red cheeks. But between those fallen tresses were those red-rimmed eyes, like hard beams of light they shot through with pure malice. It startled Nida down to the very core. He’d never met someone so burdened with rage that a mere look could swallow the transgressor whole.

He shied away from that intensity of the glare, dropping his eyes to the tray of food. His slender fingers curled around a piece of fruit and brought it up to Squall’s lips. Squall turned away from the fruit, and again as those fingers followed his lips.

They locked eyes and this time Nida held his gaze. He blinked with child-like innocence at his discovery there within silver eyes. He caught the slight quiver in those hard beams of light. And he pitied the boy.

Something must have shifted in Nida’s eyes because silver relented to a soft gray and his lips reluctantly parted.

Nida pushed the fruit between plush lips.

As Squall continued to take pieces into his mouth Nida reached up and unfastened the weights on Squall’s chains as his master gave him permission to do. His arms came crashing down to his sides suddenly free of the resistance. Squall stopped and looked around. He wasn’t free, only given some slack to move his arms in his bondage. He should have been thankful, but it was all just a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. He shrugged his shoulders, silently working out the kinks in his limbs. He reached down and roughly rolled the rubber ring off his wilting erection with a hiss. He threw the wicked thing across the room then took his penis in hand and rubbed his thumb over the imprint it left.

He ground his teeth, a deadly fury coursing through his veins.

The silver was back, glinting madly in his eyes as he turned towards Nida. Though not all of it was meant for Nida. He just happened to be there.

Nida furrowed his brows at the look and finally voiced the question that seemed inevitable.

“ Why do you look upon me with such disgust?”

Squall’s upper lips curled in a gesture of revulsion and he bite back bitterly, “ Because you do his bidding like a dirty lapdog.”

Nida felt the sting from the bitterness of his words.

He gently closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them and answering calmly, “ He is my master.”

“ He degrades you.” Squall snapped.

Nida shook his head with a small smile and answered, “ He does no such thing.”

“ He took your freedom!”

His voice rose and provoked Nida.

“ He gave me a chance to live.” Nida defended, taking the attack on Seifer personally.

“ Under his lock and key?” Squall’s tone was full of ridicule.

He was ridiculing Nida’s logic. He was ridiculing Seifer.

Nida spoke with a tight jaw, “ I have nothing else anywhere else. I would have died in my native lands.”

Squall scoffed, “ At least you could have died with choice.”

This struck a chord in Nida. What gave this boy the right to speak like he knew? He knew nothing of Nida’s life before Seifer.

His knuckles paled, “ Choice of what? Steal or starve? Seifer keeps me safe from those choices. This is why my allegiance lies with him. You should consider yourself lucky to have his esteem.”

“ Why? I didn’t want this!” Squall shouted hoarsely, rattling his chains for emphasis.

It was Nida’s turn to scoff. He really did pity the boy.

“ You don’t even know what the ‘this’ is that you’re fighting against. What else is there for you? Do you have a wife back at home? Children?” He paused, searching Squall’s flushed face, “ No…you’re far too young for that. What is it then? Parents? Did they watch you get taken? Where are they? Why haven’t they come for you?”

And Squall fell silent.

Nida expected an outburst. The silence bewildered him. The boy so boisterous just seconds ago couldn’t seem to get his tongue out of cheek and that wounded look from his eyes.

And then it dawned on Nida.

“ I see… An orphan.” Nida said softly.

Squall’s face contorted just slightly.

Nida felt pride brimming in his chest. He had the upper hand now. This was his chance to redeem Seifer. Maybe the boy would listen now. He felt he owed it to his master.

Nida spoke softly but smugly, “ You are like me. What would you do out there by yourself? Did you even have anything? Or were you just surviving? He’s a better man than most. He’s given you a purpose. I too had an empty life. Now I live to serve. It’s not all a selfish endeavor to hold slaves. Your master lives to serve you as you live to serve him.”

Squall seemed to mull over this for a brief moment, but sharply cast an accusing glare at Nida.

“ He’s done nothing to help me.” He sneered.

“ You haven’t let him.” Nida snapped back.

Squall’s face twisted and he snarled like a rabid animal, “ You’re fucked in the head.”

Nida saw red.

“ You’re wrong! You’re under the impression that we as peasants have a chance in life!” Nida shouted his eyes shining in earnestness.

“ At least I could have had the chance to cultivate something!” Squall spat out, his face pinched in utter repulsion towards Nida.

Nida felt like he’d just been run through a brick wall. His chest hurt and his breathing picked up. And so he did what came to him instinctually, attack back.

“ Cultivate? Cultivate what? A family? Search for love and labor and death? That’s what you call living?!” Nida barked, his voice cracking under the weight of emotion behind his words.

And Squall did what came instinctually to him.

Attack.

With his hands coiled around Nida’s throat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Seifer made his way into an adjacent room in the hallway, Irvine in tow.

His friend flopped down in an oversized chair, draping a leg over the armrest. Seifer’s back to him.

“ I see you put the ring on him. You’re getting desperate huh?” Irvine drawled thickly, his eyes glittering.

Seifer peered over his shoulder, “ I think devious is a better adjective.”

And he smirked brilliantly, the predatory façade dropped.

The pretense of tension vanished.

“ You’re trying to make him beg.” Irvine’s lips curved into their familiar smile.

Seifer raised both brows as he responded in mock thoughtfulness, “ That’s the idea yes.”

Irvine knew his friend well enough to know the implications of adorning Squall with the ring. Yet still he posed the question with a slight edge of disbelief.

“ You still haven’t touched him have you?”

He eyed Seifer curiously.

The blonde began pacing, a telltale sign of nervousness. He was too proud to ever admit it but Irvine had spent more time observing his friend and business partners behavior to not pick up on his little quarks.

The blonde’s hand shot to the back of his neck, scratching the tiny hair follicles that always seemed to itch at curious times.

“ He hasn’t given me permission.” He said softly in all seriousness.

“ Always the gentleman…” Irvine scoffed with sarcasm.

“ Hardly. There’s only so long a man can withstand wearing that thing.” Seifer shot back with a small chuckle.

“ You’re skirting corners, he’s only going to become more violent if you deny him release.”

Seifer abruptly stopped pacing and turned towards Irvine.

“ Did you come here to infuriate me?”

Irvine laughed. Terse and to the point, he’d caught the blonde on an uncomfortable topic.

“ No, I came with a proposition.”

“Speak it.”

Irvine popped out of his seat in one swift motion and landed with his feet shoulder’s width apart, his arms spread as if waiting for an embrace.

“ I want to make merry!” He spoke with the sleaziest loop-sided grin Seifer had ever seen.

Seifer arched an eyebrow, his mouth slightly ajar. He closed his mouth and turned away from the gaping fool, scratching his furrowed brows.

“ Leave now before I throw you off the balcony.” He commanded before walking in the opposite direction.

His goal was to put as much distance between him and his foolish friend as possible, lest he really throw the man off his balcony, or worse, become involved in whatever he was scheming. He didn’t put up much of a chase, as Irvine breeched the distance in a few leaps and clapped his shoulder.

“ When’s the last time we threw a banquet?” He drawled cheerfully, turning his friend around to face him.

Seifer was furiously rubbing his brow, “ You want to host a banquet, in that harem of yours?”

“ I want you to host it, being the gentleman that you are.” Irvine smiled, poking Seifer in the chest.

“ Thanks, but I want no part in this.” Seifer replied in mock exuberance his brows knit in disbelief.

He pushed Irvine’s fingers aside and attempted to step away from Irvine but the man blocked his escape route with his body.

Suddenly those violet eyes looked on him with seriousness, or something akin to it since the man was never serious. Either way he forced Seifer to a standstill.

“ Seifer, think of it as a business endeavor. Invite all the pretentious bastards and display the slaves…”

“ We have never had trouble selling our slaves…” He replied flatly, because that was a fact, there was no debate there.

He moved to leave again but Irvine stopped him by pressing a hand against his pectoral.

“ Then think of it as a much needed celebration. Think of poor Nida, I’m sure he would enjoy the festivities after what he’s been through.” Irvine beseeched, his drawl growing thicker with each syllable.

“ This conversation is over.” Seifer spoke stoically grabbing Irvine’s wrist and removing it.

Irvine swayed his body and positioned it in front of Seifer’s path yet again.

“ I’m thinking in the best interest of Tidus, Zell, Raijin, and that hell cat you got over there.”

Seifer snorted.

His friend was getting desperate.

He raked a hand through his disheveled blonde locks accepting that this was a lost cause to protest,“ Because Squall is the most social slave.”

Irvine dared a curl of his lip, “ No but it might be good for him to see what’s out there, perhaps it’ll humble him a bit.”

He spoke like he was reason itself.

Though Seifer was slightly disgruntled that he was reluctantly sucked into this scheme, he could not help but be amused by his friend’s antics.

He rubbed the rough stubble on his chin, briefly considering Irvine’s suggestion.

His brows furrowed in discontent, “ I’m not sure that he’s ready for all those eyes to feast on him.”

“ You mean him or you?” Irvine was quick to quip.

Seifer shook his head, obviously not comfortable with the idea of Squall being on display for hungry bourgeoisie.

But the notion was interrupted by a gurgling, strangled cry that came from the other room.

Seifer’s mind and body became one unit. His thought was his will and his legs carried him to the room mechanically.

He knew what had happened even before he got there.

He knew that Squall had turned his rage upon Nida even before he saw him trying to strangle the life from him with bare hands, even before he saw Nida’s blood-shot eyes beseeching him to stop.

Seifer roughly yanked Nida away from Squall’s grasp, though Squall let Nida fall from his hands.

Nida staggered back into Seifer’s arms with a panicked gasp, clutching his throat and looking at Squall in horror.

The boy’s metamorphosis was staggering.

His black, black eyes, pinched red scar, and vicious snarl bore more resemblance to an animal than a human.

He trembled in unrestrained rage.

Nida had never been more thankful for the metal chains that kept him bound.

Those unwavering black eyes turned to Seifer, who was crouched down next to Nida.

The moment their eyes met everything became heightened.

Nida could not function on the plane where the two of them ascended.

He could not fathom what elapsed between them, nor did he want to.

He felt his master’s grip on his upper arm tighten unconsciously.

He could not see his master’s face but when he spoke, he shuddered to imagine what it might have looked like.

“ You will be punished for this…” Seifer growled sharp and dangerously low.

His only response was those black eyes tightening to pinpoints.

A heartbeat later Rinoa came fumbling through the door.

“ Master! Are you all right! I heard an awful cry!” She panted breathless from her obvious sprint from wherever she was to here, hand on her heart.

Seifer slowly stood, his eyes frozen on Squall.

No one dared to breath until the moment he broke contact to look at Irvine.

His friend hung back, observing with a contemplative look.

An unspoken agreement transpired between the two of them.

“ Rinoa, alert the servants and cooks. There will be a banquet tomorrow evening. We will prepare a feast.” Seifer spoke with his usual air of dignity, yet it was slightly strained.

Everyone in the room knew he was fighting for control over himself.

Hyne knew what the man was capable of when provoked.

Irvine dared to crack a small half smile and tipped his hat in acknowledgement of Seifer.

And now he would return the favor.

“ Miss Heartily would you care to escort me out.” Irvine drawled and smiled seductively as he grabbed Rinoa by the elbow and led the two of them out of the room none too gently.

She stuttered in agreement, looking once more at her master.

But as usual his eyes were on Squall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


She walked along the cobblestone road of the marketplace in abject silence.

The rest of the servants had been thrilled to hear that the Almasy house would once again be the center of festivity.

It meant they all could get drunk by the end of the night to no consequence.

But she would be taking no pleasure in the festivities like the others would.

Not when she would be objected to watching her respectable master fawn over an undeserving boy slave.

The thought of it made her tighten her fingers around the wicker basket she was holding.

She prayed that there be a way to dispose of the boy.

He was the problem.

He was her problem.

And her master’s, though he failed to see it that way.

She stopped in front of the butcher’s stand. The pungent smell of raw meat making her nose crinkle.

“ What can I getcha ma’am?” The butcher asked in a thick accent.

He leaned his palms against the table upon which a variety of cuts were displayed. He was chewing on something that made his cheek bulge out.

“ Could you deliver ten pounds of chicken and ten of beef to the Almasy residence by tonight?” Rinoa asked sweetly, though distant.

The butcher spat out a wad of whatever he’d been chewing on behind the stand. Rinoa cringed with disgust.

He wiped his mouth and chuckled, “ Young Almasy is having a feast now is he?”

“ He is, yes.” She answered tersely, put off by his grotesque behavior.

“ Yea I can do that for ya. It’ll be 500 gil.” He held out his large hand stained with hyne knew what!

Rinoa dug into her wicker basket, pulled out the 500 gil, and cautiously placed it into his hand, trying not to touch him.

He smiled and tipped his head slightly, “ pleasure doing business with ya ma’am.”

She turned on her feet and scurried away relieved to be done with that part of the shopping.

She was so caught up mulling over the unpleasantness of the butcher that she didn’t notice a man step out from the shadows of an alley.

“ Well, what have we here.” A deep voice behind her chuckled darkly.

She froze, the hairs on the back of her neck standing. The voice was so menacing even in laughter. Her heart began racing, but she lent herself courage from the fact that it was still broad daylight and she was still in the midst of a busy market.

She bravely turned on her heels.

A tall figure cloaked in black garb loomed over her.

He was strikingly handsome, but strikingly unsettling all at once.

She was immobilized under his gaze.

His black eyes seemed to penetrate into her soul and laugh at everything within her.

“ I overheard that Sir Almasy is having a feast. That would make you one of his servants correct?” The ominous voice asked.

“ Yes.” She managed to choke out.

He flashed a brilliant white smile at her.

Her stomach curled.

She dropped her eyes.

“ Your master has something that belongs to me. Something I would like back.” The man spoke huskily.

Rinoa wrung her hands around the handle of the wicker basket anxiously. Thinking of a quick way to end this conversation and leave safely.

“ My master’s business is no business of mine.” She answered hurriedly with half a mind to turn and run away right then.

However, he spoke again, “ A slave boy, a little hell hound to be sure.”

She snapped her neck up at him rapidly enough to cause whiplash.

He grinned deviously, “ You know the one.”

The image of a boy with unruly chocolate locks was vividly alive in her mind, taunting her.

She unconsciously wrung her hands around the handle of her basket even harder.

Her heart fluttered with the notion that this man was here to take Squall out of her life and her masters!

“ Then you understand why speaking to your master would be of no avail, being that he’s quite taken with this slave boy.” He continued.

She was reminded then of how hopeless an endeavor it was. Seifer would never agree to separate from that boy.

She hung her head in defeat.

“ I can do nothing to sway his mind on the matter.” She uttered remorsefully.

“ I’m not asking you to.” The man replied quickly, confidently.

She brought her eyes back up to the man. She arched a thin brow curiously. She didn’t understand the intentions of this man before her. Granted she was under no pretense that they were pure intentions, but that was of no concern to her.

This man was an answer from Hyne above to her prayers.

She saw the opportunity for what it was, and she seized it.

“ What is it you’re asking of me?” She questioned sincerely.

That wicked smile curled the man’s lips.

“ I see I have your attention now. Before we go any further let us not forget our manners. I am the Count of Monte Cristo. And I am so very pleased to meet your acquaintance.”


TBC…

Next we have punishments, scandal, and betrayal!

So REVIEW, and tell me what you thought.