All characters, places, and events are fictional and belong to the author.
Disclaimer: The following may contain explicit events between consenting adult males. If you are not of age or it is illegal for you to read this, please leave now.
Chapter Three:
"Alright. I think you're ready to go," Aeleon said, looking over the now dressed Trey. The shirt was perhaps a little tight, but the pants were ok and until they had a chance to have clothes specifically tailored for the Zelzian's large frame, they would have to do.
Trey felt self-conscious. He was afraid to even move in these clothes. The material was so soft and the clothes themselves very well made. He had never worn anything so luxurious in his life. The last thing he wanted to do was mess up these obviously expensive articles of clothing and have Aeleon mad at him.
"What're you waiting for? Come on," Aeleon demanded, grabbing Trey by the arm and pulling him from the infirmary room. Trey followed along mutely as Aeleon dragged him through the castle, pointing out various rooms and people. He saw a large dining hall for feasts and parties, the solarium which was filled with plants and big comfy chairs, the top tower where Aeleon said he liked to look at stars sometimes. Imagine Trey's surprise when he looked up to find a purple sky instead of the familiar blue.
"You're sky is purple!" he exclaimed from his spot on the balcony.
Aeleon turned to him and said, "Of course it is. What color did you think it would be?"
"Well...blue?" Trey replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"Cynthia has told me about your blue skies before. I thought Zelzians would know about our purple as well."
"Truth be told, I knew basically nothing of Oelea before you brought me here. I still know basically nothing," Trey remarked.
"Elios has told me that there were programs on both planets to teach of the other in preparation for the vast co-mingling of our societies outside of the ruling class," Aeleon said, looking confused.
"Do you really think the Cubrecht allowed those programs to continue? To allow us to know that we had friends over here that we could have called upon for help? Speaking anything other than Zelzian is forbidden. I'm sure some of the elders can speak your language, but before meeting you I had never heard a word of it before. I did teach myself a bit of Cubrecht. It has come in handy before, although I would never advertise the fact that I am able to," Trey explained.
"How bad is it over there?" Aeleon asked, compassionate silver eyes looking up into dark brown.
"You know, I am not really sure. I don't have anything else to compare my life to. I would assume that it is bad. I mean, I have never been happy. Although that might just be me. I know that some of my people, the ones born after Zelzior had been conquered, are somewhat content. Or maybe they are just resigned; I do not know. All I know is that if someone tried to make me go back at this point, I would do my best to kill them."
"It sounds awful. What did they make you do?" Aeleon asked, dreading the answer.
"Well, at sunrise some guards come in to wake us up. Bread is tossed in a pile on the floor. I've seen fights over it get vicious. I am usually on a construction detail because of my size and strength. We work all day, no matter the weather, and go in for dinner sometime after dark has fallen. It's a more structured affair than breakfast. Individual servings are doled out, so at least everyone is guaranteed one meal a day. Then we are escorted back to the slave quarters where we are locked in and guarded for the night," Trey said, his eyes locked on the horizon.
"And you did this every day?" Aeleon inquired.
"Yes. We had to. If you flagged you got beaten. What do you think the scars on my back are from? In fact, the wounds you healed were mostly made when I took the whip for an old woman. We have no say. No will. Nothing," Trey barked, his voice raw with anger.
"Oh, my friend. I am so sorry," Aeleon said, his eyes brimming with tears.
"Friend?" Trey questioned.
"Yes, friend. You are my friend and I would like to be yours." Aeleon replied, a lone tear trailing down his cheek.
"Why do you cry?"
"Because the unfairness of what has happened to you is astounding. They will not take you back. I'll fight them tooth and nail myself if I have to."
Trey paused for a minute before saying, "I have not had a friend in a very long time. It is not wise to get attached to people. Slaves are transferred often. There are also many deaths, both accidental and as punishment."
Aeleon said nothing to this. He merely wrapped his arms around Trey's torso and squeezed. At first Trey was stunned. Why was this little man squeezing him? Then it registered that he was receiving his first hug in who knows how long. Slowly, he reciprocated, looping his arms over the tiny Oelean's shoulders. He certainly did not expect something so simple to feel so good.
Breaking the hug, Aeleon looked up and said, "Sometime soon my Elios, Aidnae, and the council will want to speak with you. They will want to know exactly what is going on with our sister planet. I can't guarantee that Oelea will go to war with the Cubrecht to gain Zelzior's freedom, but I would not rule it out either."
"When do you think they'll want me?" Trey asked, nervous at the thought of speaking in front of so many nobles.
"Sooner rather than later. Perhaps tomorrow, if you feel like it."
"Alright," Trey consented.
+++++
The rest of the evening had been uneventful. Aeleon had shown Trey around the castle and its grounds and planned on showing him some of the city the next day. Aeleon wanted to introduce Trey to his friends. It amazed the Oelean how well adjusted and kind Trey seemed to be, despite the life he had lived so far. Right now the two were just sitting around in Aeleon's room, getting to know each other better. The topics of conversation weren't heavy. They had not revisited the topic of Trey's enslavement again.
"So, how old are you?" Aeleon asked.
"Twenty one, I think. Sometimes it's hard to keep track," Trey said, "You?"
"I'll be turning twenty in five days," Aeleon told him, grinning.
"Seriously?" Trey said, disbelieving, "I hadn't pegged you for more than sixteen."
Aeleon let out an exasperated sigh before huffing, "I know. People always mistake me for either a fifteen or sixteen year old, or for a woman."
"Well...you do look kind of girly," Trey said, chuckling when a pouting Aeleon punched him in the arm.
"Hey, you just remember who pulled you away from that Cubrecht guard earlier today!" he shrieked.
Turning sober, Trey stopped laughing and curled his hand around Aeleon's.
"You don't have to tell me," He said, "I will never forget how a blue haired dream jumped from the mirror to run off my tormentor. Thank you. Thank you so much."
"Don't even mention it," Aeleon insisted, pulling Trey into another hug.
"I don't suppose that there is somewhere I could bathe?" Trey asked.
"Of course," Aeleon said, feeling bad for not having thought of it before, "There is a washroom in here."
"Thank you," Trey replied, getting up and following Aeleon into another room. What he was met with far exceeded his expectations. A steaming pool of water occupied a large pool set into the floor. It bubbled and swirled with the whirlpool jets. Trey had imagined something akin to the public fountain he and his people washed in.. No warm water or privacy. Just a fountain of water devoid of soap and towels.
"Well, this is it. Shampoo is in the red jar, soap in the blue. I used the last of the towels this morning, so I'll go find some and bring them up. Stay in as long as you like. The water is heated from a hot spring not far from town, so don't worry about running out of hot water," Aeleon said, grinning at the look of awe on Trey's face. It was nice to see joy in his chocolate brown eyes over something so simple as a bath.
Aeleon left his set of rooms so that he could go down to the laundry room to get some more towels. The people his fathers hired to clean that castle brought some up when they cleaned the bathroom, but they were not doing that until tomorrow and he needed towels now. They did not have servants at their beck and call, only people hired to cook and clean. If extra things were needed, typically a person had to go find the desired object themselves.
On his journey through the halls, Aeleon ran into his friend Cercae. Cercae was the son of one of the women on the council. They had been running around together since before either of them could talk. His face was framed by a mop of untidy mint green hair with soulful sand colored eyes peeking out from beneath a set of very full lashes. It was then that Aeleon remembered that he and Cercae were supposed to spend time together that night. He had not meant to stand his friend up, but with Trey there he had forgotten about almost everything else.
"Damn! I'm sorry Cercae. Some stuff has come up today. I hate to say that I forgot completely about our plans, but that's what happened," Aeleon apologized, a pained look crossing his face.
"It's fine. I was concerned though. It's not like you to forget an appointment. What happened to you today that was so completely distracting?" Cercae asked his friend.
"Well, he's up in my rooms taking a bath right now, but once I've gotten some towels I'll take you up to meet him."
"Him?" Cercae teased, a devious glint shining in his eyes.
"It's not like that," Aeleon said, rolling his eyes, "I'll explain it to you later. It's an interesting story."
"Hmm. Let's go get the towels then. I want to meet the man at the heart of this so called `interesting story'." Cercae intoned.
"Then let's get going," Aeleon said, continuing on his way down to the laundry room.
+++++
Trey sunk a bit further down into the warm water surrounding his body. He couldn't remember ever having felt so relaxed. Stretching his arms over his head, he let out a huge yawn, much like a big cat settling down for a nap. Trey had been clean for quite some time, but he could not seem to force himself out of the pool. He had nearly fallen asleep when the door burst open and Aeleon, followed by an unknown boy, entered the room.
"Ta duidna woedere ha shaepo solirae!" the newcomer exclaimed, "Adues boer!" Trey immediately wondered what the boy had said when he noticed Aeleon turning a very interesting shade of pink.
Aeleon coughed awkwardly before saying, "He does not speak Oelean, Cercae. Please keep the conversation in Zelzian."
"Of course," Cercae said, sandy eyes still transfixed on the naked man sitting nipples deep in Aeleon's tub.
"Who's your friend?" Trey asked, a bit put off by the boy's gaze.
"I'm Cercae," the boy said, shooting his hand out for the man to shake.
"Trey," the Zelzian replied from where he was still lounging in the pool, "Um...Aeleon, may I please have one of those towels?"
"Of course," Aeleon stuttered as Trey stood from the pool. It was exceedingly difficult for him to keep his eyes above the neckline. Cercae did not appear to be restraining himself nearly so well. Trey snatched the towel Aeleon was holding out to him, quickly wrapping it around his waist. He awkwardly gathered up his clothes from where he had strung them and pointedly looked and Aeleon and Cercae.
"Come on, Cercae," Aeleon prompted, dragging his friend out of the room when he failed to respond.
Trey shook his head and slowly pulled on his clothes. Cercae made him nervous. He stared at Trey in much the same way Shiloh did, as if he were some kind of tasty morsel they were considering how to best eat.
+++++
Aeleon had crossed his arms and was glaring at Cercae. His friend was unbelievable. He'd known Trey for thirty seconds and looked ready to hop in the tub with the man, if Trey had offered.
"What?" Cercae said defensively.
"Did you have to stare at him like that? He's been here for five and a half hours and he's probably already afraid you're going to dry hump his leg,"
"He's hot! I'm a warm blooded, young bisexual male! What did you expect?" Cercae snapped, "I'm not like you.. Some of us don't hold onto their virginity until it gets all dried out and dusty."
"That was pretty low," Aeleon said, refusing to rise to the bait.
"What if he's interested in me? Am I allowed to sleep with him then?" Cercae asked.
Aeleon sighed before telling him, "Sure. Whatever. If he likes guys and is attracted to you, then fine. But would you please at least wait a few days before hitting on him? You don't know what he's been through. He needs some time to adjust to coming here from where he has been."
"Where's he been?" Cercae asked, not believing that he had come from all that horrible of a situation.
"Did you not even notice how skinny he is? All the scars? The Cubrecht have taken over his planet. Seven hours ago, he was not a free man," Aeleon explained.
"Slavery? I wasn't aware that practice even existed anymore." Cercae said, raising an eyebrow is disbelief.
"Just because it hasn't existed here, that doesn't mean that it isn't still practiced other places," Aeleon spat out.
"Oh," Cercae said, prevented from completing his thought when Trey exited the bathroom. It was tense for a moment until Aeleon suggested that they sit in his living room and have something to drink.
"I haven't restocked my fridge in a while," Aeleon said, walking over to the small, slightly humming contraption, "I have water and caentava juice."
"Aww, Ael! No fizz-chizz?" Cercae whined, referring to the fizzy, nonalcoholic drink commonly found on both Zelior and Oelea.
"What's fizz-chizz?" Trey asked.
"You've never had fizz-chizz?!" Cercae half yelled, astonished that someone could go their entire life and manage not to have a sip of something he usually had once or twice a day.
"Certain things in my life have prevented me from having more than just basic needs. I've not had caentava juice before either," Trey said, a sudden wave of bitterness overtaking him as he realized how privileged the people here were.
"Would you like some?" Aeleon asked, taking the jug of dark pink juice out of its resting place and grabbing a cup from his cabinet.
"Uh...sure," Trey answered, unconvinced that he would enjoy the odd looking juice.
"Try it. It's good," Aeleon said, smiling at the wary eye Trey was giving a harmless glass of fruit juice.
Trey took the glass from Aeleon's outstretched hand, sniffing at the contents before hesitantly lifting the cup to his lips. It was another moment before he willed himself to take a drink. Funny how he was avoiding the possible unpleasantness of not liking one small taste of juice when he had dealt with much more significant demonstrations of unpleasantness for the majority of his life. Finally, he could put it off now longer and he sucked a little bit of the liquid into his mouth.
Aeleon chuckled when Trey suddenly downed the whole glass and said, "Want some more?"
"Please," Trey replied, holding out his now empty cup.
The three men draped themselves over the various pieces of furniture and talked for the next little while. Both Cercae and Aeleon were attempting to get to know Trey better. In some ways it was very difficult. They did not want to bring up the issue of Trey's bondage, yet it was very hard for him to talk about himself in terms other than that. It had been the largest defining presence in his life and was not easily glossed over or ignored. He and Aeleon had talked about it some already, but Aeleon had saved his life. Healed him. Hadn't stared at him in that disturbing manner. Trey just wasn't sure that he could be as comfortable sharing all the sordid details of his life with Cercae, even though he seemed like a nice enough guy.
"How did you and Aeleon become friends?" Trey asked of the green haired boy.
"Oh, we've been friends forever," Cercae said, grinning.
"His mother and father live in the castle with us," Aeleon said, "His mother is on the council and some of the council members chose to live here instead of somewhere in town. We pretty much grew up together."
"I had a friend like that," Trey said, "a long time ago."
"Is he still on Zelzior? Maybe in a couple of weeks we could organize a reconnaissance mission and get some of your people out.." Aeleon sugguested.
"A recon mission sounds like a good plan to me. I would love to get some of my people out of there. He wouldn't be coming with us though. He died when we were kids." Trey informed, sadness coloring his features.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Aeleon asked, compassionate eyes moving over the suddenly shrunken form of his new friend.
"Not particularly," the Zelzian said, not quite ready to dredge up the painful memories when so much of his life was already in turmoil at the moment. In a new place, surrounded by new people, even if it was a vast improvement, he wasn't sure that he would be able to get through the telling of the death of his friend.
"Well, I had better get going," Cercae said, the relatively light mood of the moment before killed.
"Alright," Aeleon said, getting up to see his friend out, "I'll probably see you tomorrow. Not sure when though. I want to go to the council meeting because I know Trey will probably speak to everyone there."
"I'll probably be there too then. You wouldn't tell me anything other than that he was a slave and I'm dying of curiosity."
"Is that all it takes to get you to come to a council meeting?" Aeleon teased, mocking Cercae's very spotty attendance record at the meetings.
"Hey, you have to admit that we haven't had something this exciting in a long time. Not since that group of renegades bent on same sex couples that tried to take out your dad. And that was years ago."
"I know. Things can get a little boring around here. Just keep in mind that real people are involved, Cercae. This is not really something to look at only from an entertainment perspective," Aeleon admonished.
"Yeah, yeah. Sometimes you're too upstanding and moral for your own good," Cercae scoffed, rolling his eyes.
Aeleon shook his head before bidding his friend a final goodnight and shutting the door behind him. He turned re-entered the living room only to find Trey half asleep in the chair and all curled up on himself.
"Hey," he said, lightly tapping the man's shoulder, "Are you ready for bed?"
"Yeah, probably. Where can I go to sleep?"
"Anywhere, really," Aeleon said, "There's a room that attaches to mine in the next set of rooms over, or there's a similar one where Cercae stays. Or you could have a room completely separate."
"I'll take the one that attaches to yours."
"Alright. Come on, I'll show you to it," Aeleon stated, leading Trey back into his bedroom and opening a door, "It's right in there. It should have everything you need."
"Thanks," Trey replied, walking through the door and shutting it behind him. The room was nearly identical to Aeleon's in shape and size. Deciding to explore, he opened three of the doors, four in all. One was a bathroom, another hiding a closet, the third the connecting door to Aeleon's rooms, and the fourth the passageway into the rest of the set of rooms. Deciding to explore, he looked at the remaining rooms. It was an apartment suite very similar to Aeleon's in layout. There was a kitchen, living room, a small study, and another bathroom.
Exhausted from everything he'd done that day, Trey went back into the bedroom and flopped down on the bed. It was soft and warm, a far cry from the straw stuffed mattress he was accustomed to. Making himself get back up, he removed his clothes before slipping back beneath the sheets and laying his head on the large fluffy pillow. Trey just didn't quite know what to think. In a span of hours, he had gone from a slave serving the people in a castle, to one of the people he had served. It was almost too much to comprehend. Deciding to leave such issues for another day, he rolled over, sighed, and almost immediately fell asleep..
to be continued...
Author's Notes: First off, I would like to thank everyone who has left me a review. They've all been really nice. If you haven't left a review and would like to, or have and would like to leave another one, send it to noonecory@yahoo.com. I'm sorry if the story is slow right now, but to me it's important to chronical Trey's first few days as a free man in detail. Keep reading, and I'll keep writing. :]
Ta duidna woedere ha shaepo solirae, adues boer = You didn't say he was hot, and naked
Caentava = a fruit native to Oelea, similar to a pomegranate