Captive Prince: The Execution of the Dead (Book 1)

The Surprise (Part 3)

When Damen returned to the royal bedroom, he found Laurent already awake, sitting on the bed and putting on his boots, while Isander had his doe eyes down and a rueful expression on his face.

The Veretian said:

"...You are free, Isander. You can fuck her if you want..."

Damen stopped, closed the door behind him and looked from Laurent to Isander.

"Your Majesty..."

"You want her, Isander. You can want her. You're a servant, no longer a slave."

Laurent stood up casually now, tapping his foot twice on the floor to better accommodate his shoes.

Isander, his eyes dark and downcast, was dismissed and Damianos looked strangely at Laurent and then back at Isander as he walked away.

"What's wrong?"

Laurent took a deep breath and sat back on the bed with his legs crossed and an impersonal look on his face.

"Isander is angry with me, but he doesn't know how to express it without a look that borders on tears. My servants are now free, but Isander doesn't know how to deal with this change. In Akielos he was raised to serve at the table and in the master's bed. But he serves me only at the table and he has the vigor of twenty years. Of course, he suffers because he wants to mount someone..."

Damianos paused and watched Laurent.

"Is Isander trying to flirt with you?"

Laurent rolled his eyes.

"Isander was a slave who grew up in Akielos. He's not like Vere's pets. You know that better than anyone. He'd never insist on it, because the terms of his service were already set in Marlas. Recently, however, I've learned that he's attracted to a young servant in the retinue of the Councilors. A woman."

Damen raised his eyebrows.

"Is he into women?"

"Sometimes, when he desires them..."

"How do you have the time to rule a nation and listen to the chatter of servants, Laurent?"

"Isander takes care of my bath, and meals, and helps me dress from time to time. We need to talk about something."

"I thought sex between men and women was taboo in Vere."

"Isander is Akielon, Damianos. And the woman is Patran. Slaves have always enjoyed this ethnic freedom more than the court of Vere would have liked."

"And are you persuading Isander to sleep with this servant?"

"I'm not persuading him. I'm just freeing him one more time. Ancel was right, Damen. Ending slavery isn't just an outward movement or signing a document of liberation. In the minds of slaves, there are chains and rules that are harder to remove than laws. A slave of Akielos is raised to give pleasure to his master. Not to feel it. Isander cannot use his willpower alone without feeling guilty. It's a new world for him as well. His conditioning struggles with the desire of a twenty-year-old man. He'd rather I forbid him to do it. Or I'd tell him to sleep with that young woman..."