Bound By Chains (MxM)

Chapter Forty

I hated my life. No matter how hard I tried, or how hard I fought...I always ended up back in Alton's clutches. Why? Why couldn't I be happy? Was I cursed by the gods to live a life drenched in misery? Whatever had I done to deserve such a life, besides being born?

My head hung low the entire journey back to the castle. My back ached and my eyes were puffy from crying...but what use was it to worry about such trivial things? Especially when I was back at the one place, I had tried my hardest to be freed from? And I already knew this time was going to be the hardest. Alton was taking yet another man I loved away from me, and I had no doubt Alton was going to keep a keen eye on me wherever I went. Hell, I doubted he would even let me do my chores alone now. He would probably assign someone to watch me all hours of the day—even while I slept.

I winced when the carriage jolted, my back screaming at me as I attempted to keep my pain quiet. Alton sat in the carriage with me, with one leg folded over the other—his posture completely relaxed. Across from him sat Alaban, and the sun dragon seemed to be deep in thought as those golden eyes stared off—seemingly into nothingness.

Cayden and Drakell were held in separate carriages than me, no doubt surrounded by guards...and in the back of my mind, I wondered what Alton was going to do with them. Imprison them? Well...I could see him imprisoning Drakell, but what was he going to do with Cayden? Cayden was his only child, and the only heir to the throne. He wouldn't throw him into the dungeons to rot, would he?

Actually...Alton was so screwed up in the head, he probably would do just that, just to teach Cayden a "lesson". Would he stoop so low as to whip him as well?

My heart sank as the carriage slowed to a stop—the castle a foreboding, nightmarish sight in front of us. I gulped as Alton turned to me with a sick spark in his eyes.

"Welcome home, slave." He said, caressing my cheek before he shot Alaban a look and stepped out of the carriage.

Alaban then hauled me back into his arms and proceeded to carry me into that place of nightmares. And you could tell that there had been a recent attack on the place; walls were crumbled, some parts of the roof were gone, and it looked like someone had started a fire in some of the areas as well, judging from the blackened portions of the rubble.

There also looked to be more guards roaming around, but I didn't get a chance to gage how many before I was inside.

I half expected Alaban to carry me to the dungeons—after all, I had run away from him and spit at him...but instead, I was taken to Alton's room. Was Alton planning on punishing me himself? Was he already planning on...on using me? Or was this where I was meant to spend the rest of my days?

Alaban shuffled the both of us over to the overly extravagant bed and sat me down on it, before he turned and walked to the center of the room. Confused, I watched as he stooped to one knee and moved the corner of the rug—my heart dropping when I saw a trap door beneath.

I see. So that old bastard planned on hiding me, then? So what, he could keep Cayden away from me? As if my life wasn't crappy enough, now I couldn't hope on Cayden finding me.

"Why are you helping him?" Honestly, I didn't mean to say this out loud...but now that I had, Alaban paused his movements long enough to peer back at me—his golden gaze intense. The silence stretched long, and it felt awkward, and after a while, he finally looked away from me and stood up. "I'm sorry." That was the only thing he said before he grabbed me and took me down into the tiny hidden room—the size barely enough to fit the both of us. And Alaban refused to look at me now, no matter how hard I tried to catch his gaze.

"You don't have to do this," I tried reasoning with him, hoping that he would listen to me. "If there's one thing I know about Alton, its that he will go back on his promises. If he has offered you something...the moment he deems you worthless to him he will dispose of you. T-That man is a bastard, through and through."

Throughout my attempts to sway him to my side, he remained silent and hooked a chain to the back of my collar, basically chaining me to this hidden room.

"Please! You know he's only using you, so why listen to him? That man is a sick bastard! He toys with me as if I'm nothing more than an object to get him off. A-All I want is to be free a-and live out my days with the man I love. I-Is that so wrong? I'm begging you, don't be the man he's bribing you o be."

My pleas seemed to be falling onto deaf ears, for Alaban didn't seem to acknowledge what I was even saying to him. And if he was retaining anything...he didn't show it. Instead, he moved back to where the trap door was—hand on the door as he shot me one last look.

"I'm sorry," he repeated before he left me in the dark.

My eyes burned as tears slipped down my cheeks—despair a heavy, suffocating weight in my chest. I just felt so lost and alone and dreading what was inevitably going to come. Was it so wrong of me for wanting to live a peaceful life? Was it so wrong of me to find love and company in another? Why did everyone else get to be happy?

Honestly, I couldn't even tell you how long I cried for. But after a while, I grew numb and just sat there, staring off into space wondering why I was even alive. Or what the point in even living was.

If I had to guess, it was bout three or so hours later before I heard the sound of footsteps on the floor above me, sending my heart into overdrive as I kept quiet. Step. Step. Creak. Then I heard the rug above me being shifted, and for the briefest of moments...I hoped that my pleas to Alaban convinced him to help me and that it was him or Cayden about to come down...but when that trapdoor opened, and the visitor stepped down the stairs—that hope crumbled into dust when I recognized Alton.

He stood there silently, seemingly admiring me as he scratched at his chin. After a moment, he tilted his head and spoke. "It's funny, you know. All this time, I've had you in my care, and not once did I see the resemblance between you and King Dracon. This whole time, I've been playing with a pretty, little prince, and I didn't even know." He dropped his hand and stalked closer to me, causing me to tense and attempt to drag myself back. "I knew your beauty was unparalleled by any other. A beautiful prince, right at my fingertips. It gives me shivers."

He laughed harshly and yanked my head back by my hair, exposing my neck to him. "I've missed you, you know. No other slave is as...delectable as you, so I was left feeling so lonely." I almost puked in disgust when he pushed aside the collar of my robe to kiss at my neck—his lips cold, and chapped, and gross.

"Y-You are a disgusting bastard," I muttered through gritted teeth.

Alton tensed and pulled away from me—his eyes like glaciers as he moved back. "No. I am a king, and you serve me. That is the fate of your existence, slave." He then sneered. "Were you any other slave that said such things to me, you would be dead right now." My heart sunk as that sneer molded into a disturbing smirk. "Now, if you're going to use that pretty mouth of yours, then you better use it to serve me."

He used me then...and by the end of his night I was praying for death...

A/N: Finally, a chapter done and posted on time lol. And guess whaaaaatttt, next chapter is gonna be in Cayden's POV!! *Gasp* Whaaaaaatttt? No way! lol Yes way, and boyo, that man's gonna be so maaad at his dad lol.

Alrighty! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Lemme know what you think! I love feedback! XD