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sga_flashficFic 'The Blade'
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kellifer_fic
Webpage: Here
Pairing: Shep/McKay
Rating: NC17
Notes: Harlequin challenge
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue!
*Thanks to my beta superfox!*
Summary: Someday, you will be sold...
These were words spoken to John Sheppard when he was six years old.
~*~
Someday, you will be sold
These were words spoken to John Sheppard when he was six years old. He had been taken into the Jade House, a place of training in combat and the ways of the world and his family had been relieved. John had been the fifth son of a noble family who had their name but precious little else.
No land.
No money.
The Jade House had taken him because he was the prettiest of the sons born to San Aremis Sheppard. They saw potential in his gangling grace and knew that a noble name, no matter how worthless, would earn him a higher price.
Someday you will be sold
When John was ten, the Jade House tested the boys of his age to decide what position they would be trained for. Those that were deemed worthless, either losing their pleasing looks with age or of a displeasing nature, disappeared overnight. There were sixteen boys left of the original twenty-three he had been housed with and he was told that those had been palmed off to the workhouses.
There was talk of training him as nothing more than an attendant, to serve at the whim of the master that bought him, but the first time John picked up a sword it fit and his Masters were pleased.
That was the first time John heard the term Blade.
He asked what that was and his Master, a man known only as Yijnai, explained it as best he could.
“You will be a knife under the pillow, a last line of defense. You will stand between your Nasu and death when nothing else does.”
John had not really understood, but he’d learned well the cost of insolence at a tender age and had stayed his questions. What he’d dared to ask one of the other boys, one of the older trainees, was of the word Nasu.
The boy had smirked at John in a way that made his skin crawl. “It’s a dignified way of saying owner,” he had answered and John had grown cold inside.
He had always been told he would be sold someday, but it was the first time he had truly realized that he would be owned.
~*~
At twenty-five, his Masters came to John and said, “Today, you will be sold.”
He’d gotten used to the rhythm of life in the Jade House and was terrified of the outside world. He had heard of Nasu’s that were cruel and hurt their property for mere pleasure. John was not naïve, having been trained properly in all aspects of his responsibility, but he was not sure he could stay his hand against those that would mistreat him, and that would mean death.
More importantly, it would dishonour his family name.
He was of a late age to leave the Jade House, but had understood that someone had actually bought him years before, but as a gift that they did not need until now. When he saw the impressive black carriage pull up in the courtyard and the man step out that would become his Nasu, John was afraid.
The man was large and his face was cruel. He had the look of a warrior that had gone to seed. John had also seen this man before, many times. He had bought many boys from the Jade House, but his taste was usually for younger males.
John was presented to his owner and the man’s large, fleshy hands, immediately shot out, gripping John’s face cruelly and turning it this way and that.
“He is certainly fair of face, but I need him to be strong. He looks scrawny. Do you not feed your charges?” the man demanded, meaty fingers digging into John’s side and feeling along his ribs.
Yijnai bowed his head in deference before speaking. “His strength lies in speed and agility, not in brute force. You have a household guard if you wish to show strength. For a Blade you want him to be lithe and hold no fear.”
The man grunted, a disgusted sound. “I think I might be paying too much.”
Ah, John realized, the man was merely bargaining.
“He is the price we have set. This is not a market stall.” Yijnai’s own tone now belied his impatience. The man slapped his generous belly and regarded John critically.
“Fine,” he snapped. “Have him delivered to the Estate. He should be waiting for my son when he returns from his Naming day ceremony.”
~*~
John couldn’t help but finger the fabric he was draped in. He had become used to the rough-spun training robe he had worn day in and day out at the Jade House and had never been dressed in anything like what he was wearing now. The attendants who attired him had been careful to choose colours that flattered him and John was now wearing a deep blue overrobe and soft black pants that felt like the skin of a fawn. His hair, always kept carefully short, had a sweet smelling paste rubbed into it that made it stand up and away from his face. Lastly, a collar and matching bracelets of silver that looked like intertwining leaves and brambles had been placed around his throat and wrists, marks of his station.
When a young man of approximately John’s age bustled into the room and stopped dead, John was at a loss. He bowed at the waist formally, waiting to be asked to rise before he would do so. He waited a few minutes before he risked raising his eyes enough to see that the other young man was still standing stock-still before him, a large stack of papers clutched to his chest.
John wondered if leaving him in this position was merely for the other man’s amusement until he heard a throat clear. “Ah… uhm… who might you be?”
Taking that as his permission to speak, John rose again. “I am at your service, Sir. I am your Blade.”
The other man’s face clouded and his brows drew down. He looked angry and John feared he had done something incorrectly. He bowed again, lower this time when a voice startled him into rising.
“Rodney!” The voice bellowed and the young man also jerked as if he’d been punched.
“In here, Father!” he called.
The man’s father, the heavy-set buyer, bustled in, looking annoyed. “You were supposed to meet me at the stables. I wanted to present your Blade to you properly.”
“My… what? Father, you know I didn’t want-“
“Rodney! I will hear nothing of your objections. Your station dictates that you hold to certain traditions and having a Blade at your side is one of them. Use him how you wish but you will obey me.” The Father’s face had gone beet red and it looked as if Rodney were properly cowed, but John noted that from the set of his shoulders, his apology and acceptance were not truly meant.
“Of course, Father.”
~*~
Rodney almost yelped when he entered his bedroom and John was already there, standing impassively by an open window. John turned and bowed at the waist again and Rodney made a frustrated sound. “You can stand. What are you doing here?” he snapped.
John rose and blinked. “I’m supposed to attend you, Sir.” John said, canting his head slightly. He wasn’t sure if it was just he, but the reaction he had gotten so far was nothing short of odd. He had been told what to expect of Nasu’s and so far he was not getting any of it.
He’d spent the day in the massive McKay library, having been banished there by Rodney and told to ‘read or whatever’. He’d been happy to do so but wondered if he’d done something to anger his Nasu. When dusk came, an attendant fetched him, stating in worried tones that Rodney’s father was displeased and ushering him into Rodney’s bedroom. John had felt awkward and out of place and even more so since Rodney entered the room.
“I have everything I need. You can… go.” Rodney made a dismissive gesture with his hand but his brows furrowed when he saw the look of pure confusion on John’s face.
“I’m supposed to attend you, Sir. I’m not sure where you wish me to go as my place is in your chamber.”
Rodney looked at him for a few beats and then seemed to physically shake himself. “Oh… I… no, I don’t need any…ah… attending.” Rodney held his hands up.
It finally clicked to John what the problem might be and a chill ran up his spine. He’d heard what happened to those that were rejected by their Nasu and sent back to the Jade House. There was dishonour for their family name but worse; no one would touch them after that. They would not even be fit for the workhouses and would usually be sold to one of the city flesh traders whose clientele were usually brutal and their property short-lived.
John cast his eyes down; devastated that this was to be his fate. “I’m sorry I am not pleasing,” he said, his voice small.
Rodney just gazed at him for a moment, frowning. Then his eyebrows shot up and he made a strangled sound in the back of his throat. “Oh, god no! You’re-“ he flicked a hand, encompassing John. “all kinds of pleasing. I just… ah hell!” Rodney dropped onto the end of his bed. “You just don’t understand.”
John risked stepping forward, taking the stack of papers out of Rodney’s arms and placing them on a desk by the door. He then returned to Rodney and dropped to his haunches so they were eye-level. Rodney gazed at him for a few beats and then snorted. “Did I say pleasing? Wow, that word just doesn’t do you justice.”
John canted his head, raising an eyebrow. “I’m here for your pleasure and protection,” he stated simply. He stood and undid the sash that held closed his overrobe. Rodney watched, mesmerized as the smooth fabric gaped open and slid down John’s shoulders and off, pooling about his feet on the floor.
“Okay, wait!” Rodney yelped, standing up so quickly that John was forced a couple of steps backwards.
“I’ve been trained well in all manner of pleasure. If you’ll-“ John started forward and Rodney shunted backwards quickly, his hands up.
“Hold it!” His voice was higher pitched still and John froze where he was, waiting. He watched as Rodney’s gaze flicked down to his bared torso, the tip of Rodney’s tongue touching his top lip, before skipping back up to John’s face. “Dammit, you’re not making this easy. My father is a clever, clever man.” Rodney’s voice was full of loathing and a little awe at that last sentiment.
John retreated to the window again, not really sure what was going on. Rodney scrubbed hands over his face and stood, stooping down to pick up John’s robe and then holding it out to him. John took it and shrugged it back on.
“Look, yes, you’ve been bought by my Father and you’ve been trained as a Blade. I get that, I do, but the motivation behind your purchase was not a selfless one on my Father’s part. You’re not simply a gift.”
John crossed arms over chest, waiting patiently.
“I have a place on the Senate because of my Father and he thinks I’m squandering my position. He is very much entrenched in the old ways and likes the way our social structure works now, as do many of the other older men. I and a few others, unfortunately a very few at the moment, are trying to abolish…well… you.”
“Me?” John’s eyebrows shot up.
Rodney snorted and touched a hand to John’s shoulder. “Not you personally, but the whole idea of being able to buy people. It’s barbaric and backward and I’m working against it. Do you see why the idea of me actually having a… a… you would suit my Father’s purpose?”
“It would be seen as hypocritical for you to own a Blade and be working against the owning of humans as property at all.”
Rodney blinked for a second and then a smile rose on his face. “Yes, exactly. I can’t…well, I can’t keep you.”
John frowned and Rodney touched his shoulder again. “What?” he pressed.
John’s eyes met Rodney’s own. “If I’m rejected I’ll be returned to the Jade House. I’ll be sold to the flesh traders.”
Rodney looked pained. “I could free you,” he offered.
John smiled tightly. “That would be seen as just as great a sleight as if I was merely rejected. I cannot return to my ancestral home and their name would be disgraced.”
“How can I fix this?” Rodney was concerned but didn’t want to destroy the man before him. He was surprised and intrigued by his Blade and even angrier with his father for choosing someone so, well, perfect for him.
John looked about the room for a second and then his face cleared. He approached the opposite wall and took down one of the elegant swords above the mantle. He returned to Rodney, holding the sword out, hilt first. “It is honorable to die in service,” he said.
Rodney took the offered sword in hand, staring at it for a moment. When John moved the tip of the sword to his chest Rodney let the sword go with a cry. “No! Are you crazy? I’m not going to kill you!”
John stepped away, wringing to fabric of his robe through his fingers. He looked so distraught that Rodney automatically stepped forward and brought arms around him. Rodney couldn’t help his body’s response to the lean frame in his arms and he felt John’s hands dip under his shirt and stroke up his back. Rodney tried to step away but John’s arms had come up and around and he felt some of his resolve cast adrift when a warm mouth grazed the hollow of his throat.
“I can’t… keep you,” Rodney breathed as John’s tongue traced a path up his throat and behind his ear. Rodney groaned, his hips stuttering forward and grinding into John’s.
“You won’t kill me and you can’t free me,” John supplied as he mouthed a path along Rodney’s jaw.
Rodney insinuated fingers into John’s thick hair and pulled his head back forcefully so they were eye to eye. “My Father did this on purpose. He chose you because he knows me too well.”
John’s hands found the clasp of Rodney’s pants and undid them, dipping under the waistband and finding his cock, which was already betraying his protests. John’s grin was lazy when he saw Rodney’s vision cloud as his hands stroked along the length. Rodney’s fingers tightened in John’s hair and colour crept up his neck. “I will not be the cause of my family’s ruin,” John growled, his hands stroking harder.
“They sold you into slavery,” Rodney protested breathlessly.
John’s hands stilled and his face hardened. “They had no choice,” he denied, although his tone betrayed his hurt.
With a mighty effort, Rodney pulled away and stepped back. “I can’t keep you,” he repeated firmly. “No matter how much I might want to.”
John stooped and retrieved the sword from the floor. “Then you know what you have to do,” he said, his tone carefully neutral.
Rodney slammed out of the room and John sunk to the floor, cradling the sword to his body.
~*~
John didn’t know how many hours passed when he felt gentle hands on his face. He was curled up on the floor by the fireplace, the hearth now cold. He looked into Rodney’s concerned gaze. “You’re freezing. Come on. Up you get.” John felt a solid arm snake under his own and he was being practically lifted to his feet. He was guided to the bed and pushed under the covers, a warm body following him underneath.
He was enfolded in strong arms and his back was pressed against a broad chest. John’s training had prepared him for cold encounters, pleasuring his Nasu and receiving none for himself. He was confused by the feelings that welled within to be held so close. Gentle fingers scratched at the hair at his nape and John leaned back into the touch.
“I still can’t keep you, but we can work something out, I’m sure,” Rodney said, his tone sleepy but comforting. “Just stop trying to get me to stick a sword in you.”
His still sleep-addled brain lowered John’s inhibitions. “I’m supposed to be trying to get you to stick something else into me,” he responded playfully, then winced, knowing that he would be shortly ejected out of the bed by an outraged Nasu. The gentle laughter that puffed warm breath on his neck was a surprise.
“What on earth do they teach you in that training house of yours?” Rodney was still snickering and John turned in his arms so they were lying face to face. He dropped a leg over Rodney’s and stroked a hand up to Rodney’s face.
“I was trained to deal with pain and brutality. They never prepared me for gentleness.”
Rodney sighed and his brow furrowed. “I’m going to have to find a way to keep you, without really keeping you.”
It was John’s turn to chuckle.
~*~
The furtive sound had John awake in an instant. In their sleep he and Rodney had moved apart but Rodney still had a hand resting on John’s belly. John leveled out his breathing so as not to betray the fact he was awake and listened.
Another sound, a soft foot on hard floor. John tensed all his muscles, checking for anything that wouldn’t respond like he needed it to and found everything responsive as he’d hoped. He carefully inched his legs out from underneath the sheets and moved them slightly sideways. It was a bad angle but he only needed to hold it for a second more. He pressed his feet against Rodney’s side, waiting.
His trigger was the gentle scrape of metal against leather that meant a knife had been unsheathed. John took a breath, counted three of his own steady heartbeats and then kicked out hard.
With a cry Rodney was pushed clear of the bed and onto the floor, a knife plunging into the mattress where Rodney had been only seconds before. John used his momentum to kick up and out, his heel collecting his attacker’s jaw with a satisfying crack. There was a startled yelp and John followed the sound, curling up onto his feet and launching his full weight at it.
He collided with a brawny figure and crashed to the ground. He could vaguely hear Rodney cursing behind and to the left of him but the sound was of surprise rather than struggle and John was reassured. He tuned it out and concentrated on the grunts of the man he was wrestling with. John realized their tumble had taken them close to the fireplace and he reached out with a foot and his toes fetched up on cool metal, relieved to find the sword he had curled up next to on the floor had not been returned to it’s proper place.
John curled his toes around the edge, ignoring the way it cut into his vulnerable flesh and kicked upwards. The sword clattered and he reached out with one hand while keeping the other arm pressed down on the attacker’s throat. Reaching out, his balance was thrown sideways however and the attacker was able to buck and pitch him off.
John snagged the sword with his fingers and wrenched around just as he felt excruciating pain bloom in his side. John ignored it, curling up onto his feet again and thrusting out with the sword, held awkwardly in one hand. He hit solid resistance and felt the sword vibrate and then wrench out of his grasp as the attacker fell sideways, taking the sword lodged in his chest with him. With a grunt and a final shudder the attacker was still.
“What happened?” Rodney spluttered, the flare of a candle brightening the gloom. He stepped over the large dead man and dropped to his knees at John’s side. A moment later Rodney’s door was flung open and two household guards bustled through.
Rodney ignored them, pressing a hand to John’s face. “Tell me this is all his blood,” Rodney pleaded, holding his other hand up that had been pressed to John’s side.
“It’s not,” John croaked, before letting the blackness that had been encroaching on his vision claim him.
~*~
John cracked open an eye and the room about him was bright. He squinted until a figure moved, shadowing his face enough that he was able to focus.
“Ah, there you are,” Rodney smiled down at him.
“Hi,” John greeted weakly.
“You had me worried. The physician has just been in and says you’re healing nicely.”
“That’s good.” John scooted up a little in bed and regarded the man before him.
“Yes, but you’ve left me with a bit of a conundrum.” Rodney sighed, rubbing his chin. John frowned in confusion and Rodney smiled. “Apparently you’re a pretty damn good Blade.”
“You will stand between your Nasu and death when nothing else does,” John recited.
“Ah, that’s the problem. I’m no longer your Nasu,” Rodney corrected.
John paled. “No,” he breathed. He felt something inside him break away at the thought that after what had happened, he would still be dishonoured and abandoned to the flesh traders.
“I freed you,” Rodney stated, the smile firmly on his face.
“Why bother having the physician attend me then? You should have let me bleed out on the floor,” John sighed, turning his face away. Gentle fingers grasped his jaw and turned his face back.
“There was a time when the title of Blade was one of honour in a household, a position sought after by the lower born children of a noble family. It was not a position to be bought and sold.” Rodney explained. He shrugged, a gentle lifting of his shoulders. “I’ve been doing some readings of the old texts. My Father likes the old ways so I plan to indulge him. Of course, he won’t like the old old ways.”
John’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”
“I can appoint a Blade to my household, a free man, who is willing.” Rodney’s smile was gentle and encouraging. “What’s more, I can furnish him with a stipend and an estate to do with as he pleases.”
John blinked. “You’ve done so?”
Rodney chuckled. “Not yet, but I plan to ask you, when you’re well enough to accept.”
John only blinked again.
Rodney couldn’t help but laugh more heartily this time. “I can’t believe I was trying to change my Father’s politics by attempting to drag him, kicking and screaming into the present, when my answers were actually further in the past.”
“I don’t…” John began, unsure how to finish.
The smile fell off Rodney’s face and he looked stricken. “Oh… ah, of course. I mean, you might not have… in that way, actually would choose to be with me. For saving my life I’m allowed to offer you a reward in any case. You can… go if you want to.”
Rodney made to rise from the bed but a hand reached out and grasped his wrist. John smiled into Rodney’s eyes. “I do… I mean, I would choose to.” John affirmed and Rodney smiled, lowering back onto the bed.
“I get to keep you?” Rodney prompted.
“Yes,” John agreed. “Yes, you do.”
Author:
kellifer_ficWebpage: Here
Pairing: Shep/McKay
Rating: NC17
Notes: Harlequin challenge
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue!
*Thanks to my beta superfox!*
Summary: Someday, you will be sold...
These were words spoken to John Sheppard when he was six years old.
~*~
Someday, you will be sold
These were words spoken to John Sheppard when he was six years old. He had been taken into the Jade House, a place of training in combat and the ways of the world and his family had been relieved. John had been the fifth son of a noble family who had their name but precious little else.
No land.
No money.
The Jade House had taken him because he was the prettiest of the sons born to San Aremis Sheppard. They saw potential in his gangling grace and knew that a noble name, no matter how worthless, would earn him a higher price.
Someday you will be sold
When John was ten, the Jade House tested the boys of his age to decide what position they would be trained for. Those that were deemed worthless, either losing their pleasing looks with age or of a displeasing nature, disappeared overnight. There were sixteen boys left of the original twenty-three he had been housed with and he was told that those had been palmed off to the workhouses.
There was talk of training him as nothing more than an attendant, to serve at the whim of the master that bought him, but the first time John picked up a sword it fit and his Masters were pleased.
That was the first time John heard the term Blade.
He asked what that was and his Master, a man known only as Yijnai, explained it as best he could.
“You will be a knife under the pillow, a last line of defense. You will stand between your Nasu and death when nothing else does.”
John had not really understood, but he’d learned well the cost of insolence at a tender age and had stayed his questions. What he’d dared to ask one of the other boys, one of the older trainees, was of the word Nasu.
The boy had smirked at John in a way that made his skin crawl. “It’s a dignified way of saying owner,” he had answered and John had grown cold inside.
He had always been told he would be sold someday, but it was the first time he had truly realized that he would be owned.
~*~
At twenty-five, his Masters came to John and said, “Today, you will be sold.”
He’d gotten used to the rhythm of life in the Jade House and was terrified of the outside world. He had heard of Nasu’s that were cruel and hurt their property for mere pleasure. John was not naïve, having been trained properly in all aspects of his responsibility, but he was not sure he could stay his hand against those that would mistreat him, and that would mean death.
More importantly, it would dishonour his family name.
He was of a late age to leave the Jade House, but had understood that someone had actually bought him years before, but as a gift that they did not need until now. When he saw the impressive black carriage pull up in the courtyard and the man step out that would become his Nasu, John was afraid.
The man was large and his face was cruel. He had the look of a warrior that had gone to seed. John had also seen this man before, many times. He had bought many boys from the Jade House, but his taste was usually for younger males.
John was presented to his owner and the man’s large, fleshy hands, immediately shot out, gripping John’s face cruelly and turning it this way and that.
“He is certainly fair of face, but I need him to be strong. He looks scrawny. Do you not feed your charges?” the man demanded, meaty fingers digging into John’s side and feeling along his ribs.
Yijnai bowed his head in deference before speaking. “His strength lies in speed and agility, not in brute force. You have a household guard if you wish to show strength. For a Blade you want him to be lithe and hold no fear.”
The man grunted, a disgusted sound. “I think I might be paying too much.”
Ah, John realized, the man was merely bargaining.
“He is the price we have set. This is not a market stall.” Yijnai’s own tone now belied his impatience. The man slapped his generous belly and regarded John critically.
“Fine,” he snapped. “Have him delivered to the Estate. He should be waiting for my son when he returns from his Naming day ceremony.”
~*~
John couldn’t help but finger the fabric he was draped in. He had become used to the rough-spun training robe he had worn day in and day out at the Jade House and had never been dressed in anything like what he was wearing now. The attendants who attired him had been careful to choose colours that flattered him and John was now wearing a deep blue overrobe and soft black pants that felt like the skin of a fawn. His hair, always kept carefully short, had a sweet smelling paste rubbed into it that made it stand up and away from his face. Lastly, a collar and matching bracelets of silver that looked like intertwining leaves and brambles had been placed around his throat and wrists, marks of his station.
When a young man of approximately John’s age bustled into the room and stopped dead, John was at a loss. He bowed at the waist formally, waiting to be asked to rise before he would do so. He waited a few minutes before he risked raising his eyes enough to see that the other young man was still standing stock-still before him, a large stack of papers clutched to his chest.
John wondered if leaving him in this position was merely for the other man’s amusement until he heard a throat clear. “Ah… uhm… who might you be?”
Taking that as his permission to speak, John rose again. “I am at your service, Sir. I am your Blade.”
The other man’s face clouded and his brows drew down. He looked angry and John feared he had done something incorrectly. He bowed again, lower this time when a voice startled him into rising.
“Rodney!” The voice bellowed and the young man also jerked as if he’d been punched.
“In here, Father!” he called.
The man’s father, the heavy-set buyer, bustled in, looking annoyed. “You were supposed to meet me at the stables. I wanted to present your Blade to you properly.”
“My… what? Father, you know I didn’t want-“
“Rodney! I will hear nothing of your objections. Your station dictates that you hold to certain traditions and having a Blade at your side is one of them. Use him how you wish but you will obey me.” The Father’s face had gone beet red and it looked as if Rodney were properly cowed, but John noted that from the set of his shoulders, his apology and acceptance were not truly meant.
“Of course, Father.”
~*~
Rodney almost yelped when he entered his bedroom and John was already there, standing impassively by an open window. John turned and bowed at the waist again and Rodney made a frustrated sound. “You can stand. What are you doing here?” he snapped.
John rose and blinked. “I’m supposed to attend you, Sir.” John said, canting his head slightly. He wasn’t sure if it was just he, but the reaction he had gotten so far was nothing short of odd. He had been told what to expect of Nasu’s and so far he was not getting any of it.
He’d spent the day in the massive McKay library, having been banished there by Rodney and told to ‘read or whatever’. He’d been happy to do so but wondered if he’d done something to anger his Nasu. When dusk came, an attendant fetched him, stating in worried tones that Rodney’s father was displeased and ushering him into Rodney’s bedroom. John had felt awkward and out of place and even more so since Rodney entered the room.
“I have everything I need. You can… go.” Rodney made a dismissive gesture with his hand but his brows furrowed when he saw the look of pure confusion on John’s face.
“I’m supposed to attend you, Sir. I’m not sure where you wish me to go as my place is in your chamber.”
Rodney looked at him for a few beats and then seemed to physically shake himself. “Oh… I… no, I don’t need any…ah… attending.” Rodney held his hands up.
It finally clicked to John what the problem might be and a chill ran up his spine. He’d heard what happened to those that were rejected by their Nasu and sent back to the Jade House. There was dishonour for their family name but worse; no one would touch them after that. They would not even be fit for the workhouses and would usually be sold to one of the city flesh traders whose clientele were usually brutal and their property short-lived.
John cast his eyes down; devastated that this was to be his fate. “I’m sorry I am not pleasing,” he said, his voice small.
Rodney just gazed at him for a moment, frowning. Then his eyebrows shot up and he made a strangled sound in the back of his throat. “Oh, god no! You’re-“ he flicked a hand, encompassing John. “all kinds of pleasing. I just… ah hell!” Rodney dropped onto the end of his bed. “You just don’t understand.”
John risked stepping forward, taking the stack of papers out of Rodney’s arms and placing them on a desk by the door. He then returned to Rodney and dropped to his haunches so they were eye-level. Rodney gazed at him for a few beats and then snorted. “Did I say pleasing? Wow, that word just doesn’t do you justice.”
John canted his head, raising an eyebrow. “I’m here for your pleasure and protection,” he stated simply. He stood and undid the sash that held closed his overrobe. Rodney watched, mesmerized as the smooth fabric gaped open and slid down John’s shoulders and off, pooling about his feet on the floor.
“Okay, wait!” Rodney yelped, standing up so quickly that John was forced a couple of steps backwards.
“I’ve been trained well in all manner of pleasure. If you’ll-“ John started forward and Rodney shunted backwards quickly, his hands up.
“Hold it!” His voice was higher pitched still and John froze where he was, waiting. He watched as Rodney’s gaze flicked down to his bared torso, the tip of Rodney’s tongue touching his top lip, before skipping back up to John’s face. “Dammit, you’re not making this easy. My father is a clever, clever man.” Rodney’s voice was full of loathing and a little awe at that last sentiment.
John retreated to the window again, not really sure what was going on. Rodney scrubbed hands over his face and stood, stooping down to pick up John’s robe and then holding it out to him. John took it and shrugged it back on.
“Look, yes, you’ve been bought by my Father and you’ve been trained as a Blade. I get that, I do, but the motivation behind your purchase was not a selfless one on my Father’s part. You’re not simply a gift.”
John crossed arms over chest, waiting patiently.
“I have a place on the Senate because of my Father and he thinks I’m squandering my position. He is very much entrenched in the old ways and likes the way our social structure works now, as do many of the other older men. I and a few others, unfortunately a very few at the moment, are trying to abolish…well… you.”
“Me?” John’s eyebrows shot up.
Rodney snorted and touched a hand to John’s shoulder. “Not you personally, but the whole idea of being able to buy people. It’s barbaric and backward and I’m working against it. Do you see why the idea of me actually having a… a… you would suit my Father’s purpose?”
“It would be seen as hypocritical for you to own a Blade and be working against the owning of humans as property at all.”
Rodney blinked for a second and then a smile rose on his face. “Yes, exactly. I can’t…well, I can’t keep you.”
John frowned and Rodney touched his shoulder again. “What?” he pressed.
John’s eyes met Rodney’s own. “If I’m rejected I’ll be returned to the Jade House. I’ll be sold to the flesh traders.”
Rodney looked pained. “I could free you,” he offered.
John smiled tightly. “That would be seen as just as great a sleight as if I was merely rejected. I cannot return to my ancestral home and their name would be disgraced.”
“How can I fix this?” Rodney was concerned but didn’t want to destroy the man before him. He was surprised and intrigued by his Blade and even angrier with his father for choosing someone so, well, perfect for him.
John looked about the room for a second and then his face cleared. He approached the opposite wall and took down one of the elegant swords above the mantle. He returned to Rodney, holding the sword out, hilt first. “It is honorable to die in service,” he said.
Rodney took the offered sword in hand, staring at it for a moment. When John moved the tip of the sword to his chest Rodney let the sword go with a cry. “No! Are you crazy? I’m not going to kill you!”
John stepped away, wringing to fabric of his robe through his fingers. He looked so distraught that Rodney automatically stepped forward and brought arms around him. Rodney couldn’t help his body’s response to the lean frame in his arms and he felt John’s hands dip under his shirt and stroke up his back. Rodney tried to step away but John’s arms had come up and around and he felt some of his resolve cast adrift when a warm mouth grazed the hollow of his throat.
“I can’t… keep you,” Rodney breathed as John’s tongue traced a path up his throat and behind his ear. Rodney groaned, his hips stuttering forward and grinding into John’s.
“You won’t kill me and you can’t free me,” John supplied as he mouthed a path along Rodney’s jaw.
Rodney insinuated fingers into John’s thick hair and pulled his head back forcefully so they were eye to eye. “My Father did this on purpose. He chose you because he knows me too well.”
John’s hands found the clasp of Rodney’s pants and undid them, dipping under the waistband and finding his cock, which was already betraying his protests. John’s grin was lazy when he saw Rodney’s vision cloud as his hands stroked along the length. Rodney’s fingers tightened in John’s hair and colour crept up his neck. “I will not be the cause of my family’s ruin,” John growled, his hands stroking harder.
“They sold you into slavery,” Rodney protested breathlessly.
John’s hands stilled and his face hardened. “They had no choice,” he denied, although his tone betrayed his hurt.
With a mighty effort, Rodney pulled away and stepped back. “I can’t keep you,” he repeated firmly. “No matter how much I might want to.”
John stooped and retrieved the sword from the floor. “Then you know what you have to do,” he said, his tone carefully neutral.
Rodney slammed out of the room and John sunk to the floor, cradling the sword to his body.
~*~
John didn’t know how many hours passed when he felt gentle hands on his face. He was curled up on the floor by the fireplace, the hearth now cold. He looked into Rodney’s concerned gaze. “You’re freezing. Come on. Up you get.” John felt a solid arm snake under his own and he was being practically lifted to his feet. He was guided to the bed and pushed under the covers, a warm body following him underneath.
He was enfolded in strong arms and his back was pressed against a broad chest. John’s training had prepared him for cold encounters, pleasuring his Nasu and receiving none for himself. He was confused by the feelings that welled within to be held so close. Gentle fingers scratched at the hair at his nape and John leaned back into the touch.
“I still can’t keep you, but we can work something out, I’m sure,” Rodney said, his tone sleepy but comforting. “Just stop trying to get me to stick a sword in you.”
His still sleep-addled brain lowered John’s inhibitions. “I’m supposed to be trying to get you to stick something else into me,” he responded playfully, then winced, knowing that he would be shortly ejected out of the bed by an outraged Nasu. The gentle laughter that puffed warm breath on his neck was a surprise.
“What on earth do they teach you in that training house of yours?” Rodney was still snickering and John turned in his arms so they were lying face to face. He dropped a leg over Rodney’s and stroked a hand up to Rodney’s face.
“I was trained to deal with pain and brutality. They never prepared me for gentleness.”
Rodney sighed and his brow furrowed. “I’m going to have to find a way to keep you, without really keeping you.”
It was John’s turn to chuckle.
~*~
The furtive sound had John awake in an instant. In their sleep he and Rodney had moved apart but Rodney still had a hand resting on John’s belly. John leveled out his breathing so as not to betray the fact he was awake and listened.
Another sound, a soft foot on hard floor. John tensed all his muscles, checking for anything that wouldn’t respond like he needed it to and found everything responsive as he’d hoped. He carefully inched his legs out from underneath the sheets and moved them slightly sideways. It was a bad angle but he only needed to hold it for a second more. He pressed his feet against Rodney’s side, waiting.
His trigger was the gentle scrape of metal against leather that meant a knife had been unsheathed. John took a breath, counted three of his own steady heartbeats and then kicked out hard.
With a cry Rodney was pushed clear of the bed and onto the floor, a knife plunging into the mattress where Rodney had been only seconds before. John used his momentum to kick up and out, his heel collecting his attacker’s jaw with a satisfying crack. There was a startled yelp and John followed the sound, curling up onto his feet and launching his full weight at it.
He collided with a brawny figure and crashed to the ground. He could vaguely hear Rodney cursing behind and to the left of him but the sound was of surprise rather than struggle and John was reassured. He tuned it out and concentrated on the grunts of the man he was wrestling with. John realized their tumble had taken them close to the fireplace and he reached out with a foot and his toes fetched up on cool metal, relieved to find the sword he had curled up next to on the floor had not been returned to it’s proper place.
John curled his toes around the edge, ignoring the way it cut into his vulnerable flesh and kicked upwards. The sword clattered and he reached out with one hand while keeping the other arm pressed down on the attacker’s throat. Reaching out, his balance was thrown sideways however and the attacker was able to buck and pitch him off.
John snagged the sword with his fingers and wrenched around just as he felt excruciating pain bloom in his side. John ignored it, curling up onto his feet again and thrusting out with the sword, held awkwardly in one hand. He hit solid resistance and felt the sword vibrate and then wrench out of his grasp as the attacker fell sideways, taking the sword lodged in his chest with him. With a grunt and a final shudder the attacker was still.
“What happened?” Rodney spluttered, the flare of a candle brightening the gloom. He stepped over the large dead man and dropped to his knees at John’s side. A moment later Rodney’s door was flung open and two household guards bustled through.
Rodney ignored them, pressing a hand to John’s face. “Tell me this is all his blood,” Rodney pleaded, holding his other hand up that had been pressed to John’s side.
“It’s not,” John croaked, before letting the blackness that had been encroaching on his vision claim him.
~*~
John cracked open an eye and the room about him was bright. He squinted until a figure moved, shadowing his face enough that he was able to focus.
“Ah, there you are,” Rodney smiled down at him.
“Hi,” John greeted weakly.
“You had me worried. The physician has just been in and says you’re healing nicely.”
“That’s good.” John scooted up a little in bed and regarded the man before him.
“Yes, but you’ve left me with a bit of a conundrum.” Rodney sighed, rubbing his chin. John frowned in confusion and Rodney smiled. “Apparently you’re a pretty damn good Blade.”
“You will stand between your Nasu and death when nothing else does,” John recited.
“Ah, that’s the problem. I’m no longer your Nasu,” Rodney corrected.
John paled. “No,” he breathed. He felt something inside him break away at the thought that after what had happened, he would still be dishonoured and abandoned to the flesh traders.
“I freed you,” Rodney stated, the smile firmly on his face.
“Why bother having the physician attend me then? You should have let me bleed out on the floor,” John sighed, turning his face away. Gentle fingers grasped his jaw and turned his face back.
“There was a time when the title of Blade was one of honour in a household, a position sought after by the lower born children of a noble family. It was not a position to be bought and sold.” Rodney explained. He shrugged, a gentle lifting of his shoulders. “I’ve been doing some readings of the old texts. My Father likes the old ways so I plan to indulge him. Of course, he won’t like the old old ways.”
John’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”
“I can appoint a Blade to my household, a free man, who is willing.” Rodney’s smile was gentle and encouraging. “What’s more, I can furnish him with a stipend and an estate to do with as he pleases.”
John blinked. “You’ve done so?”
Rodney chuckled. “Not yet, but I plan to ask you, when you’re well enough to accept.”
John only blinked again.
Rodney couldn’t help but laugh more heartily this time. “I can’t believe I was trying to change my Father’s politics by attempting to drag him, kicking and screaming into the present, when my answers were actually further in the past.”
“I don’t…” John began, unsure how to finish.
The smile fell off Rodney’s face and he looked stricken. “Oh… ah, of course. I mean, you might not have… in that way, actually would choose to be with me. For saving my life I’m allowed to offer you a reward in any case. You can… go if you want to.”
Rodney made to rise from the bed but a hand reached out and grasped his wrist. John smiled into Rodney’s eyes. “I do… I mean, I would choose to.” John affirmed and Rodney smiled, lowering back onto the bed.
“I get to keep you?” Rodney prompted.
“Yes,” John agreed. “Yes, you do.”