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“HA! I got you again!” Louis’ voice echoed across the courtyard accompanied by a groan from Liam.
They were practicing sword fighting, a skill Louis was quickly mastering. Liam, being two years younger, wasn’t exactly up to Louis’ training level.
“I’ll beat you eventually!” Liam shot back.
A good humored smile graced his young features as he struggled to hold up the heavy sword Louis had lent him. Louis only laughed in response at his companion.
I was currently sitting on a large stone that seemed oddly out of place in the large flat area. Louis had sat me here before racing to the blacksmith to retrieve some mock weaponry and armor suitable for his and Liam’s game.
Liam and Lord Payne were visiting for Liam’s birthday. The king was throwing a grand ball in his honor, for his tenth birthday, the year he would receive a playmate.
Louis had been chattering away about it for days now, claiming he was going to help pick out Liam’s boy. He’d also told me that I’d have a friend to keep me company when Liam came to visit. There would be another playmate around.
Truthfully, I was scared. What if Louis decided that he liked Liam’s playmate more than he liked me? What if he finally realized that the king was right two years ago when he said I wouldn’t be a good playmate? What if Louis sent me away? What would I do? Would I have to go back to my cage in the back room of that dingy shack?
The ball was scheduled to take place in two night’s time, which meant Liam’s playmate would be picked out tomorrow morning. To my knowledge, Liam’s wouldn’t be picking out his own playmate, as Louis had. I found that a little unfair, but kept silent. It wasn’t my place to speak up.
“Louis! Liam! It’s time for dinner!” I turned my head away from the sparing boys in front of me to see Louis’ nanny standing at one of the palace doors.
She was smiling fondly at the two, laughing as they quickly began tearing the makeshift armor from their bodies in a rush to get food. I stood slowly from the rock I’d been resting on and waited as Louis ripped his final shin guard off before racing towards me.
“Come on Hazza! It’s time to eat!” he screamed excitedly, grabbing my hand and pulling me along.
“Hey! Wait for me!” I heard Liam yell from behind as Louis tore through the palace door, narrowly avoiding his nanny as he tugged me along.
“The Prince of England waits for no one!” Louis shouted back in a joking manner.
We raced along the corridors towards the dining room. Liam caught up with us by the time we burst through the large oak doors that separated us from dinner.
“Well sit down boys, we haven’t got the time for your foolishness,” the king voice boomed through the relatively small room.
He smiled at the three of us as we walked, in a more calmly manner, to our places at the table. Louis pulled his chair out and plopped down gracelessly, as I slid down to the pillow beside him.
“What’s kept you boys busy today?” the king asked as food began to be brought out.
I began playing with a hem on my shirt, trying to still my growling stomach. I’d have food soon enough. My stomach didn’t seem to accept that answer, though, when there was plenty of food sitting less than a meter away.
“We’ve been sword fighting!” Louis shouted.
Little princess Charlotte giggled from her place beside her mother, now, obviously delighted by Louis’ outburst.
“I won,” Louis added triumphantly.
“Hey, I was close,” Liam whined.
“But you still lost,” Louis faked a sympathetic tone.
“Alright boys, eat your dinner,” the queen chuckled at the antics of the boys.
The rest of dinner passed quickly and soon I was off to the kitchen for my own meal while Louis and Liam attended a reading lesson.
I walked through the servant’s entrance into the kitchen and saw that my plate was already waiting on the familiar table pushed to the wall. I walked over to it and sat, looking over my meal.
“Go eat you little scoundrel!” I heard the voice of the head cook from around the corner.
His voice was light and teasing, though it still held the booming quality I’ve come to fear. He’s hated me since the first night I was brought to the palace, and he never bothers to hide the fact. It’s rare that I ever hear him say anything without venom dripping from his tongue.
“But I’ve only just started the dishes!” an Irish accent answered back with a laugh.
Niall, the kitchen boy/Irish Prince taken captive. He was my only friend in the palace, besides Louis of course.
“You’ll break everything if I let you go on! Get away from my dishes!”
It was refreshing to hear that the head cook wasn’t always in a bad mood. He was laughing with Niall and I could hear a sort of fatherly tone to his words.
“Alright, alright!” Niall responded and I heard shuffling about for a few moments before he rounded the corner.
“Harry! I didn’t know you were here!” he smiled brightly and came to sit across from me at the table, his own plate in hand.
“I’ve only just arrived,” I spoke quietly.
I saw Niall nod then plop down at the table, nearly spilling his food in the process.
“So, I hear you get to help pick out Liam Payne’s playmate tomorrow,” Niall spoke a after a few moments of silence.
“Louis is going,” I answered back.
“You go everywhere Louis goes. I heard from the stable hands that you’re going too. They’ve been told to prepare a carriage. Doesn’t that always mean you’re going?” Niall questioned, sticking a forkful of food into his mouth.
“I suppose so, but I won’t be picking anything. I’ll just be there with Louis,” I answered.
“Fair enough,” Niall said, and then let the subject drop.
We ate in silence for the rest of the meal and when I’d finished I bid him good night and walked up to Louis’ room to find it empty. Normally I would go search for him, but today I decided to just wait. It had been a long day and tomorrow promised to be even longer.
I managed to fall asleep at some point and the next thing I know, I’m being gently shaken awake.
“Wake up, Hazza. We’ve got to go pick out Liam’s playmate,” Louis’ voice whispered beside me.
I could tell he was excited. Joy was practically bubbling out from him as he gently shook me again.
I groaned a little and opened my eyes, to meet Louis’ clear blue ones. He was smiling brightly down at me when I was finally able to focus.
He quickly pressed a firm kiss to my lips before pulling back and climbing out of his giant bed.
“Come on!” Louis’ impatient whine met my ears and had me tugging the sheets back and climbing out of bed, still in the clothes from the day before.
Louis waited, begrudgingly, while I quickly changed and grabbed my hand to run with me down to the kitchen.
Three packs of food were waiting there, along with the head cook, the king, Lord Payne, and Liam. I noticed the scowl I got from the cook when I entered.
“I want to come!” Liam whined to his father, obviously upset he wouldn’t get to choose his own playmate.
“It has to be a surprise, Liam,” Lord Payne told his son, an affectionate smile in place.
“Louis got to pick out Harry!” Liam pointed out and the king only laughed.
“Only because he snuck into the carriage that morning!” the king’s booming voice echoed around the kitchen.
The king and Lord Payne both were in fits of laughter. Liam looked angry while Louis had a smug look on his face.
“I wasn’t going to let you pick! You wouldn’t have brought back Harry, and that’s all that I wanted,” Louis smiled, wrapping me into a tight hug.
I snuggled closer to him, loving how affectionate he was. The past two years had been full of more kisses and hugs and cuddles than I’d ever received. Louis made me feel important, even if I really wasn’t.
“See, what if you bring me back a boy I don’t like?” Liam whined.
“I know what you like Liam! I’ll pick out a good one,” Louis promised.
He pulled away from me now and walked to face Liam. I watched as he spit in his hand and held it out. Liam stared at him for a few moments before copying the action and grasping tightly onto Louis’ hand.
Though I’d seen them do this what felt like millions of times, usually before stirring up some sort of mischief, I was always amazed by it. What did it even mean? How did shaking spit covered hands signify anything? I usually tried not to question, but every time I watched it transpire, I always became that much more curious.
“He better have dark hair,” I heard Liam mumble when Louis pulled his hand away.
“He will.”
Now we were quickly rushed out to the stables, making sure that Liam didn’t follow. Louis opted to ride in the carriage with me on the way to the ‘shelter’ as it was being called, though he would ride on his father’s horse on the way back. The boy we picked out wouldn’t be suitable to ride in the same carriage as royalty until after he was thoroughly cleaned by the palace staff.
About four other men rode out on horses with Lord Payne and his Majesty. I remembered them from when I was selected. They’d been the ones to examine me.
“The weather is nice out today,” Louis commented as he opened up his pack of food, “Much better than the day we went after you.”
I smiled a little at this. He remembered what the weather was like. It had been pouring. It had been pouring for days before he picked me.
“Father said we were going back to the shelter you came from. He said they take better care of boys than anywhere else,” he rambled on, munching on a piece of cheese.
I cringed. I hadn’t been treated well at all in my year long stay. I could only imagine how horribly boys in other shelters were treated.
I looked up from the running my hands across the plush velvet on the seat to meet Louis’ ocean blue gaze.
“I’m not replacing you Haz,” he stated now that we were staring into each other’s eyes.
I felt my body relax a little. I have to admit, the idea had run through my head a few times. Louis could have any playmate he wanted. It didn’t have to be me.
“I know,” I spoke softly, just barely being heard over the noise of the squeaky wooden wheels and the thudding of the horse’s hooves onto the road as they pulled us along.
He let out a little sigh then looked down to the food he’d been snacking on.
“Come here,” he patted the space beside him as he scooted over to the wall of the carriage.
I obediently did as I was told and lowered myself down next to him. He then dung through his food pack and pulled out a roll.
“Here, have some,” he offered.
I tentatively took the thing, and held it gently in my hand. It was so soft and almost fragile. I didn’t want to squash it.
“Eat it,” Louis laughed lightly at me.
He shoved another roll into his own mouth as he continued to dig around in the food. I looked back at the roll and took a small bite. It tasted heavenly, more so than I’d ever tasted before. Was this the food that Louis received every day?
I shoved the rest into my mouth without even thinking. I heard Louis’ laughter grow to fill the carriage with its joyful tones. I flushed, embarrassed by my hasty actions.
Louis only pulled me close into a one armed hug and kissed into my curls.
The rest of the ride was filled with Louis’ voice as I listened. He spoke of his lessons and how he was doing. He also told me about little revelations he had periodically, like when he finally realized how to shoot an arrow straight. I silently listened to it all, curled into his side, accepting any bits of food he shared and nodding at appropriate times.
I jumped though, when the carriage came to a sudden stop. Louis peaked out the window and confirmed to me that we had in fact arrived. The door opened swiftly and Louis all but jumped out. I took my time, calmly descending the steps in place. Once at the bottom, Louis gripped onto my hand and gave me a light squeeze.
We followed the king and Lord Payne into the gray building that I was all too familiar with. I felt a small shiver run up my spine as I stepped through the threshold, taking in the dull surroundings.
I realized as I looked around the shack how spoiled I was now, as the playmate of Prince Louis. Two years ago, sitting in the grungy old shack, hold up in a tiny cage, the best I could imagine for my future would be somewhere I could stretch out my legs. Now I was sleeping in the Crowned Prince of England’s bed, eating finer food than most nobles. All signs of my life in a cage have been wiped off of my outer image, though never truly forgotten.
“Your Majesty! Wonderful to see you again. How is Young Prince Louis’ playmate?” The head keeper asked when the king stepped through the door.
I curled into Louis then, that harsh voice bringing back unwanted memories from my years’ stay. Louis’ hand tightened around mine in a quick squeeze before pulling me forward with him to stand in front of Lord Payne.
“Aw, you’ve brought him along!”
I cringed again. The man looked as dirty and disgusting as I remember. His dark hair flew around his face in disarray, large round eyes were framed with big dark circles, and the sneer on his face revealed crooked yellow teeth that were rotting. I felt even smaller now than I had when I’d lived in his prison. Now, instead of crouching to my level, he stood at his full height, towering over everyone in the room.
“He is a fine playmate. Very well mannered,” the king’s voice cut through my thoughts now.
I glanced up at the man and saw that he was smiling fondly down at me.
“He was a very good choice.”
I couldn’t keep the smile from breaking over my face now. The king liked me. He was glad that Louis picked me. So, if Louis liked me like he said he did, and if the king liked me like he said he did, then that means they weren’t going to replace me. They wanted to keep me.
“Now I’ve brought Lord Payne here to pick out a playmate for his son, Liam,” the king continued to the head keeper.
“Of course, of course. I’ve heard about the ball, no tenth birthday is complete without that one special present,” the man laughed in an awful way.
He walked from behind the desk he was standing at and over to a wooden door that seemed to be new. The door I remember staring at was gray and rotting, nothing like this solid piece of red-brown wood that he pushed open.
Louis raced to be the first one through the door, pulling me in tow behind him. We stopped in the center of the room. I instinctively looked toward where my old cage still sat. A new boy occupied its space now. He looked really young.
“We just got a new delivery of boys yesterday,” the head keeper spoke proudly, “You’ll get your first pick of that lot.”
I noticed that he was gesturing toward the right side of the room. When I glanced at them, they all were shrunk back in their cages, hiding as far from us as possible. That’s how you could tell they were new. Boys who had been here a while knew that they wanted to be selected.
“You’re back,” I heard a gasp come from the area where I used to reside.
One look and I immediately recognized a boy that had been my neighbor for the last few months of my stay in this dingy shack. He was older now, but he still looked the same. I fought the urge to walk to the familiar friendly face.
Louis noticed my hesitance and started walking in the opposite direction, pulling me along and giving a glare to the boy who had spoken.
“Let’s look at the new ones Hazza,” Louis stated unnecessarily loud.
“Remember Louis, you aren’t buying him. Lord Payne gets the final say this time,” the king warned and Louis simply nodded as he walked around the cages.
“They’re all like you. Pressed in the back there,” Louis commented to me and I merely nodded.
Large, watery eyes stared at us as we walked around rows of boys. I felt my own eyes tear up as I watched them. None of them looked like they’d slept in days. They were all pale and shivering. My heart ached for them.
“Look Haz, that one’s got black hair,” Louis pulled my attention from the boy I was staring at and had me looking at a boy a few cages down.
Unlike the rest of them, this boy was sleeping. He was curled into a ball in the center of his little floor space, shivering slightly on the cold stone that was always just a little bit damp. Hair that was black as night covered the top of his tanned head.
“Liam wants this one,” Louis announced back to the men who were watching Louis and I walk around the room.
“You can’t pick a playmate based on one thing, Louis,” the king reprimanded him.
Lord Payne looked amused and walked over to join us in front of the sleeping boy’s cage anyway.
“Liam did say he wants a boy with dark hair,” he teased the king lightly as he walked over to examine the boy.
“Wake him up. I want to see his face,” Lord Payne’s demand was directed at the keepers who were stationed around the room.
I’m not sure how I was expecting the keeper to wake this boy up but I got a quick shock when the keeper jabbed a broomstick through a hole in the cage, stabbing the boy’s side harshly.
The boy jumped up then, hitting his head on the top wiring of his small cage. He calmed himself fast enough, but he kept staring down as he rubbed his head.
“Hey!” the keeper shouted, slapping the broomstick onto the outside of his cage, making the poor boy flinch.
He looked up now though. He stared, frightened, at the keeper, then to Lord Payne, and finally, his eyes landed on Louis and I.
He was beautiful. There was no other way for me to describe him. Long thick lashes, just as dark as his hair, framed his large brown eyes, keeping me mesmerized. His skin was darker than I’d ever seen, but it suited him very well. He was around my age, probably a little older. Even though he was young, the lines of his face were already defined and held a sharp contrast to the softness of his eyes.
“Liam will love him,” Louis giggled, almost bouncing up and down as he stared at the boy who looked terrified.
“Where is he from?” Lord Payne asked now, walking closer to the caged boy.
“Don’t know. The men who brought him say they picked him up from a peddler about two miles out. They got him for free, said he couldn’t speak English. We tried but he won’t talk,” the keeper told us.
Lord Payne looked at the boy more curiously now. He narrowed his eyes, as if searching for some kind of answer in the boy’s face.
“We can’t have that, can we? Liam won’t want a boy that he can’t talk to,” Lord Payne concluded and stood back up straight, “We’ll have to choose another one.”
Louis grumbled and set off again, looking around at the other boys. Everyone stepped away from the cage that held the now frightened boy, and I felt myself ache for him. If he can’t speak, he can’t understand. He doesn’t know what’s going on. Will he ever get chosen if he can’t speak?
I let Louis’ hand fall from my own, unnoticed by him, as he ran on to the next row of boys while I stayed behind. I crouched down in front of the boy with black hair. His expression turned into one of pleading as he crawled forward to meet me.
“Help me,” he said finally, voice no louder than a whisper.
My eyes widened at this. I thought he didn’t speak?
“You can speak? They think you can’t,” I whispered back.
“My mother English. I speak, but it hard understand questions fast,” he spoke in a rushed panic.
“But you can still speak. They might pick you,” I told him, feeling delighted with myself.
“I not want be slave,” he spoke, eyebrows scrunching together.
“Liam will treat you well though. He’ll take care of you,” I told him.
“I get out cage?” he asked now, eyes growing hopeful and I smiled at him.
“Yes.”
“Harry, what are you doing?” I jumped when I heard the king’s voice only a foot behind me.
I turned to face the king, having to tilt my head up to look at him.
“He can speak. His mother was English,” I spoke to the king in a shy tone, not wanting to be punished for any reason.
“She was?” Lord Payne asked now, turning from where he and Louis were looking over an older looking boy with brown shaggy hair.
“Tell them. Speak,” I commanded the boy in the cage.
His eyes widened once more as he stared at me. I could see the fear in his eyes as he looked between them. He shrunk back now, backing up slightly in his cage.
I leaned in and pressed myself to the cage he was held in.
“They’ll give you a home. You’ll have a warm bed and food. You just have to speak,” I whispered slowly to him.
I wanted more than anything to help him. He was like me. He would stay in this cage forever if he was too scared to speak.
He just stared at them, not even glancing to me as I spoke. I saw him shake with fear, frozen into silence.
“Aye,” I called out to him.
He snapped his head to look at me and I could see tears pooling in his eyes.
“Tell them your name,” I whispered, silently begging him to utter something, anything.
“Zayn Malik,” the boy, Zayn, said in a tiny, shaking voice.
I smiled, relieved that he’d listened to my pleas. One glance at Lord Payne and I saw that he was smiling as well. A little more confident now I turned back to Zayn, wanting him to speak more.
“Where are you from, Zayn?” I asked him.
“Persia,” he immediately responded and Lord Payne let out a laugh.
“I’ll take him! Get him out of that cage!” he boasted, stepping back.
A large smile broke across my face as I stood and stepped away while the keeper unlocked Zayn’s cage. Zayn slowly climbed out, stretching out his legs as he did so. The men that had examined me now stepped forward and grabbed onto Zayn, checking all of his limbs for malformations.
It took only a moment before the men stepped back and nodded to the king and Lord Payne. My smile widened even more. I’d helped Zayn. I’d freed him from his cage.
Papers were quickly signed and soon enough I was sitting in the carriage once more, now joined by Zayn instead of Louis. I watched as he ran his hand over the plush velvet seat in awe. It reminded me of my trip back to the palace when I’d done the very same thing.
My gaze fell from Zayn to the floor as the journey drew on. We were silent as we watched the scenery rush by.
Halfway through our trip Zayn finally spoke again. It was quiet and shy, but I heard it clearly over the sound of the creaking carriage.
“You slave too?” he asked sincerely.
I saw him take a quick glance at the purple collar secured firmly around my neck before staring down at his dirty fingernails.
“Yes,” I nodded back to him and he nodded as well in conformation.
“You born slave?” he questioned further looking up now to meet my gaze.
“I don’t know. I don’t ever remember being free, but I never knew my parents,” I answered slowly, letting him translate the words in his brain.
After a few moments he nodded again and looked back down to his fingers, picking dirt from beneath the nails.
We didn’t speak the rest of the trip back to the palace and when we arrived a preparation team was waiting to start getting Zayn ready for the presentation at the ball the next night.
Almost immediately as soon as we stopped Lord Payne was opening the carriage door and waving Zayn out toward him. Zayn looked to me with a scared expression and I nodded. He took a moment to breathe deeply before exiting, me right after him.
“Isn’t he just a sight? Liam will love him,” Lord Payne was boasting.
When I fully exited the carriage I saw that Lady Payne, Liam’s mother, was standing at the front of the preparation team. She was looking down at Zayn with a bright smile.
“How did you find him? I’ve never seen hair that dark before,” she laughed as she bent to examine Zayn, “What’s his name?”
“Zayn, he’s Persian.”
Lady Payne’s face fell.
“Do you speak English?” She asked, standing to her full height and looking down at him.
Zayn shrunk back from her now, pressing himself closer to me.
“He speaks some,” Lord Payne boasted but his wife was not amused.
She glared toward her husband then gave a sharp glance to Zayn and I before breathing out heavily.
“Liam will be disappointed,” she muttered then brushed something unseen off her gown.
“Liam will be overjoyed,” Lord Payne corrected her, stepping up to grab onto Zayn’s shoulder, pulling him forward.
A small whine left his mouth as he turned back and met my eyes. His large brown ones blinked helplessly as he let himself be led toward Lady Payne and the waiting crew of staff people. I wanted to let him know that everything was fine, that Lord Payne wouldn’t hurt him, but I couldn’t. I’d spoken out of turn too much today. I held my tongue and tried to silently communicate with him.
“Come along Harry, I’ve got to visit the tailor,” Louis appeared suddenly, pulling at my arm.
There was nothing I could do but follow him. Louis made the rules, I obeyed. This moment though, was the first time I desperately wished that I could live by my own rules. Zayn looked so scared and I remember the same feeling when I’d been brought to the palace nearly a year ago.
I followed Louis away obediently, glancing back to see Zayn was silently pleading me with his eyes not to leave. I nodded my head at him, trying to convey that it would be alright, but he didn’t seem to understand and soon enough he disappeared into a flurry of hands pulling him into the palace.
I stayed with Louis while he was fitted at the tailor’s and also when he went to find Liam to boast about his new boy.
“You’ll love him so much Liam, I know you will!” Louis had cried out, overjoyed.
It wasn’t until Louis and Liam were sent to fencing lessons that I was free to roam about the palace and the first thing I did was find Zayn. I went to the servants quarters where I remember being taken my first night in the palace, but Zayn wasn’t there.
It was while I was on my way to the main parlor when I was stopped by a maid. She looked frantic when she charged around a corner and almost directly into me. A rushed apology was falling from her lips when she seemed to recognize me and grabbed my arm.
“Playmate! I’ve been looking for you. You’re needed by the king!” She whispered quickly and began a quick pace back where she had come.
“W-What’s going on?” I questioned fearfully. The king needed me? Why would he be needing me? The king never asked to see me.
“It’s about the new playmate,” was the only response I received as she continued to pull me along behind her.
We made our way to the visitors section of the palace before the pace slowed and finally she stopped in front of a door I didn’t remember ever going through. She knocked twice and introduced herself before saying that I was with her.
“Send Harry in!” the king’s strong voice bellowed back and immediately the maid was pushing open the heavy door and shoving me inside.
I stumbled in and tripped over myself before finally losing all balance and just falling onto the stone floor. I winced before standing up quickly and bowing my head.
The king was smiling when I finally sneaked a look at him, as was Lord Payne. Lady Payne was there as well, with all of the preppers, but none of them were smiling.
“Good of you to join us, Boy! Come here!” the king was still smiling and extending a hand to me. I smiled back lightly and walked over to join him.
“I don’t see the point in this,” Lady Payne said, obviously annoyed.
“We’re just making simple observations. Nothing to be fussed over, My Lady,” The king said to her.
I looked around, thinking that I would see Zayn, but he wasn’t there. Lord Payne noticed my wandering eyes.
“He’s being fitted at the moment,” Lord Payne explained. I nodded and felt my cheeks flush in embarrassment at being caught looking.
“Strip, Harry. We wish to see your branding.” The king now informed me and my cheeks burned even more at the thought.
“B-But Your Majesty. I was told. I was told Louis was the only one allowed to see it,” I put my head down when I spoke, scared the king would be angry at my refusal, but also scared that I was being tested.
The king only laughed and patted my shoulder before speaking, “Good boy. You are right, but this one time we are making an exception. Here, undress and lay on this table, Lord Payne would like to examine it.” The finality is his tone is what had me unbuttoning my trousers and pulling them down.
I wasn’t sure how much he wanted me to take off exactly, so I just pulled the trousers down to mid-thigh, revealing the now healed brand. It was on the inner back of my thigh, ‘where no one will see it unless you show them’, I remembered the words that’d been spoken to me as the metal was heating in the blacksmith’s fire. I shuddered a bit at the memory. That week had been one of the worst I could remember. It had taken me so long to even be able to sit again comfortably.
“Take the trousers off, Harry. We haven’t got time for modesty,” the king bellowed out as more of an order than when he’d been speaking before.
I scrambled to rid myself of my shoes and trousers as quickly as possible, not wanting to upset the king any further. The moment I stepped out of the trousers the king was lifting me up and sitting me on the table beside him.
“Turn over then. Spread your legs, Lord Payne needs a good look.”
I nodded slightly to myself and if the king and Lord Payne noticed my slight hesitation, they didn’t mention it. I rolled onto my back and spread my legs apart, giving Lord Payne a full view of the branding I’d received a month after I’d been brought to the palace.
“It’s healed nicely,” Lord Payne said thoughtfully and I forced myself not to flinch when his hand grabbed onto my thigh and spread my legs further.
“All wounds do, with proper care of course,” the king boasted.
I saw Lady Payne move around the table and I flushed with embarrassment at the thought of another person seeing me bare and vulnerable. A delicate finger ghosted over the place on my thigh that sent a chill up my spine.
“Will Liam like that you’re hurting his new toy?” Lady Payne asked.
“Liam would like to know that Zayn belongs to him, and him alone,” the king was quick to respond.
“All due respect Your Majesty, but our home is a small one compared to this lavish estate. All those in contact with him will know to whom Zayn belongs,” Lady Payne answered back.
“All due respect to you as well, My Lady, but this brand is not for the eyes of others. It is a reminder to Louis that all of Harry belongs to him, and him alone.”
I felt a breeze on my bare buttocks and shivered a bit at the cold. No one noticed.
“My playmate had this very same seal on his thigh, just like my father’s playmate and his father’s playmate. I’ve no doubt that the Payne sigil was burned into your playmate’s thigh, Geoff,” the king continued and Lord Payne made a noise of agreement.
“I don’t agree with this,” Lady Payne stated and I felt Lord Payne’s grip on my thigh tighten.
“Hush woman. This is not your decision,” Lord Payne snapped and then immediately spoke toward the king, “My boy’s brand got infected and they had to cut out a whole slice of his leg. It wasn’t very appealing.”
The king hummed a thoughtful noise and ran a gentle finger over my scar. I shivered again, “That is a shame.”
“Yes, which is why I have such reservations.”
Before the king could respond to that, the door swung open and silenced the room. Zayn was being brought in by one of the tailor’s apprentices, dressed in a plain white shirt and black trousers. He’d been scrubbed of the layer of dirt that had been covering him on the carriage ride leaving behind smooth bronze skin, but he didn’t look any less scared. The moment his eyes met mine I could see his fear double. I felt helpless though. What could I do to help him?
“Alright, Harry. We’re done with that,” the king said pulling me up to sit me on the floor once more. I scrambled to pull my trousers on and lace up my shoes quickly. I could see Zayn being shuffled toward Lord Payne out of the corner of my eye.
Once I was dressed again I stood and made eye contact with Zayn who was staring at me horrified. It was like when our eyes met, something in him snapped and he started flailing around, pulling his arms in a weak attempt to get away. While the tailor’s apprentice fought to keep hold of Zayn, I saw Lord Payne step forward.
Suddenly a loud clap echoed through the room and Zayn was on the stone floor clutching a hand to his cheek and staring at Lord Payne with more fear than I had ever seen on a person’s face. Lord Payne crouched down then and grabbed hold of Zayn’s chin, examining the growing red mark on Zayn’s tanned skin.
“I don’t want to hurt you boy, but try that again and I’ll have no choice,” Lord Payne spoke slowly and sternly to Zayn, “Understand?”
Zayn gave a teary nod, and Lord Payne nodded back his approval. I took a tentative step forward, wanting to comfort Zayn, but stopped when I realized what I was doing. This wasn’t my place.
“Harry,” the king’s voice startled me and I jumped, looking up at him. He was staring right back, “Keep the new playmate company in the library while we make the rest of the party arrangements. I’ll have a guard meet you there.”
I nodded to the king and walked over to Zayn. Zayn seemed to welcome to familiar face but didn’t pull his hand away and his eyes didn’t dry until I had led him out of the room and into the corridor, making our way to the library.
“No want be slave,” Zayn whispered to me and grabbed my arm as we walked. My heart hurt for him, but there was nothing I could do.
“It’s not bad. You just…” I paused and thought through my word carefully, trying to make everything easier to understand, “You have to do as they say. They won’t hurt you if you just listen to them.”
“I no want be slave,” Zayn said again, and this time tears filled his eyes and he stopped walking to wipe at escaping tears.
I pulled him close to me then, feeling like it was all I could do. I had no power over Zayn’s freedom. I couldn’t do anything but comfort him.
“Not slave,” I whispered into his ear, “You’re a friend. A playmate. Not slave.”
Zayn seemed to respond to this a little better and so I held him close and kept whispering to him. We stayed like that in the hall until the guard sent to watch over us in the library came looking for us. He took Zayn and I to the library until preppers came to take him away for the party and Louis came to get me.
That night everyone watched as Zayn was carried in in a large ornate hand carriage, and straight up to Liam. They watched as a servant opened the door to the carriage and Zayn walked out to Liam and then we all watched as Liam jumped in excitement and hugged Zayn in delight.
It brought a smile to my face as I saw the fear drain from Zayn’s eyes with every passing moment. Liam locked a bright blue collar around Zayn’s neck but followed it with a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek as everyone cooed.
Later that night, after everyone had retreated to their beds and it was only Louis and Liam left awake, playing swords in the great hall, did I reach over and hug Zayn once again. He smiled at me when we pulled away, and whispered back my own words.
“Not slave. Friend.”