The sun was slowly rising, and Dashiell enjoyed how cold, fresh air touching his skin and how it filled his lungs. He couldn't help but stop and stare up at the sky and enjoy the feeling of freedom. He'd never been in the courtyard before, and he had to admit that it was absolutely beautiful.
It was expansive and filled with beautiful trees and nicely cut, flowering bushes. The lawn was so green, it was hard to believe it was real. The grass is always greener on the other side… I guess that's true he couldn't help but laugh. He wanted to stay right here and stare up at the beautiful sky, watching it slowly turn bluer and bluer. He dropped the blanket that he'd wrapped around himself before lying down on the ground. He just had to feel how it would tickle his skin, needed to feel anything other than pain.
Averet stared at him with wide eyes and picked up the blanket and threw it back over Dashiell's exposed body.
“What are you doing!” he hissed. “You can't just lay there…” he spluttered, gesturing towards Dashiell’s body, “like that!” But Dashiell wasn't having it, he pushed the blanket off with a smile.
“What is it Captain?” he asked, “are you not allowed to take off your shirt here?” He looked into Averet's pretty blue eyes, “or is it just you that I'm making uncomfortable?”
“Shut up,” Averet mumbled but Dashiell could see how his cheeks turned slightly red.
“Come on, lay down!” Dashiell teased, “let your guard down for one second and enjoy this beautiful day.”
“No.” He threw the blanket over Dashiell again. “And we don't have time for this! The prince ordered tha-”
“You know I don't take orders from the prince” Dashiell cut him off, shrugging as he pushed the blanket away. He loved how awkward it made Averet feel. He wanted to ask him if he'd ever seen a fully naked body before since it was abnormal to get so flushed over something so inconsequential, but he thought better of it. Mostly because he knew he had; he had seen Dashiell. “And I'd like to enjoy some time out here.”
“They are all waiting for you.”
“Who is? The princeling?”
“Dashiell!” he sneered. “Stop talking about the prince like that! And no, he is not waiting for you. I'm talking about the people who will attend you.”
“Attend me?” Dashiell sat up straight, “I don't want anyone anywhere near me. I am perfectly able to bathe myself.”
“It's not that I don't trust you to clean yourself,” Averet laughed, “truly! But you haven't been anywhere near a bath for over a week. You're not exactly smelling of roses.”
He was suddenly glad that his nose was broken, as he wasn’t really able so smell that much. He could imagine how bad he must smell though. The only thing they’d done for him was clean his wounds and wipe some of the blood off of his body.
“Shut your face!” Dashiell giggled- he couldn't help it. “And who's fault is that? You could have attended me yourself while I was locked up.” The captain’s cheeks were turning red again, he cleared his throat and avoided Dashiell's eyes.
“I do not attend to people.” he huffed out, crossing his arms over his chest,
“There's always a first time for everything,” Dashiell said, winking at him.
“No, there's not. Now get up.” Averet grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet, picking up the blanket for the third time and wrapped it around Dashiell's shoulders.
“Come on Captain!” Dashiell laughed “You’re already doing such a great job hiding my body away from anyone else.”
“Move!” Averet said as he pushed him gently forward, cheeks still red.
He was escorted through the courtyard towards a castle entrance, dark stone walls tall and imposing. Dashiell had never imagined that he would ever step into this place. It was immense, with unpolished black stone floors and high ceilings. Deep, burgundy carpet runners rolled down the middles of the hallways, and a collection of tapestries and paintings framed in ornate gold adorned the walls. The uneven rolls were broken intermittently by the addition of a small vase topped table and an uncomfortable-looking chair like perhaps the castle was so vast, frequent rests were required. He wanted to stop up and study every painting, smell every bouquet on each table, but Averet held his arm in a firm grip as he pulled him forward. Dashiell was okay with it; he would soon be free to do whatever he wanted again.
He was pushed into a huge bath chamber where two attendants stood, waiting for him. He turned around and looked back at Averet, but he just shook his head and left the room. Dashiell was left alone with two young men. They couldn’t be more than 25, both of them were astoundingly beautiful and both of them were naked. Dashiell didn’t know where to look. It didn’t feel right to just stare at them.
“You need to come over here so we can bathe you,” the smaller of the two said with a little smile. Dashiell felt a shiver run down his spine. There was no way in hell that he’d be able to look at them and have them touch him without having a physical reaction to it, and that could not happen.
“I’m perfectly capable of taking a bath myself. I don’t need anyone to attend me in any way,” he sighed.
“You have no need to be shy,” the other said, “we won’t hurt you.” I know that! You look far too kind and beautiful to be bad people.
“The prince told you?” Dashiell asked, raising a slim eyebrow.
“Yes, and he told us to give you the best treatment.” The young man stepped closer to him, holding his hand out for Dashiell to take. “You just have to relax.”
“Heavens,” he sighed, letting himself be pulled over towards the baths. “What are your names?” He asked as one of them took the blanket off his shoulders.
“My name is Keos,” said the young man who’d taken his hand. “And that is Warin.”
Warin was on his knees opening Dashiell’s pants, while Keos was standing at his side, smiling at Dashiell.
“I’m Dashiell,” he said with a shrug.
“We know,” Warin said. Of course, you do! Everyone apparently knows everything!
He was standing in front of them both, naked, and he felt so awkward. Being naked with a client was one thing since he knew what he was doing and what was expected of him but in a situation like this, he felt out of sorts.
They encouraged him to step down into the baths. The warm water felt so good against his bruised skin and every muscle in his body began to relax. He’d never really tried taking a warm bath, only cold ones. It felt fantastic.
He sat down as Keos and Warin began to wash his hair and body. He found he didn’t mind it as much as he thought he would. He actually enjoyed it, though his cheeks went a little red when he felt himself getting hard as Keos was cleaning between his legs.
“Don’t worry about it, happens all the time,” he said with a kind smile, and Dashiell just nodded. Yeah, that’s easy for you to say.
While he did enjoy it, being attended to was certainly a weird feeling and Dashiell didn’t understand why people couldn’t just bathe themselves. He looked at Keos and Warin and wondered if they served the prince in the baths too, there was no way in hell, that the stuck-up princeling was capable of doing anything on his own. Dashiell didn’t understand why the prince was doing all of this for him, it wouldn’t change his mind. He would not work for him.
When he left the bathing chambers, Averet was standing by the door, waiting for him.
“Do I smell like roses now?” Dashiell said with a smile, as he stepped close. Averet, however, cleared his throat and took a step back.
“No,” he said, “but at least I’m not about to throw up anymore.”
“Shut up!” Dashiell laughed. “So what now? Are you going to feed me? Maybe get some attendants to do it?”
“I think you can manage to feed yourself,” Averet said, gesturing for Dashiell to follow him. “I’ll be taking you to your room and the food will be served there.”
“My room?” Dashiell repeated, looking at Averet with his eyes wide. “I get my own room?”
“What did you expect?” Averet laughed, “that you would sleep in a cage in the prince’s chambers?”
“Hey, you never know! Maybe he’s got a weird fetish.”
“Don’t even go there,” Averet sighed.
They walked through the prince’s quarters, which was really the entire west side of the castle. Of course, it’s huge! How could he possibly settle down with any less!
It was rather beautiful, and Dashiell liked the idea of himself living there, even though he would never admit that.
He would love to have his own bed to sleep in every night, and not think about how many people he’d have to fuck to get food for the day. At that moment, he decided that running away was a stupid idea. As long as he wasn’t going back to a cell, he could be happy. He still didn’t want to work for the prince but if this was his so-called punishment, then he was absolutely fine with it.
“Is Eudon still working for the prince?” He didn’t want to think about it, but he needed to know if there was any chance that Eudon could get his filthy hands on him again. He couldn’t go through that again.
“No,” Averet said. He stopped abruptly and took hold of Dashiell’s arm “The prince will never allow someone like him to work for him. Eudon has been exiled, he can’t hurt you again.”
“Okay,” was all he could manage.
When Averet opened the door to his room, he nearly passed out. It was, quite simply, enormous. A vast four-poster bed was to one side, the deep, almost black wooden frame was offset with intricate gold carvings. Heavy velvet black curtains draped across the top made the big bed seem elegant and inviting. Someone had taken the time to hang paintings on the stone walls, dark landscapes, and blood-red roses. He had his own small, gold-trimmed bathroom, the door just past the bed. On the other side of the room with a view out three of the rooms six windows, was a small sofa and a slightly over-stuffed armchair: both in similar shades of deep red. A small table sat between them with a lavish flower arrangement, artfully placed so you could sit and talk comfortably. Under the remaining windows sat, what can only be described as a regal desk in dark wood, stationary already in place as though Dashiell had someone important to write. Between the window sets was a double-wide door, leading out to a private balcony overlooking the courtyard he had walked through just that morning. If he looked far enough into the distance, he could see the deep green of the forest trees bursting up into the sky. Everything was just over the top perfect, and dare he say, princely.
“In you go,” Averet urged.
He walked into the room, straight toward the huge bed, and threw himself down on top, burying his face in the blood-red cover and laughed. He’d never laid in a bed quite like this before, so soft, half a dozen oversized pillows artfully stacked at the top, the fabric soft as butter under his skin.
Averet was leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his wide chest and a big smile across his face. Dashiell was rolling around on the bed, still laughing.
“Is this really mine?” he asked, gesturing to the bed.
“Yes, this is your room Dashiell,” Averet smiled fondly at him.
“Seriously! Come feel it.” He sat up on the bed and waved Averet over. “It’s so soft!”
“I don’t have to,” Averet shook his head. “I know how a bed feels.”
“No, really! Come on!” he was bouncing up and down on the bed now. His bed. Averet looked around hesitantly but ultimately gave in and walked over to sit down next to Dashiell. “See! It’s so soft.”
“Yes, it is,” he smiled softly.
Dashiell laid back on the bed, pulling Averet down next to him.
“Loosen up captain,” he said. “Just relax and enjoy the softness.”
“I have work to do, Dashiell,” Averet mumbled.
“And what is that? To look after me, right?” Dashiell asked. “Well, I’m going to stay on this bed for the rest of my life anyway, so isn’t it more comfortable for you to lay here instead of watching from the door?” He turned his head to look at him, only to see that Averet’s gaze was on him already. “What?” Dashiell asked
“Nothing, I was just thinking,” Averet gave a little smile and turned to stare up at the ceiling.
“About what?”
“You,” he shrugged, “you seem so young and carefree… but you’re not, are you?” Dashiell’s smile stiffened and he looked away from Averet. “I know your life must’ve been hard, that it still is, with everything that has happened to you this past week. How are you able to smile?” he turned his head to look at Dashiell, but Dashiell didn’t want to meet his eyes.
“I just try and think about something else,” he said quietly. “Life is never easy.” Especially not his life, it never had been. Ever since he was born, things had been bad. When he was younger, he often wished he hadn’t been born at all. If his whole life was going to be so rough, then what was the point of even existing.
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