"Hmm," his master hummed, "I've got to stop
asking you yes or no questions. You really don't like talking much,
do you?"
Kayden started to shake his head, but then
his eyes darted around them. No one was around. No one would punish
him for talking or making noises. "No, sir. I- I w-wasn't allowed
to by the h-hunters."
"You know, it's okay to talk here,
right?"
Kayden hesitated before his bright green eyes
rose to meet his master's. "I know it's okay to talk to you."
The duke blinked, his jaw dropped slightly at
what the boy was really saying. A slow curve appeared to the
corners of his mouth. He leaned in, wrapping his hand in the soft
waves and pulling the boy into his chest. He placed a kiss between
the two soft furry ears.
"I suppose that's alright then," Damien
murmured into the silky tresses.
"Come on. Let me show you the garden," he
said. Then he pulled away, turning to lead them around the side of
the house.
"I like the garden," Kayden said softly,
surprising Damien by speaking without being prompted by a question.
"I-it's the one from your window, right?"
Damien smiled broadly. "Yeah, it is."
As they came around the side of the house,
Kayden recognized the slave den several yards to the left. He could
see several slaves sitting at the outdoor table, eating their
afternoon meal.
"That's the slave den," Damien waved toward
the long building. "Most of the slaves sleep there, and most will
eat there as well, unless they are working in the house."
Damien heard a soft huff from the little neko
and looked down at him, frowning. "What?"
"I-I've already been there," Kayden said.
Damien looked startled for a moment, but then
realized he shouldn't be. He hadn't known what had happened with
Kayden when he'd arrived. He realized now that he had probably been
taken to Jacob Arnett to be collared.
"Oh, yes, well, I guess Arnett would probably
have collared you," Damien coughed, he looked around at the slave
yard again.
"Yes, sir," Kayden suddenly glanced at the
ground looking guilty.
Damien's eye caught sight of the tall shady
tree, and a smile curled on his lips. "Hmm, Harrison said you ran
up a tree on Arnett. Was it that one?"
The boy's cheeks were flushed in chagrin.
"Yes, sir, I'm sorry, sir, but--" he rushed out in a soft
whisper.
Damien chuckled. "I would have liked to have
seen that."
The green eyes shot up in surprise. "You--...
you would?"
"Oh, definitely," the duke laughed.
"Your Grace!" a voice called across the yard,
and Damien watched as Kayden shrank back into himself, nearly
ducking his chin to his chest as the slave master waved across the
yard. Jacob Arnett frowned at the duke. He would have sworn he just
heard the man laughing. But that couldn't be right, could it? The
oldest Whitmore heir hadn't really laughed in years. He pursed his
lips as he studied the man with the young boy inching in next to
him.
"Arnett, how are things going?" Damien
called, knowing the boy felt safer in his shell around other
people. Someday, he'd get the boy to come out.
"Fine, my lord," Jacob Arnett grinned at the
lord's good humor. The slaves behind him suddenly tried to scramble
to their feet to show reverence.
"No, no, don't get up," Damien waved them
back down. "Finish your meal."
Hesitantly, the slaves, a mixture of both
humans and nekos, returned to their meal as Damien engaged the
slave master.
"I see, you have the boy with you this time,
sir," Arnett eyed the young neko, wondering if the little kit was
the cause of the changes he was seeing in the duke.
"Yes, it's Kayden's first time outside since
he's gotten here," Damien said, as the boy seemed to shrink even
more into the cloak.
"Ah, good, he needs fresh air," Arnett
smiled, and his eyes twinkled. "Just keep him away from my
tree."
They both heard the soft whine, as Kayden
buried his head in Damien's back. Jacob was suddenly sorry for his
little joking comment, not having meant to upset the boy.
"I'm sure he's sorry," Damien said, trying to
soothe the boy.
"Of course he is, sir," Arnett said. "It
wasn't his fault. It was yours."
Damien froze, and the slave master suddenly
laughed, knowing the duke would not take offense like the marquis
would.
"If you had not been shooting skeet, sir, he
wouldn't have been scared up the tree," Arnett continued.
Damien laughed as he pulled the boy around
under his arm. "Yes, I suppose it was my fault then."
The neko glanced briefly up at both men,
realizing that they were not upset by his previous
transgression.
"I'll be getting this group back out to the
fields, sir," the slave master said, stepping away, not wanting to
frighten the boy.
"Thank you, Arnett," Damien said as he turned
Kayden toward the stables. With his hand on the back of the boy's
neck, he guided him down the small hill.
"Have you ever ridden a horse before?" Damien
asked.
Kayden shook his head instinctively. Then
glanced around briefly before adding softly before they ran into
anybody, "No, sir. I find them s-scary."
Damien chuckled again, realizing he was
finding it easier and easier to let go, to laugh and enjoy the
moment, instead of worrying about the future every second.
"I suppose they would seem scary at first,"
he said. He'd grown up around horses, had ridden his first horse on
his own by the time he was eight. It was a much smaller horse then,
of course. "But most of our horses are very well trained. They
won't hurt you."
As they came around the corner, Kayden
suddenly stiffened. Tobacco. He could smell tobacco amid the
overwhelming odor of the horses. He froze, not wanting to continue
closer, but also not wanting to be too far from his master.
"My lord!" a young groom abruptly
straightened, dropping his handrolled cigarette to the ground and
stomping on it. "Did you want to ride too?"
A small smirk appeared on Damien's face at
the flustered look of the groom. "I would prefer you take your
breaks farther away from my horses, if you are going to engage in
such habits," Damien stated.
"Uh, y-yes, s-sir," he stammered, looking
appropriately chastised. "I'm very sorry, sir."
Another groom appeared, leading a saddled
horse out of the stables, and Kayden jumped back behind his master
at the sight of the huge animal.
"Did you use the right saddle pad this time?"
snapped a horribly familiar voice from inside the stable.
"Yes, sir," the groom pulling the horse
forward stated.
Kayden froze as the sandy-haired master
appeared, following well behind the horse, pulling on his riding
gloves. Kayden clutched the insides of the cloak and nearly dove
into Damien's back.
"Roman, are you going--" Damien grunted as
Kayden suddenly buried into his spine. He cleared his throat. "Are
you going for a ride?"
"Heading into town for a bit, meeting some
... friends," he said, as he looked up. His eyes narrowed on the
little neko hiding behind his brother.
"I see you have the little tiger out and
about, now," he stated, his voice smooth.
"Don't call him that," Damien said. "He
doesn't like it."
The marquis glanced away, hiding his smirk as
he turned to mount his large mare. "I wonder why?" Roman said,
sounding genuinely concerned.
"I'm sure it's because a previous master who
hurt him called him that," Damien stated, glaring at his brother.
"So please refrain calling him tiger."
Roman just laughed, waving away his brother's
concerns for the boy. He deftly mounted his mare, quickly kicking
the horse's flanks to get her moving.
"Have a good ride," Damien called, waiting
for his brother to be off before moving.
After Roman had trotted the horse towards the
estate exit, Damien peeled Kayden off his back. He stroked his hand
over the boy's head, trying to calm the shaking body.
"It's okay. The horse is gone now," he said
softly.
Kayden only nodded, since the grooms were
still hovering, watching their master curiously. He glanced in the
direction the marquis had ridden off in and slowly released a
calming breath.
"I wanted to show you my horse," Damien said.
"But maybe you aren't ready to meet Jester."
Kayden looked up quickly. He didn't want to
disappoint his master. He smiled slightly and turned toward the
barn with a tip of his head.
"Are you sure?"
Kayden nodded, biting the edge of his
lip.
"Okay, then." Damien led the way into the
barn over to a very large black horse who poked his head out over
the stall door at the voice of his master.
Kayden stared wide-eyed at the monstrous
beast. He hadn't seemed that big when Kayden had seen his master
riding him that first day when he'd arrived at the manor. He was
massive, taller than Damien. Damien reached forward and stroked the
soft grey nose of the horse.
"Hey there, Jester," he greeted the horse
casually. "I want you to meet Kayden."
Kayden started to step closer, seeing the
ease with which Damien handled the horse, but then the horse
snorted loudly, and Kayden jumped backwards.
The duke chuckled. "They do that sometimes,"
he said. Then the large nose flicked toward the little neko and the
huge stallion ducked his head slightly. "See, he's inviting you to
pet him, now."
Kayden tilted his head and quirked an
eyebrow, stubbornly staying where he was.
"Here, give me your hand," Damien said,
holding out his for the boy to take.
Kayden eyed the massive beast warily before
taking a step closer and putting his hand in his master's. Damien
slowly raised the resisting, small hand to press against the
horse's nose. After a few seconds, when he was sure the horse
wasn't going to snap off his hand, Kayden relaxed his hand and
allowed himself to pet the horse. His master stroked under the
horse's neck as Jester nuzzled against Kayden's palm.
"See?" Damien smiled.
Kayden released the breath he didn't realized
he'd been holding and smiled at his master. Abruptly, Jester shook
his massive head at the fly that was crawling on his ear, and
Kayden jumped back again.
There were snickers from the barn door, and
they both noticed the two grooms watching Kayden's unease. Damien
shot the two young men a glare, silencing them instantly. The men
darted off with a quick bow.
"Well, we can work on getting you two more
acquainted," Damien said easily, patting Jester's hard neck.
After a quick glance to see that they were
truly alone, he moved closer to Kayden, wrapping his hand around
the boy's neck and drawing him closer. Kayden rose on his bare toes
to meet the warm kiss. It was quick, but it sent tingles down his
spine.
The two of them made their way out of the
barn, crossing to the garden. The bushes and flowers were green
with the spring bloom, and Kayden loved the soft crush of the grass
under his feet. He inhaled the various fragrances of the blooming
flowers.
They were about to make their way to one of
the benches when they heard a shriek of pain. Kayden tensed in fear
as Damien frowned, then started in the direction of the sound.
Damien's pace was faster and Kayden had to
nearly run to keep up. He tugged up the pants to keep from tripping
on them. As much as he didn't want to be anywhere near whatever had
caused the cry of pain, he didn't want to be away from his master
either.
Damien rounded a long building, halting at
the edge of what looked like a combat ring.
"Everything okay?" Damien asked quickly.
"Yes, sir," one of the men called back.
"Mathias just fell wrong, think he twisted his ankle. Brenner took
him inside. Nash went for the doc."
Kayden's quick eyes took in the various
weapons, both real and wooden, that were lined up against the edge
of the building as well as the dozen or so men standing around the
ring. His breath caught in his throat as fear paralyzed him, and he
almost took off running in the other direction, wanting a place to
hide.
Damien's hand caught his arm hidden in the
cloak, and Kayden whined when he looked up at his master; Kayden's
eyes were unfocused and wide with fear, his breathing hitching in
his throat.
Damien had turned to see the little neko
looking ready to dart, his face white, panic-stricken. "Kayden.
Kitten. Look at me," his deep voice commanded.
Damien smoothed his hand over the boy's head,
feeling the boy shudder then slowly relax in his hand.
"No one is going to hurt you here," he said
softly.
But the green eyes flicked anxiously to the
side at the gathered men who were now turning in curiosity towards
their lord.
With a firm grip on the boy's neck, Damien
gave a little shake. "Look at me," he ordered again, and finally he
saw the green eyes focus on his face. "Breathe, kitten."
Damien could practically feel the intense
fear seeping out of the boy's body as he calmed his breathing at
the sound of Damien's voice and the firmness of his touch.
"Good," Damien praised and almost kissed the
boy right there, but thought better of it in front of all the
guards standing around behind him. "Better now?"
A little nod told him that at least the boy
wasn't going to dart away. Damien shifted slightly and swept his
arm to indicate the well-trampled area.
"This is the training area for our guards,"
Damien explained. "All these men are here to protect me, us, the
whole estate. You don't need to be afraid of them."
Kayden nodded again, but didn't truly look
like he believed him, even though a few of them waved and
smiled.
"And that is why I tell you to always find
your stance!" Captain Brenner's voice shouted as he slammed back
out of the guard barracks.