Lords amongst us
Warning! Rated M for Language, Drama, horror, violence, and Heavy Lemon!
You have Been Warned!
I just wanted to warn you about the type of story you are about to read. This story contains slavery that can be relatable to historical times, (I AM JUST USING THE TIME PERIOD!) Nothing more, if you are sensitive about this sort of thing, do NOT read!
Those who read this, I hope you will enjoy the story and to also note that I will NOT be following this time period 100% meaning you may find/read about things, that weren't actually invented during that time (So don't review or comment me saying "Hey they didn't invent or have that during that time!")
I am being creative, so please don't bash me for it!
Hope you enjoy the story!
Chapter 1
Mid-evening, just a little after suppertime, a horse drawn carriage followed, by a horse-drawn wagon with several men sitting in back pulled up, then stopped in front of a beautiful white mansion. Lightning flashed, threatening of the coming of a nasty storm, with little crackles of thunder.
Two gentlemen stepped out from the carriage, while three men stepped off the wagon, one of them being a young male with tanned skin, with spiky tri-colored hair, his hands were bound in rope, he wore nothing but ragged shorts, and he was filthy from head to toe, The other two men looked to be gentlemen as well.
They hauled the tan man through the front door into the mansion, several maids stopped to see them enter before returning to their work. A woman with dark brown hair, in a fancy dark purple dress with white lacing and pearls, who looked to be in her late 40s came from around the corner at the top of the staircase.
She just stood there, with her critical eyes, staring at the tanned man.
"This is it, this is the filthy creature, our lordship purchased?" she sneered judgingly.
"Yes lady Susan, this is him" one of the gentlemen responded.
Lady Susan just frowned, "Humph, he doesn't look special at all to me, if it were me I'd take him back immediately!" Lady Susan snapped.
"Susan, what is going on?" Called a young woman, she then comes out from the other end of the hall, with long blonde hair, that was pulled back and braided, she had a red dress with white lacing as well. Her beautiful blue eyes looked weary, and her pal skin looked as if she was ill.
"My ladyship" Susan gasped, at the shock of her appearance.
"Please Susan, enough with all the formalities, call me Heather" Heather tiredly stated, resting one of her hands on the rail.
"If you insist my Ladyship, but please shouldn't you be resting?" Lady Susan respectfully inquired.
Heather rolled her tired eyes, and then caught eye contact with the tan young male in the entryway.
"Hello who might you be?" Heather warmly greeted the tanned male.
"Ahem, this my ladyship is" one of the gentlemen spoke out until Heather interrupted him.
"Please, if the man can speak, let him speak" she stated in an annoyed tone.
"Atem, my name is Atem my ladyship" Atem quietly introduced himself, in his deep baritone voice.
"Humph, my ladyship you shouldn't waste your time squabbling with servants, when they have work to do" Susan arrogantly scolded.
"Well don't just stand there get him cleaned up, I want him working before bedtime" Susan ordered.
The gentlemen in unison yelled "yes madam!" then jerked Atem through one of the doors, and out the side of the mansion, and into a nearby horse barn, there Atem was shoved into one of the horse stalls, as one of the men grabbed a horse whip, the man cracked the whip at him, causing me to "dance" to avoid being hit!
"Remove your cloths slave!" one of the men mockingly yelled,
"Ya or we will for you!" another darkly laughed as the rest joined in, Atem did as ordered as he dancingly removed all his clothing leaving him completely exposed to them, although they'd never admit it, they were all taken aback to his muscular physique. the men quickly became jealous, and threatened by his intimidating good looks, one of the men then suddenly threw a tin bucket of ice cold water on him!
the ice cold water felt like a million sharp needles hitting his body, as he took a sharp inhale of breath from the shock of impact of cold water, they then threw a sponge brush at his feet, "Clean yourself" one of them ordered, "Ya and don't forget to scrub behind your ears!" one sneered licking his lips!
Atem wondered when this torture would end, as he quickly began washing himself, as they laughed, and threw more buckets of freezing water on him.
Several hours had passed, and Atem was in the kitchen with the other cooks, maids, and servants, looking freshly bathed, with newer clothes that didn't look ragged.
A basic white shirt with a foldable collarbone, black kaki pants, and leather shoes.
After "cleaning" Atem up the gentlemen left the mansion. Atem left the kitchen slowly heading up stairs to the ladyships room with a tray, holding a glass of water and some medicine, with a maid accompanying him.
Atem and the maid entered the room, which was massive in size, with a large bed with very expensive looking pillows and blankets. Heather lay in the bed, beneath the covers. Lightning flashed through the large arch shaped window, with a large ledge like porch connecting to it, with pillows of different sizes decorating the sides.
Susan seemed to be nowhere in sight which made Atem feel more at ease. Heather wearily turned her head to see Atem at her bedside, with the water and medication.
"My lady" Atem softy spoke.
" I heard what happened to you, I' am so sorry for the way you were treated earlier Atem, and Lady Susan can be grumpy sometimes" Heather apologized.
"No need to apologize my lady, it was just cold water, I have been treated far worse, and sour words don't bother me" Atem replied.
"Anyways I hope you'll like it here" Heather responded in a more relaxed tone.
Amber the maid, who accompanied Atem stepped forward " My lady, it's time for your medication" she timidly spoke.
"Please Amber, like I said before enough with all this formalities, I am so sick of all this formal bull-crap!" Heather groaned.
"But my-lady-Heather, what if your father shows up? Your father would thrash us for sure if he ever heard any of us calling you just by the first name!" Amber pleaded to Heather, dreading the thought of being beaten.
"Amber does have a point my ladyship, though my punishment would be far worse," Atem agreed with Amber.
"I understand your point Amber and Atem, but my father is never here, and since he isn't ever around, that leaves me in charge" Heather informed.
"Until your father returns" Amber replied.
"If he ever returns" Heather added.
"If I may ask my ladyship, where and who is Lady Susan?" Atem looked around to make sure she wasn't there before asking Heather.
Heather gave a weak smile "Oh you mean Miss-Lady-Witch?" she giggled.
Amber giggled, and Atem let out a light chuckle.
"Sigh, Lady Susan, was hired by my father, to be the "house keeper" to make my life less stressful, so I could rest more, because of my weak immune system, but she's been nothing but a pain since she moved in!" Heather explained in a frustrated tone.
"Believe me my lady we all know how you feel" Amber sympathized with her.
"Why don't you just fire her already?" Atem suggested, not seeing the bigger picture.
Heather just shook her head "It's not that simple, if it was it would have been done and over with by now, believe me!" she stated.
"I am listening" Atem said.
"Lady Susan is a "proper" lady, so in order to get rid of her, she either has to quit, or do something so terrible, that my father would feel he had no choice but to fire her, my father won't fire people that don't deserve it in his eyes" Heather explained.
"So your father will hire someone, even if he doesn't like them?" Atem replied not fully believing what he's hearing.
"No that's different, if he doesn't like them, he won't hire them, but my feelings don't matter it seems, I am apparently to ill to understand or think clearly…" Heather continued.
"That's terrible!" Amber cried.
"That just doesn't seem right…" Atem added.
Atem then backed away from the bed, and walked up to Amber pulling her aside, to talk to her in private.
"What medicine is this?" Atem whispered to Amber.
"I don't know why?" Amber replied.
"Why are you two just standing there gawking, give her ladyship her medicine!" Lady Susan barked angrily as she entered the room.
Atem and Amber snapped their heads in her direction in shock, nearly jumping out of their skin!
Atem turned his attention to the small bowl on the tray holding the pills of various colors and sizes.
"Are you deaf? Do as I ordered now, or I will have you thrashed and forced to sleep in the rain!" Lady Susan sneered.
Atem frowned as a bright flash of lightning filled the room, nearly blinding everyone for a moment, then followed by a huge rumble of thunder.
Atem very slowly walked back to the bedside of where Heather was resting.
Lady Susan stomped out of the room as Atem gave Heather the pills; Heather took the pills one by one very slowly. After the last of the pills were taken, Heather let out a yawn and rolled over to go to sleep.
Not a moment later two gentlemen followed by Lady Susan came bursting into the room!
The two men grabbed Atem and roughly pinned him to the floor, Atem growled in pain by how rough they were being. Heather bolted straight up by the sudden uproar.
"What in Sam-hell is going on, what is the meaning of this?" Heather yelled in great distress!
"See gentlemen, now he's causing her great stress, by withholding her medication, throw him out!" Lady Susan ordered.
The gentlemen then roughly started dragging Atem out of the room and down the hall.
Heather then began getting out of bed to stop them, but then was stopped by Lady Susan.
"No my ladyship, please remain in bed you are not well" Lady Susan respectfully insisted.
"Why did have my fathers men grab him and drag him out like that, what are they doing to him?" Heather questioned Susan in an angry and worried tone.
"But he did nothing wrong, he gave me my medicine!" she angrily added, while being restrained in her bed by Susan.
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with my ladyship, now back in bed" Lady Susan carelessly remarked.
Meanwhile…
Atem was dragged out of the house, through the mud in the pouring rain and back into the horse barn. Once inside he was harshly thrown against the wall!
Once he hit the floor, they grabbed him by his feet and pulled him closer, and proceeded to beat him, by kicking, and hitting him with a couple of wood beams that were found in the barn.
Atem at first tried to fight back, but found that it only made his current situation worse, Atem now did his best not to move, in hopes that they'd stop the beating soon!
The beating then suddenly stopped, but something was terribly wrong, the tension in the air was too thick and everyone was too quiet!
Atem was then dragged out of the barn, and through the thick watery puddles of mud, lightning continued to flash, followed by the roaring of thunder, calling out to Atem, warning him of the pending danger!
They then dragged him to a massive nearby tree, Atem then heard the words "get rid of him!"
"String him up!" another yelled.
Atem tried to muster whatever strength he had left to fight for his life!
But with no success, they pinned him against the tree as they bound his hands, as they hung and tightened a thick, scratchy rope around his neck!
One of the men threw the other end of the thick rope over a high, thick tree branch. Then one of the men pulled on the rope, pulling Atem off his feet, beginning to strangle the life out of him!
Atem thrashed about, desperately looking for a way to get a gasp of oxygen. Atem was near death, when all the sudden a gunshot rang out from behind the men, hitting the rope that was hanging Atem dead on! Atem crashed to the group gasping and coughing in fresh air!
Three men on horseback then charged in, with guns blaring.
Two of the horsemen chased off the two on foot as the third man on horseback stayed behind and yelled-
"Yeah, you better run, you Kaiba dogs! This is lordship Harsons territory, a.k.a Joey Wheeler territory hehehe!" Joey mockingly boasted, shooting off his gun a couple more times.
Joey then turned his attention to Atem who was still lying in the mud.
Joey got off his horse and kneeled next to Atem, he then proceeded to help Atem by unbinding his hands and removing the thick rope from his neck, Joey then helped Atem move up against the nearby tree.
"Th-thank you!" Atem breathlessly thanked Joey,
"No problem man, no one deserves to be hung unless they actually did something to deserve it" Joey remarked.
"I-I thought I was a dead man, a few moments ago" Atem added, rubbing his throat.
The two other men on horseback then returned arguing with each other.
"Damn it Duke, how could you let them get away, this is your fault!" the brown haired male shouted.
"What my fault? I don't think so Tristan, I wasn't the one who all-most ran his horse into a tree!" Duke argued back.
"Hey it is dark, and it's pouring rain, my horse has a hard time seeing, what your excuse Duke?" Tristan barked back.
"You guide your horse you moron!" Duke insulted.
"Hey clam up, over there!" Joey snapped at them, then returning his attention to the moment at hand.
Tristan and Duke then also dismounted from their horses and walked up to Atem and Joey beneath the massive tree.
"Hey guys, this is the new caretaker for ladyship Heather!" Joey broke-out in shock.
"Hey yeah your right Joey, did your mother help you with that one?" Tristan sarcastically remarked.
"Why I oughta!" Joey erupted.
"Who, what-what are you talking about?" Atem interrupted Joey.
"Wait, are you serious? Guys he doesn't know!" Tristan replied in surprise.
"Well genius, he was beaten and all most hanged to death by two of Kaibas' goons, and Lady Susan is technically in Kaibas' pocket, so how do you figure, Atem should now any of this?" Duke mockingly questioned.
"Wait, how do you know my name?" Atem questioned, looking at each of them.
"We did our homework" Joey replied smugly.
"What Joey means is that, we are Lord Harsons real house guards, and hired hands" Tristan clarified.
"So it's kind of our job to know these things" Duke added.
"So who is this Kaiba anyway?" Atem asked.
"Kaiba is a sleazy, rich punk, who thinks he owns the world and everybody in it" Joey said in a rage.
"Uh…yep that actually about sums it up" Tristan was about to disagree, but caught himself in time.
"Come on guys lets get him out of the rain" Duke said, gesturing towards a small house that peaked out from the small wooded area.
Joey wrapped Atems arm around his shoulder, assisting him up and into the small house, while Duke and Tristan settled all three of their horses in the horse barn.
Once Joey got Atem safely inside he plopped Atem on a nearby chair in the kitchen, which looked like a total disaster!
Atems eyes nearly bulged out of its sockets at the mere sight of the mess that filled the kitchen.
Joey opened up the fridge door and pulled out several beers, and handed one to Atem. Moments later Joey and Atem turned their heads to see the front door fly open, with Tristan and Duke physically competing to get through the front door first!
Even though Tristan had more muscle then Duke, Duke seemed to have more brains, right as Tristan was about to give a mighty "shove" to Duke, Duke ducks down in the nick of time causing Tristan to fly over him and land in the mud!
Duke then quickly rushes through the front door, past Joey and Atem, up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door and locking it.
Tristan then slowly stomps through the front door soaked in mud from head to toe. Tristan then walks up to Joey, taking a beer from him, then plops himself on a nearby chair, then proceeds to open his beer while kicking off his muddy boots, while occasionally shooting a death glare up at Dukes room.
"Thanks again for saving my life, I am truly grateful" Atem thanked them again.
"Think nothing of it, I mean you are one of us after all" Joey cheerfully stated patting Atem on the back,
Tristan nodded and raised his beer bottle in agreement.
"Wait, one of you, what do you mean?" Atem asked in confusion, looking back and forth between the two of them.
Duke then very cautiously came out from his quarters, and slowly down the stairs and into the kitchen with the others, Tristan did nothing as Duke grabbed a beer and leaned his back against the counter.
"You have got to be joking, you don't know?" Joey exclaimed, not believing what he had just heard.
"Come on guys it's not that hard to believe, he was hauled in by Kaibas boys wasn't he? He very well could have been banged up along the way" Duke explained his assumption.
"I still don't see how he could have forgotten something like that," Joey protested.
"Joey, think about it, what if he was hit upon the head one too many times what do you think would happen?" Tristan explained to Joey, trying to lead him to the right conclusion.
"Wait, you aren't seriously suggesting that I" Atem disbelievingly questioned, until he was interrupted by Joeys outburst.
"I got it, he got a concussion!"
"No try again" Duke replied.
"Possible…." Atem mumbled to himself.
Just then he snapped his finger, suggesting that he just had an epiphany, "I got it, a skull fracture!" Joey proclaimed.
Tristan slammed his hand down on the table in frustration "No you Idiot!"
"Still very logical answers…" Atem muttered to himself. Resting his head in his hand, watching them argue amongst each other.
"Amnesia, he has Amnesia you moron!" Tristan roared.
"What, what are you talking about?" Joey questioned.
Joey then turned to Atem and asked, "Do you have Amnesia?" Atem just shrugged in response.
"What kind of question is that?" Duke snapped at Joey.
"You don't ask someone who has Amnesia, if they have Amnesia you jackass!" Tristan roared at Joey smacking him over the head.
"Why I oughta!" Joey hollered in response, and then tackled Tristan to the floor!
Tristan and Joey wrestled on the kitchen floor as Duke and Atem watched. The fight eventually came to an end, as each of them got tired and gave up.
When everyone seemed calm and collected, Duke then spoke out to Atem.
"Look, from what we heard, you are not some ordinary servant, or commoner, from what we heard you are like a prince of some sort" he explained.
There was an awkward silence, until Atem cracked up laughing.
"Your joking right?" Atem laughed.
"No" Duke spoke, but then was quickly interrupted by Atem whipping out of his chair, sending it crashing against the wall!
"No, don't you dare, don't you dare MESS with me, ever since I was hauled off that boat from god knows where, the only life I have ever known is a slaves life, you aren't going to fool me that easily!" Atem roared at the top of his lungs.
"Look I know, you have been through a lot, but you have to trust us, you are a prince, you came here to marry lady Heather, if you don't believe us your little brother will be arriving soon to attend the wedding" Tristan calmly responded, trying to calm him down.
"Wait, you said I have a little brother, who's he?" Atem questioned.
"Yes you have a little brother, his name is Yugi I think, and I think he will be arriving in a few weeks" Duke stated.
"And what's this about a marriage?" Atem asked, feeling his weariness catches up with him. Atem then goes to his upside down chair on the floor, and flips it right side up and collapses on it.
"Now that is a longer story, maybe we should wait till morning to attempt to tackle such a tale" Duke suggested. Atem nodded in agreement, finding hard to keep his eyes open.
Joey leads, and helps Atem up the stairs and into his room. Joey lets Atem use his bed, and grabs some spare pillows and blankets and adjusts himself on the floor.
Though there was so much on Atems mind, Atem couldn't help but drift straight to sleep.