"Walk faster!" A man said poking a spear onto the back of his hostage, whose hands were bound with thick rope and eyes covered with cloth.
"Jesus," the hostage responded with a thick Italian accent. "Stop poking that goddamned stick on my back, you're going to impale me."
Lovino, the hostage brought from the Italian island of Sicily, was walking through the castle of Madrid, Spain. He wasn't even told where he was going or why; he had been blindfolded for the past few weeks. Throughout the time Lovino had been kidnapped, he was on a ship, and he constantly asked the men where he was going and why. Unfortunately, they never answered. So, eventually, Lovino gave up on asking.
The man huffed, "Alright. The king wouldn't like it if I made you bleed. Though, I wish I could…"
Even though the guard spoke in Spanish, Lovino could understand. He could also speak in Spanish; one reason why he was chosen.
"Bastardo, usted va a pagar por esto…" Lovino whispered.
"¿Qué fue eso?"
"Nada."
Soon, the man and Lovino entered the throne room through an enormous set of doors. There, the King of Spain was waiting.
"Ah! There he is!" The king exclaimed.
"Here is the servant you asked for, your majesty. Fresh from Italy," the man answered politely with a bow.
So that's what this is, Lovino thought. I'm a servant for the King of Spain now? This is fucking great. Can't wait to leave.
"South Italy?"
"Yes, your majesty. Sicily."
"Hm. Take his blindfold off, I would like to see his entire face," the king waved a hand.
The man nodded then promptly untied the cloth, revealing Lovino's hazel eyes.
Lovino saw the room in all its glory; the beautiful patterns and art, the stained glass, the marble, everything was beautiful.
Then there was the king; tanned, with short, chestnut brown hair and vibrant green eyes. He donned elegant robes and a jeweled crown.
Lovino's first thought was that the man who wanted him looked like an absolute prick.
"Beautiful! He's perfect, he will do. You may go, Josef."
"Thank you, your majesty," the man bowed and left.
Lovino watched the man leave; too fearful to look at the king directly. Not that he was exactly afraid of him, Lovino was just an awkward person. Especially since this was the King of Spain.
Lovino was on the cusp of beating him up out of anger, but he resisted that idea.
"So, what is your name?" The king asked Lovino, smiling.
Lovino said nothing and still kept his gaze away from the king.
Then he heard footsteps coming down the carpeted steps and towards him. Lovino recognized the sound of expensive boots.
The king stopped in front of Lovino. "Servant, there is nothing you can do other than answer me," he said with a harder tone. "So look me in the eyes and tell me what your name is."
"Lovino Vargas," he answered harshly -and a little too quickly-, simultaneously turning his head to look at the monarch. "And I'm not your servant."
The king smiled somewhat, "Nice to meet you, Lovino Vargas. I'm King Antonio Fernandez Carriedo. You, in fact, are my servant, and this is where you will be staying for the rest of your life."
"The-" Lovino started. "The rest of my life?"
"Yes. Forever and always."
Lovino allowed the king to walk around him and let hands be unbound; too surprised to do anything.
Lovino finally dared to talk back once his hands were free. "Take me back. I don't want to be here," he pleaded.
"Oh, Lovino, you won't go back," Antonio replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I want to go back! I miss my annoying little brother!" He needed to show his anger, he needed to vent. "I don't want to be your fucking servant!"
"My, my…" The king said almost sadistically. "Feisty, aren't we? You're the first one to say that. Most people would be honored to serve Antonio: the King of Spain!"
Lovino showed yet another sign of why he was chosen, he swung a fist right at Antonio's face.
Before he reached it, however, Antonio caught his fist. He laughed, "This gets better by the minute! My men chose you well. I wanted someone who would fight me back; it's quite entertaining."
Lovino brought his fist down and growled, "Shut the fuck up, you selfish pig."
Antonio's eyes gleamed, "You won't be punished for resisting me, so insult me all you want."
Lovino wanted to, more than anything. For right in front of him was the man who ordered he be taken from his home, but he couldn't bring himself to insult Antonio again. So he kept quiet.
"You should be thankful I'm not going to punish you! Be thankful, Lovi."
Ignoring the nickname, Lovino thought this would be a good time to obey. "I'm thankful, sir," he said with quiet hatred.
"Your majesty," Antonio corrected.
"Your majesty," Lovino said with a sarcastic bow.
"Good," Antonio said then put his face extremely close to Lovino's ear. "I'm going to straighten you out, servant. You're going to want to obey me when I'm done with you," he whispered.
Lovino shivered at this and felt a rush of fear flow through him. Why was he scared? The king wasn't even scary, Lovino could totally fight him if he needed to!
But then that fear increased when Antonio grabbed his shoulder, hard.
"That, or you'll be dead before you know it, because no one disrespects the King of Spain," he whispered again pulled back and paused. "Lovino, do you know that you're my first male servant?" He spoke in a normal voice now.
Lovino's eyes widened, "What?!"
"Yes. As you can probably tell, I'm quite handsome, many women would like to work for me. And I only pick the pretty ones."
Lovino kept quiet.
"Eventually, after a couple of years, I got bored. So, about a month ago, I ordered for an Italian man who spoke Spanish, was angered easily, was violent, and…" Antonio's eyes gleamed again, "Was very, very handsome."
Lovino blinked.
"Basically everything opposite from what I already have for servants. Male, foreign, violent, disrespectful, you get the idea. I just wanted some fun."
Lovino's eyebrows creased, "You took me from my home just so you could have some fun?"
The king smirked, "You could put it that way."
Lovino thought about the situation. He was taken from his home; stuffed in a ship on its way to Spain, never to see his brother again. He missed his home, his brother, all of it. And he was never to see them again. Lovino was out of anger, he wasn't mad anymore, but hopeless; powerless. So, instead, he collapsed on the ground and wept.
Antonio blinked, "Oh! Oh, Lovino…" He crouched down and tried to stroke Lovino's hair.
"Don't you fucking touch me!" He slapped his hand away and tried to yell, but a raspy voice emerged instead; caused by the crying. "I was walking…" Lovino said in a quiet voice.
Antonio listened.
"I was walking through town with my little brother, and these strange-looking men grabbed me by the arms… I punched one of them, but it wasn't enough. Before they knocked me out, I saw Feli try to fight back… He couldn't. He was knocked out, too."
The king wiped Lovino's tears away.
Lovino continued, "I woke up in a smelly ship. I couldn't hear that well; my head was pounding. The men told me something and then bound my hands and blindfolded me for a very long time." His eyes were dead and puffy. "After weeks, I finally got to get off that damn ship. I was sure I'd lost a fuck ton of weight…"
It was true, Lovino had lost about fifteen pounds in the two and a half weeks it took to sail back to Spain. The sailors didn't want to waste their scarce food on him. In truth, you could see the contour of his ribs.
"Now I'm here. Are you fucking happy?!" He yelled right at Antonio. "Do you realize you've destroyed two lives just so you could have some fucking fun?!"
Antonio said nothing.
Lovino's voice started to falter and decrease in volume, "Do you…? Do you-"
Before he could finish, the king embraced Lovino.
That was when Lovino broke down and sobbed; he hugged Antonio back, but he didn't know why.
"I'm sorry, Lovi. I'm sorry," Antonio said in a comforting tone, rubbing Lovino's back as if to try to suppress his sobs.
They stayed like that for a while.