description: slavery has been outlawed in Araluen; however, there are still those few that own them, and of course there are illegal slave traders. what happens when King Duncan and his group come upon a young slave that has them all falling in love with him, even the emotionless Halt? a young slave has somehow found himself to be the company of the king and some of his men, what will happen to him? and just exactly who it this slave?
warning: punishment of slave, mentions of inappropriate touching, blood, memories, beatings, and so on. ALMOST RAPE!
disclaimer: all known characters belong to author, John Flanagan! not me!
Ok, so I've decided to go ahead and do the compromise version;because A, it will please almost everyone: B, it's my fav: C, it will make the story longer: and D, my niece read this and wanted that version. have any of you every tried to say no to a six year old girl when she's giving you those big cow eyes and that damn pout? it's not easy.
Halt's POV:
"will you shut up?" I asked tautly.
Horace shrugged in apology. "I'm sorry" he said, "I sneezed. A person can't help it when they sneeze."
"Perhaps not. but you could try to make it sound a little less like an elephant trumpeting in agony"*1
"lighten up a little halt, the visit was a success, we got the treaty and we haven't even been attacked this trip." Gilan said with a smile, and I quickly turned my glare to him.
"Gilan, how many times have I told you not to say something like that, I won't be surprised if we are attacked before the day is over." I snapped at him, making sure my face is emotionless.
my name is Halt, I'm an Araluen Ranger. I am originally from Clonmel, but I came to Araluen when I was a young teen, running after I faked my death. I'm traveling with Araluens King, Duncan, who had to travel to a neighboring country to create a treaty before a war broke out. the trip has so far gone off without a hitch, we got there with no trouble, the treaty was signed, and now we are on our way back to Castle Araluen. our party consists of Me and my fellow rangers Gilan, my former apprentice, and Crowley, the Rangers Commandant. Horace, a battle school student who has shown himself to be able to already protect the king, and sir Rodney, the battle-master of Redmont. King Duncan, and about fifteen of his best knights.
"Halt, is we are attacked or we find trouble before the day is out, I'll cook dinner for the whole camp tonight." Gilan said, then he began to laugh not thinking it would actually happen. "come on Halt, loosen up a li..."
he didn't get to finish as Crowley put his hand over his mouth and make a shushing motion towards every one. he looked at me and pointed towards the meadow to our right. and as he did I smelt blood. Crowley, Gilan, and I shared a look before turning towards our company.
"be quiet, be ready. we don't know what is ahead of us, but we need to be prepared." Crowley said, he looked at King Duncan. "My Lord, it might be best if you were to stay here with guards as we check it out."
"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself in a fight." he told Crowley, "but some one might need our help and us standing here arguing isn't going to help 'um."
as he finished I had to fight to hide my grin (A/N, Halt is a bit OC ish). anyone that knew Duncan knew that he wouldn't stay back and let others fight when someone was in need, especially when it was in his own kingdom.
"Crowley" that's all I needed to say for him to see that he wasn't going to win, so he nodded. I turned slightly towards Gilan "looks like you'll be making dinner tonight."
Gilan just nodded and Crowley gestured for us to move forward, as one we moved towards the meadow. the smell of blood got stronger as we entered the meadow. the meadow contained only a wagon, a few horses, and two men. from where we were we couldn't see into the wagon, but I had this odd feeling that told me that it wasn't good.
"hello" called Crowley, taking command. before entering we had decided that Duncan should pretend to be just another guard, and that if asked we would pretend that Gilan was the kings son and that's what all the guards were for. "it's getting late and we need a place to camp, mind if we share this meadow?"
"yes, we do." one of the men said rudely.
"John, behave." the other one said, smacking 'John' on the back of the head. "I'm sorry for my brother, we would be fine with you joining us as long as you stay on that side of the meadow."
as soon as the words were out we all were on high alert, knowing that there was something bad in that wagon, something they didn't want us to see. what one one, except Gilan and Crowley, noticed was that I had slid back into the woods and had circled around until I was behind the wagon, and able to see the blood coated coffin within. I gestured for Abelard to be quiet and keep a look out as I slid from the saddle and quietly climbed into the back of the wagon. I took out my sax knife and quietly and gently slid the lid off the coffin, gasping quietly as I took in the man inside. the boy looked to be no older that fifteen, with dirty blond/almost brown hair, and a strong but but small build. shaking my head, I take in his appearance; god, he is covered in blood, and it appears as if his wrists and ankles are bound together with chains. I gently began to lower the lid, only to stop as I hear a soft gasp, shocked and thinking I'm hearing things, I lift the lid and look at the young man. I'm shocked, this child is still alive. I continue to look at this young man, until I hear a cry.
while Halt had been in the wagon John had been watching the men that sat on the horses before him. he knew something was off but couldn't place what, until he saw on of the men looking towards the wagon and sniffing. sniffing the air himself, John caught the unmistakable smell of blood. as the man began to open his mouth John thought he was going to say something and he knew that if he did he and Al would both be dead. so he did what he always did when scared, he drew a knife and thew it at what caused his fear. Duncan cried out as the knife embedded itself into his side. before anyone else could move Crowley and Gilan and shot off arrows and John and Al were lying on the ground dead. the guards quickly lowered their king to the ground, and Halt quickly was at his side and taking care of his wound, after all, Halt was the best doctor they had with them. as he worked Halt spoke to the men and Duncan.
"there is a coffin inside of the wagon, I believe these men were slave traders, because in that coffin is a young man that is still alive." I talked quickly as I tended to Duncan, knowing that I needed to see to that boy soon of he would die. "four of you, get that coffin out but be careful, place it on the ground next to king Duncan. one of you get that pot of water off that fire and bring it here. two of you take care of those bodies. the rest of you start setting up camp and get dinner going. Gilan, start a broth."
everyone began to do there jobs, and by the time the coffin was placed beside Duncan most of the men were done. the water was beside me and Duncan had been patched up. the bodies were taken care of, and the camp was completely set up. diner was being made, and Gilan had finished making brother and it was now in a bowl beside me. '
with a shuddered sigh I turned to the coffin, and every one stopped what they were doing to get a look at who ever was the unfortunate soul to be in it. taking out my sax, I once again removed the lid, ignoring the gasp's that emitted from Duncan, Crowley and Gilan as they all saw the boy. as gently as I could I picked the boy up, instantly noticing how light he was and how his back felt as if it had been whipped. knowing this could be the case, I laid the boy on his stomach on the the blankets that had been laid out for him next to the king. everyone now gasped as we all saw his back, and how his entire body was covered in blood.
"Ranger, I found the keys to those chains." a guard said softly as he handed me a couple of keys. taking them, I quickly unchained the boy and laid his arms beside him, making it easier for me to see to him. by now dinner was done, but no one was hungry as everyone gathered around me as I took a rag and began to clean the blood from the boys body. I got his upper body as clean as I could before taking bandages and taking care of this back and wrapping it up. then I turned to his lower half. thankful that there were only men here, I pulled the boys trousers off, and gasped as I saw the boys ass, and the clear sighs that he had been violated, but being thankful that it was clear it had only been fingers, he hadn't been completely raped. I quickly finished cleaning him, and turned back towards the others after covering the boy.
everyone was now sitting around a fire, quieter than they had been this entire trip. Duncan had been moved there and was now leaned up against a log, switching between glancing at the boy and looking into the fire. I noticed that a couple men were standing guard around the meadow, and relaxed a little as I sat and excepted a cup of coffee from Gilan. everyone turned to me.
"he's lost a lot of blood, but if we can get some broth and water into him he should make a full recovery. those men were slavers, that boy has been made into a slave, I don't know for how long, or if he's been broken, but all we can do now if help him and hope we can show him he's not a slave."
before anyone could say anything, a voice spoke from behind us.
"I belong to no man."
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