"Oh my gosh, Bronk! What in the world are those?" Yuma was starry-eyes as he stared at the delicious-smelling golden brown patties.
"Fried potato hashes," Bronk said. "Shark told me how to make them. He did a lot of the wok himself, actually."
Yuma turned towards the Barian in amazement. "Really? Are they a Barian food?"
"A very common one, your highness." They had almost completely broken him of the "master" habit in the past few weeks. "They're really easy to make, and since potatoes are very common and store well, people always seem to have some on hand." They had been encouraging Shark to talk more, hoping to put him more at ease with them. Throughout his explanation, the purplette glanced up several times as well, having discovered that he would not be struck for doing so. He still didn't hold steady eye contact, though, it having been deeply ingrained in him that such an act only brought pain.
"Well, they look delicious. Come on. Let's eat; I'm starving." Shark felt a warm glow inside him at having once again pleased the Prince. Of course, easy-going Yuma was easy to please, and Shark was more and more amazed every day at how merciful his master was. Not once since being purchased had he been beaten, deprived of sleep or food, or worked until he could no longer move from exhaustion. And he knew, deep down, that he deserved such brutal treatment. He just couldn't remember why.
Shark was silent during the meal, listening to Yuma and his friends talk a mile a minute about every topic they could think of. He felt safe here, among the six friends. He knew now that none of them would ever hurt him. In fact, they all seemed determined to make sure he was comfortable and healthy. Like the time he had cut himself while chopping vegetables and Bronk had carefully bandaged him up, or when Cathy had stitched up his sleeve when he'd ripped it while working on the sails with Flip.
"Caswell and I can handle the dishes," Bronk said when the meal was over. "Why don't you go take a breather, Shark?"
"That's alright. I shimashita Tori that I would tasukete her with the randor." Shark said slowly, practicing the Tsukamonian words for promised, assist, and laundry.
Caswell grinned at him. "I told you he learned fast. Great job, Shark." He didn't add that he hadn't used the female version of tasukete as he should have when talking about Tori.
"Don't criticize him unless it's absolutely necessary," Kazuma had told them. "What may seem like a harmless correction to you may be a cause for fear for him, and he might revert back to the way he was before."
Tori and Shark headed towards the back deck of the ship, which was completely open and perfect for doing laundry. Usually, it was Cathy who helped Tori, but Shark had stepped in one afternoon when the gray-haired girl had sprained her ankle. It had been his fault- he'd startled her and she'd fallen- even if both she and Yuma insisted that it wasn't. He still didn't understand why they had said that. His master's kindness astounded him, but he had expected at least a scolding for causing Cathy to be injured. Instead, he was told that it wasn't his fault when it clearly had been. Actually, lots of the things that Yuma said seemed to be blatant lies. Like telling him that he wasn't a slave, or that he should be treated the same way as a free person.
He'd ended up helping Tori that day because he'd volunteered, feeling terrible about the whole thing. Of course as soon as he did, he'd worried that his master would be angry at him for giving away his time as though he had a choice in what he did with it, but the Prince hadn't said a word. Perhaps because he knew Cathy's sprained ankle really was Shark's fault and because Tori obviously needed the help.
The laundry process on board a ship was simple but tedious. The clothes were washed with a wash board and soap in a large bucket, put through the wringing machine, and then hung on the clothesline. When washing for an entire ship, it could be a daunting task, and Tori was glad Shark had offered to help. She was secretly grateful to Shark for another reason, though. None of the sailors could say now that laundry was women's work, because as they'd worked side by side, Shark had told her how in his country, men did laundry all the time.
That afternoon had really been when Shark had started opening up, having the first conversation with someone that didn't involve begging or blubbering. Tori enjoyed working with him, hoping to continue drawing him out of his shell and find out more about his story.
Scorch and Chills were loitering around when Tori and Shark passed them. Glares were exchanged, except on Shark's part, since he kept his eyes on the ground. Watching them leave, Chills let out a growl.
"That grass-head girl really gets on my nerves," he hissed.
"Take it easy, Chills. We can't do anything to her. Not without repercussions from they're oh-so-perfect majesties." Scorch and Chills resented Emperor Kazuma- they always had- they were just careful not to let it show. The queers had always been despised by the conservative Heartlanders- in fact, only Tsukamo was even tolerant of them. Even so, they lived in poor ghettos and were basically discriminated against anywhere else.
Emperor Kazuma made it clear that he thought the queer population- both male and female- was wrong to partake in homosexual behavior, but he also claimed that they could not treat them any differently for it. "Homosexuality is not a normal crime. We can't throw them in prison and expect anything to be learned from it. We must treat them as we would anyone else, despite their misconceptions."
To Scorch and Chills, this attitude was worse than being arrested and tortured and forced to renounce their sexuality, as the practice had been for many years. Emperor Kazuma did not hate their kind. He pitied them. And that was worse.
The Emperor had hired the two queers to teach his son- and his country- about tolerance. All Scorch and Chills and learned was that it was possible to hate a man more when you thought you already hated him with all your might. Now, though, now they had a way to get back at him. Everyone on the ship knew about the Barian slave and how the Emperor and the Prince were trying to "untrain" him. Most of them thought it was exciting, a way to help an unfortunate, but Scorch and Chills saw it as an opportunity.
If they played their cards right, they could destroy all of his majesty's efforts and never even get caught. Of course, this meant waiting for just the right time, and Chills was getting impatient. He had been getting impatient ever since Scorch had told him they would have to be patient. It was getting steadily worse since he knew they only had a few hours to wait. The Emperor's Key was going to dock in another port this evening, and as usual, the Prince and his little friends were going to go shopping. Emperor Kazuma was going with them, to keep them away from the slave markets.
The slave, however, had asked- cautiously- if he could remain behind on the ship, along with Lord Kay and a few of the sailors that needed to stay on board for security. Scorch and Chills had volunteered to be two of these, and although Emperor Kazuma had been surprised, (the two of them usually headed off to rent a hotel room for the night, since they weren't permitted to engage in any…activities while on board) he had gladly given them permission and praised them for stepping up. It made them want to knock his teeth out ten times harder.
The hours passed incredibly slowly, but finally the ship docked, the infuriating royals and their friends departed, and the slave disappeared into the Prince's chambers. Chills was ready to go right then, but Scorch held him back, reminding him that they didn't want to look suspicious. When the shadows had grown longer and most of the people on board had drifted off to their rooms, they at long last went to take their revenge.
Unaware of the approaching danger, Shark was working hard on his Tsukamonian studies. The more he learned of his master's language, the more he pleased him and his friends. He wanted to learn a few more words while they were out. Even though his master hadn't made any move to punish him, despite several mistakes, Shark wasn't willing to just believe Yuma meant him no harm, and wanted to be as much on his good side as possible.
Shark looked up slowly when he heard footsteps approaching. He was never beaten for looking people in the eye, but it was a hard habit to break. He froze when he saw the two queers in the doorway. He'd never figured out what queer actually meant, but he had no desire to be alone with these two.
"Hello, Sharky," the dark-skinned one grinned at him. "My friend and I have some business to take care of that concerns you. You need to come with us."
"Why?" the word was out of his mouth before he knew it, the fear of being called impudent having dulled a while ago, but Chills quickly enflamed it again. He practically flew across the room, backhanding Shark across the mouth. The Barian fell to the floor, giving out a soft cry of pain.
"Don't talk back to us, slave. Just obey orders." Shark curled up defensively, his survival instinct taking over.
"Come with us," Scorch said again, this time turning and leaving the room. Shark would have followed on his own, but Chills was enjoying using his anger and grabbed the boy by the arm, dragging him after his partner.
The two sailors took Shark to the lowest level of the hold, where hardly anyone ever came because it only stored things that wouldn't be wanted until they returned to Tsukamo. It was dark, lit only by a single lamp. Scorch cleared a small corner near a supporting beam, building up walls of crates for concealment, just in case. Then he turned back to his prey.
"You see, Sharky, your master would lose face as the Prince if he openly punished his slave. However, he can't just let you get away with things either. So he asked us to punish you tonight, and we promised to keep it quiet. So, of you mention it to anyone, your punishment will be ten times worse next time. Do you understand?"
"Ye-s-s s-sir," Shark stammered out.
Scorch grinned. This was going to be fun. "Get over here," he snarled. The slave obeyed. "Lie down on your back. No, not there! Place your head near the beam!" The slave hurried to obey, trembling. They were going to whip him on the front. He'd been punished that way before, but only once, and it was far worse than a beating on the back. "Give me the stuff, Chills."
"How come you get to go first?"
"Because it was my idea! Now give me the stuff!"
Scowling, Chills gave his partner the rope and cloth they'd brought. "I don't want to take any chances," Scorch said, grinning. "Put your hands above your head." Shark did as he was told, squeezing his eyes shut. Scorch bound his hands around the pole, preventing the slave from escaping. "Open up," he said tauntingly, forcing the cloth gag into Shark's mouth. "There's little chance anyone will hear you scream all the way down here, but I've been told I can be very rough." He cast a sly glance at Chills.
Only now did Shark understand. They were going to… He started struggling. He would accept any punishment his master would order for him, but not this, not this defilement…
Scorch slapped him across the face. "Stop your wriggling," he hissed. "Or I'll make this all the more painful." Shark wouldn't heed him. Chills, furious at his partner being so disrespected, jumped up and delivered a brutal kick to Shark's side.
"He told you to stop!"
"I can handle this slave's disobedience on my own, Chills," Scorch snapped. He began to remove his clothes, simultaneously ripping Shark's simple garments off of him. Horrified, the Barian tried to stop him, but with his bound hands, there was nothing he could do.
"That's right," Chills smirked, recognizing the anguish that the slave was feeling. "My partner's going to take you like a whore, and then I'm going to do the same. It's been a long time since we've had a fresh toy to play with."
Whore. The word echoed inside Shark's mind, bringing up an incredibly painful memory.
"Several months ago, the gracious Emperor gave me leave for a vacation. Naturally, I went to all the normal places for relaxation and pleasure- I am well acquainted with some of the best brothels in this fine country, you know. I enjoyed evenings with some of the best whores there are to be had in Astrania. One of them was quite young- a beauty with contrasting blue hair, pale skin, and pink eyes."
"A little while later, I discovered that that lovely creature had killed herself. A shame, really. She was a very good lay. Seems she'd been in a state of depression ever since her little sister had died of a fever. The brothel owner was more than a little bit upset at their loss; both of them were rare jewels, he'd said, and could have brought him a lot of business. As it was, he sold me this to get a little cash to compensate."
"This had belonged to the older of the sisters. I bought it to help my friend out- losing two whores within a couple of moons is horrible business, you know. Imagine my surprise when I found an almost identical ring on the floor of his majesty's banqueting hall."
"After asking around, I discovered it was yours. That poor slut wouldn't happen to be a relative of yours, would she?"
Violent tremors shook Shark's body as he remembered. He deserved this. He deserved it over and over and over again for what had happened to his sisters. He ceased his struggling. There was no point anyway. But no matter how much he told himself he deserved the rape, the slave still didn't want it. He didn't want the feeling of filth as his body was touched.
Some big brother you are. You won't even willingly bear what your sister had to live with. The voice in his head was back.
Lord Kay was looking over some translations that Shark had done in the room he shared with Caswell. The boy had quite a gift for languages; even most of the grammar was correct. There was one mistake, though, that kept appearing, no matter which language the passage had been translated from originally. Shark used the male form of verbs no matter whom he was referring to. Deciding that now would be a perfect opportunity to approach the boy with it (They were both alone, after all), Lord Kay headed down to Prince's Yuma's room, which was on the level below.
When he found the room empty, his suspicions were immediately aroused. Shark had been growing more relaxed around Yuma and his friends the past few weeks, but there was no way he'd suddenly up and decided to go wandering around the ship without permission. Lord Kay hurried back up on deck, searching for anyone who might have seen something. The first person he came across was a sailor who had made a bed out of netting that was waiting for repairs. He had pulled his cap over his eyes, and he was rudely interrupted from falling asleep when it was snatched off.
"Hey, what- Oh, I'm sorry, my Lord. I didn't realize it was you."
"That's quite alright. Tell me, have you seen Shark at all this evening?"
"The Barian? Only when he was saying goodbye to the Prince and his friends. Why?"
"I can't find him. He's so cautious that I know he hasn't gone off on his own."
The sailor's eyes widened. "You don't think Scorch or Chills had anything to do with it, do you?"
"Scorch and Chills?"
"Yeah. They were heading into that part of the ship a few minutes ago. I thought it was odd, seeing as the sleeping bay is in the opposite direction. Hey, are you alright, my Lord? I could get you some water-"
"No, thank you," Lord Kay had turned pale. "Right now it is of great consequence that we find Scorch, Chills, and Shark immediately. Gather who you can find and search the ship. Hurry!" The sailor hurried off, and Lord Kay wasted no time on starting his own search. He grabbed a thick rope to use as a weapon just in case; both Scorch and Chills were a lot bigger and taller than he was, and he wasn't going to count on them being reasonable.
Scorch had stopped with the foreplay and was getting ready to complete the act of rape. Several bruises already stood out against Shark's pale skin as he lay helpless, bound to the beam and gagged as well. His shirt had been ripped off, but Scorch still had to remove his other article of clothing.
Rebellion seized Shark, his body overruling the voice inside his head. He couldn't let this happen; no matter how much he deserved it, he didn't want this.
Coward! Coward! The voice screamed, but Shark wasn't thinking anymore. He was fighting. Fighting to retain the last shred of dignity he had.
"Hold still, slave!" Scorch shouted, grabbing the boy's ankles and pinning them to the floor with his huge fists. Still, Shark would not stop thrashing against him. Scorch was considering using his teeth to subdue his prey (both his hands were occupied) when a voice suddenly growled,
"Step away from him. NOW!" Chills jumped up from where he had sat down to watch and whirled around to see the Prince's school teacher standing in front of them. Scorch and Chills may have gagged Shark, but they had forgotten about being quiet after that. Once he'd entered the hold, it hadn't been all that difficult for Lord Kay to locate them, and anger at what they had been about to do had squelched any fear he had of the two degenerates.
For a moment, the two partners were two surprised to do anything. Then, a smirk slowly worked its way onto Chills's face. "Or you'll do what, Professor?" The rope Lord Kay had grabbed up on deck lashed out and caught the pale man's arm, leaving a red welt in its wake. "What the-"
"Get away from him! Get back, both of you! Back! Back!" Brandishing the rope like a whip, Lord Kay forced Scorch and Chills away from Shark and all the way up to the main deck. It was slow going, since there were three flights of stairs to climb and the two queers weren't being very cooperative, but they were soon out in the open.
By this time, the two would-be rapists were pretty scared. It was not every day a crazy, small-statured teacher came at you with a bit of string. "Lock these two in the brig!" Lord kay ordered the sailors who had come running at the commotion.
"My Lord! What's happened?"
"What's going on?" Questions came from all sides.
"I caught these two attempting to…to violate Shark. Lock them up!"
There was a shocked silence. For most of the sailors, the idea of a boy being…assaulted in such a way- well, it was barely plausible. Anger and indignation rose up in the group, and the two offenders were dragged away in a frenzy. Unfortunately, for many of the men that were present that evening, no homosexual would ever again be above suspicion.
Shark was petrified. True, he was no longer being raped, but why had Lord Kay stopped them? Surely his master's tutor knew that Shark had been disobedient was receiving a well-deserved punishment, ordered by his master. Was he going to come back and use the whip he'd had to finish the punishment?
Shark began to shake when he heard hurried footsteps on the stairs. He had been a fool to think that his master had treated him so well out of the kindness of his heart. Of course, it was to keep up the appearance of a kind and generous Prince. He was an idiot for thinking otherwise.
Lord Kay rushed to the Barian boy's side and began fumbling to untie him. "I'm so sorry, Shark. I'm so sorry." He pulled the gag out of the purplette's mouth and helped him to his feet, draping a blanket over him to provide some decency. "Come with me." Lord Kay guided him towards the stairs. "Everything's going to be alright, Shark, I promise." The teacher escorted Shark to the bathing room and filled the tub with warm water. "Scrub yourself clean. As many times and as long as you want."
Left alone to clean himself, Shark collapsed into a heap of self-loathing. He remembered. He remembered whom he had hurt. And the guilt was unbearable.
Emperor Kazuma and the six young people returned to find the entire ship in chaos. "Your majesty! Your majesty!" Six sailors began talking all at once, even though none of them had actually been there to see anything to tell.
Managing to get the gist of what had happened, the Tsukamonian ruler began looking frantically around for his friend, hoping the matter could be explained in more detail. "Kay? Kay! What the devil is going on? What's happened to Shark?"
Emperor Kazuma and the six young people returned to find the entire ship in chaos. "Your majesty! Your majesty!" Six sailors began talking all at once, even though none of them had actually been there to see anything to tell.
"Scorch and Chills tried to rape him, Kazuma." There were gasps of horror from Yuma and his friends, who had pushed their way forward so as not to miss anything, their amrs full of forgotten purchases.
"Rape?" Kazuma was appalled.
"Yes. I've never been so horrified, Kazuma, never. Thank goodness I got there in time. They didn't go all the way, but they certainly intended to."
Emperor Kazuma's face was grave. "Where are Scorch and Chills now?"
"I had them locked in the brig."
"Good, good." Kazuma turned towards his son and the other young people, who were standing nearby in a stunned stupor. "I think it's time for you all to go to bed. It's been a long day."
"But what about Shark, Dad? Can I see him?" Yuma looked more distraught than he had in a long time. I never should have left him here alone.
"I told you those two creeps were no good," Tori said, scowling.
Kazuma held up his hand. "I don't want any of you getting the idea that all homosexuals are rapists," he said. "Too many problems in this world come from people making assumptions and being prejudiced. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir." All six of them chorused.
"Yuma, you can speak with Shark, but I don't think we'll be able to get him to sleep tonight, and I will not have you staying up late with him. Do you understand?"
"But, Dad-"
"But nothing. I want you all in bed."
"Yes, sir." From the look on the Emperor's face, the six friends knew he wasn't joking. They trudged off to bed, each of them lost in their own thoughts, except for Yuma, who refused to go to bed until he at least got to speak with Shark.
The purplette was sitting in the corner of Kazuma's study, wrapped in a blanket. His hair was still damp from the bath, and he was staring blankly at nothing.
"Shark?" Yuma whispered, afraid of startling him. "Are you alright?"
It took a while for Shark to notice the Prince's arrival, and when he did, the reaction was terrifying. Shark threw himself to the ground, pressing his forehead to the floor, and began stammering out apologies.
"Shark!" Yuma cried, trying desperately to get him off the floor, "Shark, what's wrong? What are you sorry for?"
"I never meant to displease you, Master. Ple-please. I will accept any punishment you want to pass on me, but please don't let those men touch me again. Please. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
"Punishment? Shark, I'm not going to punish you for something that wasn't your fault. And I'm not going to let Scorch and Chills hurt you again. I'm the one who should be sorry. I wasn't here to protect you."
"But…but they said you'd asked them to punish me," Shark whimpered, trembling.
"WHAT? Shark, I promise, I never said that. I never wanted you to get hurt. Please don't believe that I did."
It took a while, but Yuma eventually managed to get Shark to calm down. The boy drifted off into a doze, and Yuma took the opportunity to slip away. It was almost one a.m.; his father wasn't going to be happy.
"It's not fair, Dad," Yuma said as he stumbled back to his rooms. He was so tired that the Emperor was practically carrying him. "He was exactly the way he was before. It's as if all those weeks of being kind and gentle with him meant nothing at all."
Kazuma sighed heavily. "I think that's what Scorch and Chills had in mind," he said. He'd gone to question the two queers himself and had been shocked at how much they resented him. Apparently he wasn't doing as good a job of promoting equality as he'd thought. Kazuma still believed homosexuality was wrong, but it was the act he despised, not the people who thought it was their only way to happiness.
But that aside, what Yuma said was true. They were now back to square one.
Next time on A Tale of Two Slaves: Yuma finds something that might help Shark to recover.