Another Day

Chapter 6

A whole new world

Kai rubbed his sore wrists and jumped up and down to get his feet awake. Then he watched as Enrique helped Rei down from the carriage roof. As soon as the black haired boy was loose he swung his legs over the fence and jumped of the carriage. His landing was a little crocked though; one of his feet gave away a little and Rei winced in pain. Kai wondered what was wrong.

The black haired teen was escorted over to where Kai stood and they greeted each other with familiar glares, but before they could restart their argument, Kai noticed Ivanov coming towards them with the bespectacled servant behind him.

The master of the house spoke up as he neared them, "I hope Kai gave you no trouble on the journey, Enrique."

The blonde took a pause from unsaddling the horses and smiled, "Oh, he behaved like a dream, sir; no problems there."

Ivanov turned to Kai and Rei, "I am glad to see you two have taken to your wits again. Let us hope you stay that way. I do not enjoy harming anyone, but you are my property now and I will punish you if I must. Now, this is Boris," he gestured to the man next to him, "He is the supervisor of the staff, and will show you around. I will see you later to inform you of your place and to introduce you," he pointed at Kai, "to your master; my son, Tala."

With that the big man escorted his wife into the house, and Enrique went to put the tired horses in the stable. Kai was left alone with Boris and Rei.

Boris looked both slaves up and down a few times. The blue haired teen did not let any emotions other than defiance show on his face. To his surprise, Boris reached out and made to touch his cheek. Kai pulled away, but Boris did not pursue him. Instead he said, "Interesting markings...where did you get them?"

Kai had to stop himself from touching the black triangles. "It's none of your business," he retorted.

Boris smiled unpleasantly, "Now that is where you are wrong, young Kai; everything going on in the Ivanov mansion is my business. That would be one of the rules both of you should strive to remember."

He did not wait, but began walking in the direction of the house immediately. Kai and Rei had to jog to keep up with him. They turned a corner and passed the stables. Boris began his lecture without casting as much as a glance to see if the two boys were following him. "Outside are the garden, the stable and the bird cage. You can come and go as you want, but don't upset the animals and don't step on the flowers."

They passed a huge cage with fine-meshed netting. Inside there were many sorts of birds, from actual peacocks to white doves and parrots. They sat on sticks in the walls, hopped around on the ground and clung to the netting. There was an infernal racket as all the birds chattered at the same time. Yet, even with the feathers that covered everything, it was a rather impressing sight, especially for Kai who had only seen a few of the species before.

Boris stopped for a moment and muttered, "Steve has to clean that cage soon..."

They walked around the house until they came to a back door. On the way they met a few people who studied the new slaves curiously, but they never stopped to greet anyone. The back door was plain and simple compared to the grand, double doors that marked the main entrance.

"This is where we go in and out. You must never use the main doors unless in great need or in company of the family. This one leads directly into the kitchen." Boris opened the door and pushed them in. The boys were met with a cloud of steam and a wave of heat. The kitchen was a blur of activity; the master had returned and he was hungry. No one stopped to ask Boris who the new teens were. It was clear who was the boss in here; a fat woman with her hair in a bun and a very clean apron was shouting orders and stirring five or six pots at the time. Around her ran two children; a boy and a girl.

Kai stood in awe and watched all the different food being prepared. His stomach growled loudly, but he stayed well away from the plates set ready to carry upstairs to the dining hall. Rei was not half as shy though; he reached out but was effectively stopped when the cook smacked his fingers. Rei yelped in surprise and pain.

"No touching!" The cook scolded and shook her ladle at him. Kai laughed. The pony-tailed boy stuck his tongue out at Kai. Then Boris was behind them and pushing them through the kitchen and up a stair.

They came into a hall with a long, colourful carpet on the floor, and white walls. There were brown doors on both sides and Boris knocked on one. It was opened by a tall, dark-skinned boy with white clothes. He nodded politely to Boris and smiled friendly-like at Kai and Rei, "What can I do for you sirs?"

Boris did not waste his time on pleasantries, he simply pushed the two boys forward, "Give these two a bath and find them some clothes; they can't walk around without a shirt in the house, there are ladies here."

Then he looked warningly at the two slaves, "I have seen and heard only negative things from you two so far, and if you don't behave yourself I will make life very painful for the both of you. So no quarrelling." He turned to leave, but then he added, "Oh, and Eddie? Judy will be along to pick up the boys later." Eddie nodded.

This room was more the size that Kai was used to. It had tiles on the floor and on the walls, and in the middle there was a tub filled with water. There were also some shelves with bottles and sponges. Steam rose from the tub and curled lazily in the air. Eddie walked over and put a hand in the water, "It's a little hot. We'd better add some cold water so we don't damage your backs and all. Poor things; whatever did you have to do to deserve that mess?" Kai realised that this was the third time today that someone has called him 'poor thing'.

Cold water was poured into the tub, and when Eddie thought it enough, he gestured to Kai, "Why don't you go first?"

Rei sat down on a three-legged stool to wait for his turn.

Eddie studied the blue haired boy, who was slowly undressing in a corner. His back was a maze of angry, red scars, some still bleeding. Eddie was a slave himself, but he had settled into his new life and accepted that he would never be free again. He had been lucky; he had a good home, a good master and his friend by his side, but he could still remember the first days, and how he had felt like the world was ending, like he was walking into a cage, never to run free again. And he saw the same feeling burning in the eyes of this new boy. It hurt to look.

He was drawn out of his thoughts when Kai cleared his throat loudly. The teen was still in his undergarments and he had one eyebrow raised in question. Eddie waited, but nothing happened. "The water is not poisoned so you don't have to be afraid," he said, not knowing what was wrong with the teen.

Kai just looked at him as if though he was very stupid, "And you are planning to leave, right?"

To Kai's surprise, the man laughed. "Oh, I keep forgetting that you new ones are never used to getting help in the bath." He kept on laughing without noticing Kai's doubt-filled stare.

Then he calmed down a bit and explained, "The fine folk often have a servant who helps them in the bath. The Lady of the house has a maid of course, and the master has a boy, in this case; me. We stand ready if they should need a towel or the soap or if they want their backs scrubbed. I know it sounds weird, but you get used to it. And after a while it is not really that embarrassing. If you want you can wash yourself of course, but this one time I think I should stay; you can't clean your back properly on your own, and if what I have heard is true, then you two need someone to keep you from killing each other, but don't worry; I won't peek at you."

So Kai ended up in the tub, with Eddie whistling as he tidied the shelves. Kai relished in the feeling of getting clean and in the nice, warm water, even though he felt very uncomfortable with Rei watching him.

"So, how were you two caught?" Eddie asked after a while. He studied the two slaves expectantly.

Rei opened his mouth but Kai beat him to it and answered, "He stole a sack of money and blamed it on me." He tossed his head in Rei's general direction, who shrugged guiltily at Eddie. Kai sighed, "Not that the mob cared who was really guilty."

Eddie nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, it's a though life out there. Not like this place; nothing ever happens here. I was captured for breaking into a shop. Me and Steve, he works here too, we waited 'til the shopkeeper had gone home and tried to get into the shop, but we were caught, and sold the next Friday. The cops thought us pretty stupid, and I guess we should have thought our plan over a bit, but you know what hunger can do to a man."

Kai snorted; he knew.

Rei spoke next, filling Kai in on what had happened after their first encounter at the market, "A couple of hours later, one of the cops recognised me and started chasing me into the alleys. I reached a dead end, scaled the wall, stumbled at the top and fell down on the other side, twisting my ankle. I couldn't run; so I was caught and arrested."

Once again, Eddie was nodding thoughtfully. "Perhaps I should take a look at your ankle, then, if you are injured?"

Rei shrugged again and Eddie brought a small white suitcase with medical supplies down from a shelf. He checked Rei's ankle while Kai finished in the bath. The blue haired teen wondered why he had not seen Rei's injured ankle before, but then he realised that Rei must have landed on it when he jumped off the carriage. The black haired boy had certainly not let much pain show, and Kai had to admit, though grudgingly, that the boy was strong.

They changed the water once, and then it was time to clean his back. Kai sat on his knees in the tub, clutching the edge and waiting. His wounds were already stinging from the touch with the previous water, which had been rather soapy in the end with all the rinsing, and he was not looking forward to this.

"Now just relax; I'll be very careful and I will not use soap." Eddie calmed him, before putting one hand one his shoulder to keep him steady. Despite Eddie's words, Kai was tense; he was not used to being touched like this. The brown boy soaked a sponge in water and slid it carefully over Kai's back. He squeezed it so that the clean water would run down and take away some of the dirt and blood. There was a lot of dried blood around the edges of the welts which he removed gently. Then he kept on washing and rinsing with clean water until all the dirt was removed.

Kai was surprised at the tenderness which Eddie showed him. The teen had never had such kind, intimate contact with another person before, and this felt special; so innocent. For a moment he caught Rei looking at him strangely and his cheeks heated up. He felt oddly vulnerable like this, as if the Eddie's gentleness was laying him open and exposed for Rei to see. He hurried to look away. Rei's golden orbs were too intense; he couldn't face them.

Still he slowly relaxed under the careful ministrations and leaned his head on his arms on the tub's rim. But as he let himself float away, something inside him responded; like a butterfly that had suddenly found a spot of light and decided to reside in it. A memory of a long time ago came to him; arms embracing him, a mild voice that spoke to him, water being poured, handful by handful over his body, laughter, warmth, happiness.

"Oh," and he knew who and he knew where and he was bleeding, bleeding, but not on the outside.

"That's enough!" Eddie was surprised when Kai turned around and pushed his hands away. "I'm clean now. Thank you for your help." Kai grabbed the tub's edge again, as his hands were shaking, and he could not let Rei see him so upset. He wanted to cry and hoped that it was not showing in his eyes; it had been fifteen years since the last time he had shed tears, and he still denied himself the weakness.

Eddie did not understand what was wrong, the blue haired teen had seemed content enough, but now something had upset him. He was puzzled but felt that it was not his business so he rose and grabbed a towel, holding it up so that Kai could get out of the tub. "Why don't you get dry and wait while I help Rei, and then I'll find you both some clothes?" Kai nodded and wrapped himself in the large towel. Rei began to undress while Eddie changed the water once again. Kai dried himself and sat down on the stool that Rei had been occupying. He watched as the feline undressed and felt heat rising in him again.

He stared as the boy's body was fully revealed, and the painful memory became quite secondary in the light of this beauty. Rei unbound his ankle-long hair and sank into the tub. Kai shook himself out of the trance. He hurried to look somewhere else and caught Eddie watching him knowingly. Kai scowled and adjusted the towel. When it was time for Rei's back, the feline adopted the same position that Kai had used, but he met the other boy's eyes confidently and even winked at him suggestively! Kai was glad when it was over and he could get dressed again.

Judy came around just as the boys finished putting on their new clothes. Kai was wearing grey, baggy pants and a red tunic. His wounds had also been bandaged as not to spoil the cloth and to keep the scars from reopening. The black triangles had been washed from his cheeks, but he'd find a way to reapply them soon. Rei wore a similar attire to Kai's; blue pants and a white tunic. His hair had been combed and braided.

Judy was the second supervisor of the staff, together with Boris. She was blonde and wore a short, plain, green dress. She spoke gently and kindly, and told them that she would be showing them the rest of the house. "Afterwards, Kai will be going to Mr. Ivanov's office to meet the young master, whom you will be serving, and you, Rei, will follow me to meet little Danielle; your mistress."

Rei nodded, but Kai sighed; he did not want to meet this Tala, even though he had heard nothing but good things about him so far.

"The ground level consists of the kitchen and parts of the servant's quarters, which have been spread over two floors. Down here is where most of the servants sleep, bathe, eat and spend their free time. There is also the entrance hall, of course, plus the dining room and the ballroom." Judy explained as they walked.

Later they came to the ballroom and Kai couldn't help but stare at the gilded chairs, the polished floor, the large windows with long curtains and the chandeliers hanging in the ceiling. It was the biggest room he had ever seen. Rei also seemed impressed, at first, but he soon yawned and asked Judy if they could move on. Judy chuckled, and asked Kai if he was coming.

"Yeah...yeah." Kai turned and managed to tear his eyes from the splendour.

"Get your tailbone into gear, lazyass." Came Rei's voice from high up the stairs to the second floor.

"I'm not the one with a tail, you hairy troll!" Kai replied and ran to catch up with them.

"The second floor is where the family lives." Judy showed them two large doors and explained that that was the children's bedrooms. "Master Tala's is the one on the left and his little sister Danielle has hers on the right. Down the hall there you can see the door to their parent's private quarters. You must never go inside there unless asked by them specifically. Only I, Boris and Adria are allowed in without asking permission. Then there are our rooms; me and Adria's, you two's and Boris'. We sleep up here so that we can be within reach the second our masters call. We can take a look at your bedroom later. Around that corner lie the guest rooms."

They walked up another spiralling staircase and came to a new corridor with doors on either side. This floor was different though; for where the first two had been coloured white and crème, this floor was dark and had a red wall-to-wall carpet.

"This is the third floor. Here you can find everything that is not placed anywhere else." She smiled. "There is the attic, and the music room with the piano, Mr. Ivanov's study, where he works, and the Lady's private room for her paintings, the library and a playroom for the children. You must not come up here unless you are on duty. Your free time should be spent outside or in the kitchen, and try to keep out of sight when there are guests around."

She stood for a moment in silence, and, when there did not come up anything new to explain, she turned to the two boys, "I guess it is time to meet your masters now. Mr. Ivanov is waiting in his study for you, Kai. Afterwards you can rest a bit in your room; I am sure you are tired after the long journey. Rei, if you will come with me I will introduce you to Lady Danielle." She showed Kai the door and walked away, her steps fading as she disappeared down the stairs. Rei gave him a last grin and ran after her, his nearly soundless footsteps fading with her louder ones.

Kai was left standing sullenly in front of the big, double, oak doors. Somehow he felt as if this was the final step, and if he took it he would never ever be able to go back. He looked down the hall and wondered if he should try to run. Unless he met Boris, there would not be any hindrances, apart from the wall of course, but the idea of trying to scale the brick fence was much more attractive than knocking on the door that loomed above him. His hands were shaking.

He sighed in defeat and knew with himself that he would not be able to run, not yet; not after the kindness that Eddie and Judy had showed him. He felt like he would betray them if he ran now. 'I hope you are ready for me, Tala, because even if I will not try to run at every opportunity, I will not be your obedient little slave.' He raised a hand, and knocked three times.

"Come in." The familiar voice of Oscar Ivanov floated out from the other side of the wall.

The simple act of pushing down the handle seemed like the most difficult thing that Kai had ever done, yet he found the door surprisingly easy to open, compared to the heavy look of it. He stood for a moment, still holding the handle and simply taking in the look of the room. It was large, and dominated by dark colours. There were bookshelves lining the wall opposite the door and a dark carpet on the floor. Two tall windows shed light upon the room from the left wall and in front of them stood a desk filled with papers.

Ivanov sat behind the desk, busily writing. In the end he looked up and raised an eyebrow at Kai, "Well don't just stand there, boy; come in!" Kai hurried to enter and close the door behind him.

A snicker made him turn towards the right side of the room. A set of chairs and a low table stood in the shadows and in one of the chairs a boy was sprawled, one leg over the arm rest. In many ways he resembled Ivanov, with his confidence and strength, but his red hair and delicate features were Lady Sarah's, and Kai had no doubts that this was Tala; his new owner. His ice blue eyes that shone with confidence and amusement, but also with danger.

He got out of the chair and walked around Kai, studying him. He was naturally handsome, Kai had to admit, and he walked like one who had never tripped in his entire life. All the while there was a lazy sort of boredom to him, as if he had a million things he would rather be doing, but had, most kindly, lowered himself into giving Kai a minute of his precious time. Kai stood very still but followed the boy with eyes that were narrowed in anger.

Seemingly satisfied, Tala stepped up the desk and leaned on it, facing Kai, but addressing his father, "So this is my new cur."

Kai's temper flared, but he did not move.

"Now, Tala, I expect you to train him, and rid him of his rebellious attitude. He is yours to command, but I will keep an eye on you both to see how you are doing. If he gives you trouble you can talk to Boris, but I want you to attend every punishment to show him that you care."

Tala just smiled at his father's lecture, and Kai realised that the wolfishness had to run the family.

The boy walked up to Kai. He stood in front of him with his hands on his back and instructed him calmly. "My name is Tala. I am your new master, and that is how you will address me. I have heard a lot of negative things about, but I am confident that you will learn to accept your position in our house, and you and I might even become friends. You are, in fact, a sort of birthday present; I turned 18 a few weeks ago, and my father thought it fitting that I got my own personal servant. I require you to show the outmost respect to my family, not just me. You will address my mother and sister as Lady Sarah and Lady Danielle, and my father is Mr. Ivanov. You can walk as you please outside and in the servants quarters, but you will stay out of our rooms unless on duty. Whenever I call you, you must come immediately. You obey me first, then my father and mother." He snickered, "You are free to ignore my sister though."

Kai felt like a soldier on inspection and had a ridicules urge to straighten his back. Tala looked at him seriously, "We have different attitudes towards slaves here in the house, as you will soon realise. I will not punish you unless I find it necessary to gain your attention. I do, however, expect you to be obedient without question."

He studied the defiant boy for a second, and then he smiled, "Kneel."

Kai did not move.

Tala raised an eyebrow, and repeated the command, "Kneel."

Still Kai remained standing.

Tala did not seem to be getting angry though; he turned to his father and said, "I suppose you were right about him, but don't worry; I know how to handle untrained curs."

Kai cried out in pain when Tala spun around and slapped him hard. He staggered backwards and stared shocked at the redhead, who was looking smug.

"I will only ask you once more. Kneel."

Kai had not quite settled his spinning head, but he sank slowly to his knees.

Tala walked over and patted his head, "Good boy, Kai. We'll get along just fine." Then he left the room.

~*~*~*~

Rei followed Judy back down to the second floor. They stopped in front of Danielle's bedroom door. The slave wondered what his new mistress was like. He hadn't heard much at all, really, so both her age and her personality was a complete mystery to him.

Judy knocked and a clear woman's voice responded from inside. Judy opened the door and led Rei through.

He looked around. Directly to his right stood a double bed with pink covers. On the bed sat a young girl with brown hair to her shoulders. She was wearing a white dress with blue bonds and in her hands was an open book. She looked up from her reading to study Rei sceptically.

The woman's voice belonged to the mistress of the house. Lady Sarah Ivanov sat on a chair, which accompanied a dresser with drawers and a mirror on top. The woman rose when they entered. "Rei. You have come to meet Danielle, then."

He bowed to her, as he felt he should. Before anything else could be said, however, the girl had hopped off the bed and walked up to him. "Are you human?" She asked.

Rei was taken aback by the weird question, and could only nod.

Danielle looked him up and down. He noticed how she lingered on his eyes and ears. "Are you sure? I've never seen a human with pointed ears before. And only cats have yellow eyes."

Rei smiled, "Well. Since you are so smart I will tell you a secret." He sat down and motioned for her to come closer. Intrigued, she bent forward.

Rei put a hand to her ear and whispered, still loud enough for the other women to hear, "I'm part tiger."

The brunet drew back, her mouth hanging open. "You're lying! It's impossible."

He shook his head, "It's true."

The girl looked at him again, considering his words. Then she turned to her mother abruptly and said, "I'll keep him."

Rei smiled. This job was going to be easy.

~*~*~*~

That night, Kai lay in a real bed with clean sheets, instead of filthy rags, but despite his fatigue, sleep was hard to find. He could not get Tala's voice out of his head, saying his name like it was something hardly worth a place on his tongue.

Rei was sleeping in a bed on the other side of the room, but it was so close that Kai could have walked from one bed to the other without touching the floor, if he stretched his legs a bit that was. The black haired boy was lightly purring with each breath. There was something innocent and sweet over the feline as he lay curled on the side in his white nightclothes. Kai fought down the urge to reach out and touch the other boy.

He could hear Boris' snoring through one door and Judy and Adria were sleeping in a room just beyond another door, but somehow none of that was comforting. When he closed his eyes he could see the crowd and feel the shadow of the whip wielder above him. In the end, though, exhaustion dragged him into a restless sleep.