Another Day

Chapter 13

Feathers on a broken back

The next morning Kai and Rei were woken up by a very upset Judy. "Boys, get up and get dressed! We're wanted outside." It took a few seconds before the two sleepyheads managed to understand that not everything was what it was supposed to be, but when they did they got dressed and were on their way down the stairs in no time.

They came outside to find the entire household gathered in one place. Everyone was looking around in shock and the two teens also stopped and tried to take in the extent of the chaos that had been wrecked on the beautiful property. The garden was a complete mess; there were feathers everywhere and the birds were all running around, trampling the flowers and digging up the grass. The bird cage bore no visible signs of damage, but the door was open wide.

Lady Sarah had obviously just awoken for she was still wearing a white silk nightgown and a night-bonnet. She looked pale and shocked, one hand covering her mouth as she looked around at her garden. Ivanov was furious. Steve seemed to be on the verge of pulling his hair out, and Ian was chasing the birds around, trying to capture them and cursing as they darted away from him. Kai noticed that all the others seemed shocked apart from Boris, who looked expressionless as usual, and Carlos, who was standing behind Boris with an unreadable expression that was too close to smugness for Kai's comfort.

"Who is responsible for this?" Ivanov's voice boomed, making everyone jump. Beneath the bushy eyebrows his brown eyes shone with danger, just like Tala's did right before he lashed out at someone. The lord of the house looked around, hoping to make someone confess by the power of his glare alone.

Steve spoke up timidly, "The cage door was opened with the key, sir; I found the padlock on the ground with the key still in it, and there are no signs of a break in."

Ivanov turned to him, "So only someone who had access to the key could have done it."

Steve nodded confirmatively, "But only I and Ian knew where the key was, sir. We have kept it hidden." Ian came back then, panting and sweating and empty handed. He looked ready to drop.

'Man, does Steve even realise how deeply he is digging his grave?' Kai thought.

And indeed, Ivanov's gaze had turned triumphant, "So one of you did it!"

Ian looked alarmed, "Of course not, sir!"

Ivanov raised an eyebrow, "But only you knew where the key was."

The little gardener nodded, "Yes, but we wouldn't do it. What would that gain us? We have to gather the birds and clean up the garden; this will take me and Steve forever to fix! Why would we give ourselves so much work?"

Steve nodded, and shot in, "Besides; we know how much the birds matter to Lady Sarah," he turned and gave her a respectful nod. She returned it with a grateful, though hesitant smile. Steve continued, "Yeah. Just the other day I was telling Kai here just how important they were; I told him I did, that he had to promise never to tell anyone where the key was because Lady Sarah loves her birds and we can't let anything happen to them..." He trailed of when he realised that no one was looking at him anymore.

Kai hadn't thought about it. He hadn't thought about it at all. There were three people who knew where the key was hidden; Steve, Ian and him. And everyone was looking at him with wide eyes. 'Thank you Steve; you dig your own grave and place me in it. And I have a feeling that you will get lots of help filling up the whole.'

*~*~*

It was working! Kai was backed into a corner with no escape, and soon he would be punished for his crime. The trap had worked perfectly. Oh, he longed to hear the boy's sweet screams echo over the Ivanov mansion, forever to be remembered by the silent walls. He would have his revenge. Kai was currently inside, locked up in his room, waiting for Tala to decide his punishment. It would be harsh, as the crime was serious. They had no idea that they would be beating Kai for two crimes. Perhaps this would teach him. He would learn to regret ever coming here.

"Are you going to stand there all day?"

He hurried to follow Boris into the stables. Soon now, very soon.

~*~*~

Oscar Ivanov was pacing the length of his study. Tala stood silently in the middle of the room, looking disappointed and indecisive. In the end he threw up his hands with a frustrated exclamation, "I just can't believe he would do such a thing! I seriously thought he had improved. I guess he was just biding his time to strike again. He must have wanted revenge."

Ivanov stopped pacing and looked at his son, "Yes, and now you must find him a short term punishment fit for his crime. Your mother is in her room. She needed to lie down for a while. Why anyone would hurt her is beyond me." He shook his head and resumed his pacing. He loved his wife dearly, and it had hurt him greatly to see her so upset.

A while passed in silence before Tala spoke again, "You said he got seventeen whips for the theft, and that seemed to be his limit. I'll make it ten then, but I will have Boris use the long-whip." He looked to his father for an opinion.

Ivanov nodded, "That would do."

Although Ivanov was not fond of violence, he would not hesitate to punish a slave that went out of order, but he still remembered the day when he had first met Kai, and the bone-chilling screams that had echoed in his ears so long after the boy was released from the block. But he was a man with a position to uphold, and could not be seen stumbling, so he stayed firm and held with Tala in his decision, placing a comforting hand on his son's shoulder when the young man realised fully what it meant to place such a verdict on another person, and his eyes filled with doubt.

They left the dark study together.

*~*~*

Everyone was called back outside, and they gathered around the stables. Kai was hauled out by Eddie and Steve, who were both looking away from him, doing their duty without much enthusiasm. The look on the boy's face was pure fear. His shield was gone. He scrambled, struggled and scratched, but it didn't help at all and he was tied with his arms around a thick, rough pole that held up a part of the stables. His arms went almost all the way around the support, and he was pressed tightly up to it.

Kai felt sick and weak and when his legs gave away he simply let himself dump onto the ground. He hugged the pole and turned his head as best he could, needing to catch someone's eyes, anyone who might understand, but no one would look at him.

"Please! I am innocent, I swear! Don't do this Tala! Master!"

Rei stood beside Enrique, feeling nauseated. No one seemed to be looking forward to this. Lady Sarah had come out of her room to watch, and her expression was one of stone. Tala's face was white; he couldn't be very used to this, but no one would be spared the sight. Kai's punishment was going to be an example for everyone.

Boris came out of the stables with a long, black whip coiled in one hand, and a shorter and thicker whip in the other. His face was blank, and Rei understood suddenly why the man was so distant and cold; this was his job, and being close to his victims would make it twice as hard. Still he could not quite forgive the man when the first blow fell.

A flash of pain and suddenly Kai was back at the market, with the sun shining unmercifully and the crowd cheering for more. 'But this time I won't scream. They won't get me! I'll show Rei I can do this just as well as he can.' So he kept his lips firmly pressed together, while Boris used the short whip to torment him.

Five blows, and Kai was beginning to give in to the string of pleas that wanted to force its way out of him. But Boris put the whip down now, and stepped back. The slave twisted around to see what was going on. Was it over already? He hadn't been informed of the quantity of his punishment, but he couldn't believe that the Ivanov's were that soft.

His temporary relief turned to sudden horror when Boris picked up the long-whip and uncoiled it.

"No!"

For a moment Boris looked at Kai, and the boy saw regret in his eyes, but then the moment passed and the man was back on duty.

The sudden fire across his back made Kai scream. Nothing he did or thought could keep the screams down this time. He closed his eyes hard, and red light flashed behind his eyelids as another strike fell. Tears welled up in his eyes. He had no triangles to protect him now, no gentle hands that would stop the pain and wake him up from this nightmare. They didn't believe him. Not one of them.

Kai dug his fingertips into the rough wood, feeling the skin tear and blood run over his hands. Splinters logged themselves under his nails. He let go for a moment and his entire world spun around like a mad wheel. He wobbled, but another strike drove him forward to clutch at the pole again.

Each strike sliced neatly into his back. He feeling of blood running down his skin was hauntingly familiar. Kai got just enough room between the blows to finish one scream before another pressed its way out of his throat. It was forced, and breathing became harder and harder with each one. Haze was filling his vision and his head.

'Mother! Please don't let them do this to me!'

Enrique had grabbed a hold of Rei's arm, and he was hanging on for dear life. Rei himself couldn't take his eyes of the horror, 'Kai stop screaming, God, stop it Kai, don't scream, don't scream, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.'

Enrique fell down beside him, clutching the feline's leg and sobbing uncontrollably. The blonde was no hardened street-kid, and he had never seen this kind of pain before. It was tearing him up. And somehow, in his mind, Kai's screams was mixing with Oliver's. 'How can they do this? Why didn't I stop them? Why didn't I save him?'

Tala felt like his own legs would give away any time. No one had ever been so heavily punished in the Ivanov household before. 'I sentenced him. This is my fault!' He had the power to make it stop, but he couldn't, he…if he did then he would loose all respect from the servants, and from his parents. He had to endure this.

"Tala!!"

Kai's scream hurt his heart until he thought it would burst. 'Forgive me.'

Kai closed his eyes and braced himself for another strike, but none came. Was it over? The fire on his back was indescribable. It stung and burned until he thought he would go mad with it. He gasped through his tears, and felt for the first time how his bare chest and stomach were scraped from the contact with the pole.

Eddie and Steve released him from the ropes, but he could not stand on his own. He wished to god that the others would leave instead of just standing there, watching as he stumbled away with the two men keeping him on his feet. Their touch on his arms burned in a completely different way and he longed to shake them off and scream at them for letting him go through this. Had his throat not been so sore and his knees so soft, he might have.

In his room he collapsed onto the bed and the two men left. Eddie promised to come back soon; he just had to get some water and bandages. Kai lay alone on his bed for a while, sobbing into the pillow. He couldn't seem to stop. It was so unfair. He hadn't done it. As the tears finally let him go, he caught himself wondering if it was raining now.

Eddie came back with a washbasin, a towel and some bandages. He also had a sort of lotion in a small tube. Judy came after him, closing the door quietly. Kai lay curled up, facing the wall and they could see him tense as they approached the bed.

"Kai, we need to clean your back and get it bandaged." Judy spoke gently, and put a hand on his arm.

He tensed even more and she could see the look of pain that crossed his features, but he did nothing to stop her. Eddie helped roll him onto his stomach. Fresh blood was still running down his sides and ruining the sheets, plus his waistband which was also soaked. The boy remained quiet and passive, his hands resting on the pillow next to his head.

"Kai, what did you do to your hands?" Judy had noticed the bleeding fingertips and felt even more miserable than before. Had he truly deserved this?

Kai tried not to feel anything as Eddie carefully washed his back. The same tenderness was there, but this time it only hurt. The lotion was applied, and it cooled down the throbbing welts and soothed some of the immediate pain, but he was not about to thank them for it. He sat up when he was told to sit up, and they bandaged his back. He had just been able to remove the previous bandages, but the whip had opened some of the old wounds as well, so now he had to start all over again. Lastly Judy tried to wash his face, which was tearstained and red, but he turned away from her, and she did not try again.

Kai didn't know if he wanted them to leave him alone or if he wanted them to stay, but he made no objections as they rose. Still there was one thing that he had to know. His voice was horse and raw, but he spoke, looking properly at them both for the first time, "Will the dinner be cancelled?" Judy nodded sadly. Kai lay back down, wondering how everything could have gone so wrong over night.

~*~*~

Rei had volunteered to help the poor gardeners round up the birds again, and he was currently dragging a large peacock along by the neck, trying to avoid its sharp beak and claws. He managed to get the bird back in the cage with only a few minor scratches. Ian relocked the cage and stood for a moment looking at the mess that had once been a garden. Steve had already begun sweeping up the feathers that covered everything.

Rei sighed. "I wonder who did this. I wonder why," he said, mostly to himself.

Ian stirred beside him, "You don't think Kai did it?" He sounded surprised.

Rei shook his head, "No. He wouldn't have. I have no idea who actually did it, though." He left the green-haired boy behind and walked towards the house. He knew where he was heading, but not why.

The library was dark. The lights were off and the hearth was cold. Tala sat curled up in the same chair as yesterday, with one hand hanging limp over the side of the chair and a book lying forgotten on the floor. His head was resting on his arms. Rei stood in the doorway and studied the redhead. Then he cleared his throat.

Tala sat up, "Oh, Rei! Hi, come in."

The slave was more tentative now, and he could feel Kai's presence standing like a wall between them. This was not going to be easy. He sat down on the floor again, the same spot as last time. For a while awkward silence reigned.

"How is he?" Tala spoke at last.

Rei just shook his head, "I haven't seen him. Judy said that we had better let him be alone for while."

Tala sighed, "I guess I should go see him. I know now that a master has duties to his slave just as much as the slave has duties to his master. I think I was too hard on him." The solemn mood was nearly broken when Tala hiccupped.

"No. If he deliberately committed this crime to hurt you and your family then the punishment was right," Rei answered.

The redhead raised an eyebrow, "You are implying that he did not?"

The feline nodded, "I guess I am."

Tala looked sceptical, "Why?"

But this time Rei had no answer. He just knew. But he had no words to explain his feelings to anyone else. For a while they resumed the silence. Then the young Ivanov managed to catch Rei completely off guard.

"He is kind of handsome isn't he?" Rei felt suddenly uncomfortable, but Tala continued without noticing, "And it is not just his looks that make him that way; he has this fire in his eyes, you know, and this special way of standing."

Rei stared at the redhead, for then to look away in embarrassment; he had noticed the same things himself. He remembered the incident in the closet and unconsciously licked his lips.

Suddenly he caught sight of something, "Tala, what have you done!" He didn't even realise that he had dropped the title as he rushed over to the open liquor cabinet. The door was ajar, two bottles stood on the floor and a glass lay tipped over beside them. Rei picked up a bottle and found it open.

He turned with the bottle still in hand when Tala spoke up behind him, "Oh, good idea; mine is empty." He was cradling a glass similar to the one on the floor, but Rei hadn't seen it from where he had been seated. Luckily only one bottle was open, it was half empty though, and Rei found it best to get the young man to bed. He was a bit unsteady so the slave had to support him all the way up to his room.

Rei mentally cursed his luck when they came to the top of the stairs and found Lady Sarah on her way towards them. As soon as she saw her swaying son she ran over, and her nose wrinkled up in distaste. "What on earth have you been doing?" She asked her son.

"Drinking," Rei answered flatly, forgetting his manners.

The Lady frowned disapprovingly at him as if it was his fault that Tala was drunk. She bade him take her son to his room, "I'll call for Eddie. After that you may leave."

Rei watched her as she walked down the stairs, "My Lady?" He was not sure what he wanted to say, but it was so upsetting to see her trying to shield herself behind anger, especially because she was far from good at it. She turned and gave him a questioning look. He cleared his throat, "I don't think he meant to hurt you." Her gaze went from angry to sad, and Rei wondered when Kai's name had become so unnecessary.