A/N: This chapter is the reason why this story is rated M. It's not a nice chapter for Hector. A number of non-con elements come into play.
Training was a lot different than what Hector had expected, in that it wasn't too different from what he'd already been doing. It was just more structured and scheduled. Every day Hector would wake up, bring his animals down to the stables so they would be taken care of for the day, and then he would go to Adira's room and go to training with her.
They were always early for Brotherhood training, but they were never the first ones in the training room. Quirin and Edmund always sparred first thing in the morning. Sometimes, if Hector woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep, he would go and watch them, but he didn't participate.
He trusted Quirin, but he was still nervous around Edmund. It always seemed like the prince was putting on a show, and Hector never knew what was on his mind. He knew that Quirin liked Edmund, and Adira thought that he was okay, but Hector personally had no reason to open up to him.
When they were done with their personal training, Edmund would leave to start his studies and other duties while Quirin would get ready for the Brotherhood training. When the other boys and captain arrived they would start with stretches. Hector liked those. He had grown up learning how to contort his body in ways that probably weren't natural so he could fit in small spaces, and he could stay in uncomfortable positions for hours before the pain started to set in.
Quirin continuously told Hector to slow down and not push himself too far, or else he'd end up hurting himself, but the captain said that when stretching if you don't feel a little burn then you weren't really stretching anything. Hector felt more than just a little burn, so he had to be doing it right, wasn't he? Sure, he got sore and it hurt to move, but he could push through it. That part was easy.
After stretching the training would be different every day. Sometimes they would spar. Sometimes they would go for a run. Sometimes they would learn new techniques. The training itself was fun. Hector liked how pleased the captain was when he did good. It could be frustrating and scary to mess things up, but the captain never got mad or even disappointed. He just told Hector how he could do better, encouraged him to try again, and if he messed up again the captain would say that he just needed practice, and then they moved on.
It felt good, and very slowly Hector started to feel less afraid of doing something wrong. No matter how much he messed up in one day, the captain would still point out the good he did.
The only thing that Hector didn't like about training was the other boys. They were loud. They made everything a competition. To a lot of the boys, it didn't matter how good they were at something, it wasn't good enough unless they were the best. Hector didn't understand that at all. As far as he was concerned, if it was good enough to not get him hurt, there was no reason to do more.
Hector tried to just ignore the others, but they made it impossible. They didn't like him, and they made that perfectly clear. Whenever they were sparring partners the boys would either be absolutely terrified of him, even though he had gone out of his way to not hurt them any more than was normal in training, or the boys would glare heatedly at him and go harder in training than was necessary.
Hector felt like they were trying to get a reaction out of him, but he wasn't going to give it to them. He had spent his whole life pushing down his instinctive reactions and anger. If he could remain in control when his dad pushed him as low as he could go, then he could have control when teenagers taunted and pushed him.
They only trained for a few hours in the morning before stopping for several hours for lunch, studies, and other work before meeting back up for some more training. Hector didn't really have any other responsibilities. Most of the time he followed Adira and Quirin around between training sessions.
There were just a few days where both Adira and Quirin either had something else to do, or needed some personal space. When this happened Hector usually went to the stables to play with his animal friends. The rhino was getting friendlier, at least to Hector, and the bearcats seemed to see him as one of their own.
Hector loved playing with them, but the bearcats were still just babies, and the rhino wasn't always in the mood for playing. One day, almost two months into training, Hector went out to play with the animals only to find that they weren't feeling up to it. Hector knew how it felt to be forced to do something he didn't want to do, so he didn't force them to do anything. He let them rest and, not knowing what else to do, returned to the training room.
The room was empty, as Hector knew it probably would be. Everybody else had things to do. Hector liked the solitude. Being alone meant being safe. He started grabbing the benches and training equipment and pulling them out to the middle of the room. He didn't really mean to train, he just wanted something to climb on for a few minutes. That was one of his favorite things to do. To scamper around, climb, duck, weave, and just play.
It reminded Hector just a little bit of how alive he had felt running around the woods. It wasn't nearly as good, and Hector still felt a fierce longing in him, but it was better than nothing. Hector ran around his makeshift obstacle course until his limbs started to feel heavy and he was breathing too harshly. If anybody else was here Hector would push himself to keep going, but as he was alone and he was just doing this for fun he allowed himself to stop.
Hector laid down on the ground and just caught his breath as he stared at the ceiling. It was such a weird feeling, to not be threatened and worried. Hector was safe, he was at peace, and he didn't trust the feeling at all.
If there was one constant in Hector's life, it was that he wasn't ever truly safe. Every time he thought he was okay, it was just his own delusion, and reality soon hit him in the face. Hector didn't want to expect the worst anymore, but he couldn't help but think that this was just too good to be true.
Hector's breathing had calmed down and he was just about ready to get up and see what Quirin was up to when he heard the door open. Hector jumped and became tense, but he wasn't truly scared. He thought that it was probably just Edmund. He sometimes came to train after studying.
He didn't really like Edmund, but he wasn't afraid of him. That was why Hector wasn't scared until he heard multiple people come in. Hector sat up and twisted around to find Mikhail and three other boys coming in. They were talking and laughing with each other, but as soon as they saw Hector they suddenly stopped. Mikhail's face darkened.
"What are you doing here?" Mikhail snarled. Hector frowned.
"Training." He said simply. What did it look like he was doing?
Mikhail sneered at him, and not for the first time Hector could see why Adira didn't like him. Mikhail seemed determined to hate Hector. Despite what he had said to the captain and Quirin's mom, Mikhail didn't think that Hector deserved to be training with them. As far as Mikhail was concerned, he had won the sparring match, which meant that only he should have been allowed to join.
"Of course you're training." Mikhail said. "You're nothing but the captain's little pet."
Hector growled and got to his feet. "I'm not a pet."
"That's not what I heard." One of Mikhail's friends said. "Rumor's going around that you were your daddy's little bitch."
Hector clenched his fists and pushed down the desire to attack them. Quirin had been trying to teach Hector to stand up for himself, but he knew that didn't mean that he wanted him to hurt some kids who were just trying to get a rise out of him. Hector decided that the best thing to do was to walk away before he lost control.
Hector started to make his way towards the door. Maybe he'd find Quirin. Even if he was with Edmund, Hector would much prefer the prince's company than be around these boys. Mikhail grabbed Hector's arm and yanked him harshly back towards the center of the room.
"Where do you think you're going?" Mikhail sneered. Hector didn't know what he wanted from him. Mikhail didn't seem like he wanted to see him, but he didn't want him to leave either. Hector's father used to do this all the time, and he'd never been able to understand why.
"Gonna find Quirin." Hector said. The boys just laughed. Hector didn't know what he had said that was so funny.
"I should have known." One of the boys chuckled. "You're not just your old man's bitch, you're Quirin's too."
"I'm no one's." Hector bared his teeth. He didn't belong to anybody. Hector wasn't a bitch, or a dog, or anything. He was Hector. He was a person.
Usually when Hector growled or snarled at people at the castle they would get nervous and back off. Mikhail and his friends didn't. They just smirked in a way that made Hector feel like he had just walked into a trap.
"In that case, I'm sure nobody else will mind if we have a little fun." Mikhail grabbed harshly at Hector's chin and forced him to look up at him. Hector had just been annoyed before, but being in Mikhail's hold he panicked.
"Get off!" Hector snarled. He tried to push Mikhail away, but he was shaking, and the other boy was larger than he was.
One of Mikhail's friends came up to Hector and grabbed his hair, yanking it back. Hector's eyes widened, both in pain, and because he very suddenly felt like he was thrown back home with his dad, except for instead of just one person to deal with, there were four.
"You know, that's not a bad idea." The boy holding Hector's hair said. The boys all laughed again, and Hector wished that he knew what was so funny.
They all crowded around him. The two other boys grabbed Hector's arms. He yelped and tried to twist out of their grip, but the grip on his hair tightened painfully.
"I know how we can hold him still." The boy holding his hair said. "You can use your sash to give him a leash and collar in one. Then he'll really be a bitch."
"No!" Hector didn't care that the pulling of his hair hurt. He tried to pull away again. He didn't want to have anything around his neck ever again. "Stop!" He was ignored, and despite his fighting the three boys weren't letting go of him.
"I have a better idea." Mikhail said. He slipped a hand under Hector's shirt, smirking at the way that the smaller boy flinched and twitched when he felt the touch against his stomach. Mikhail slowly ran his hand across Hector's chest before his hand moved down and to the sash that he tied around his pants, which were still too big for him
Mikhail untied the sash and started to wrap it around Hector's neck. When the fabric was pulled tight against his neck Hector gasped and felt the need to fight come out.
Hector squirmed, twisted, and screamed as much as he could. He would easily be able to get away from one of these boys, or even two of them, but four was too much. When the grip on one arm would loosen, the other would tighten. As Hector continued to resist Mikhail gripped the ends of the sash tightly and yanked it forward, forcing Hector to follow. At the same time, his hair was pulled back. His head was being pulled in two different directions. It burned.
Hector was feeling lightheaded. He couldn't breathe, and the boys didn't stop. It was only when Hector started to grow limp did Mikhail stop pulling. The older boy took advantage of Hector's brief stillness to tie the sash tightly around his neck.
"Give me his hand." Mikhail said. One of the boys holding his arm wrenched it back painfully. They manipulated Hector's arm until his elbow was up above his head and his hand was near his neck. Mikhail tied his hand against his neck using the sash, and then they did the same thing with his other hand.
When Hector tried to push his elbows down to get his hands out they pushed his elbows upright again. They'd used all of Hector's sash, so Mikhail pulled off his own and used it to tie Hector's arms together in a way that made his upper arms push painfully against his head.
"There we go." Mikhail said. He stepped back to admire his handiwork. Hector screamed and tried to lunge forward to attack, but without his sash his pants fell down, making him stumble. One of the boys gave him a push from behind and Hector fell to the ground. Without his hands available to catch him, Hector face planted. The boys just laughed again.
Mikhail used his foot to nudge Hector to roll over onto his back. The smaller boy glared up at him, but Mikhail wasn't looking at his face, he was looking at his now bare legs and crotch.
Hector couldn't bring himself to be embarrassed. He didn't wear clothing for modesty's sake. He had grown up without being allowed the luxury of clothes. He was used to his skin being bare. What he wasn't used to though was the way that Mikhail was looking at him. Hector's father had never looked at him like that.
"I don't think we need a leash to pull you along." Mikhail bent down and suddenly grasped at Hector's cock. He gave it a tight squeeze, and Hector screamed
"The captain thinks you're so tough." Mikhail yanked on Hector, forcing him to thrust his hips to ease the pull. "I wonder what he would say if he saw you like this." Hector really couldn't care less what the captain would think of him right now.
Mikhail continued to pull on Hector's cock until he got to his feet. Hector would rather wear a leash than this. He'd always known that area was sensitive, but almost worse than the pain were the snickers and dark looks that the four boys were giving him. Hector really didn't like the way that these boys were looking at him.
Mikhail started to lead Hector through the obstacle course that he'd set up, yanking and pulling when he wanted him to jump or duck. The other three boys just watched and jeered as they called out suggestions. When Mikhail forced Hector to crawl, and then lay down on one of the benches, one of the boys came up behind him and slapped his butt harshly.
It was painful, and humiliating, but Hector felt too numb to be angry or scared. He felt like he was drifting or floating away, and he wished that he really could. He didn't want to be in this room. He didn't want to be in this castle. He didn't even want to be in his body right now. He just wanted everything to stop.
Finally Mikhail let go of Hector and he fell to his knees, cowing protectively over his crotch. Hector wasn't given a break. Mikhail gripped his chin again, squeezing Hector's cheeks to force him to open his mouth.
Mikhail didn't taunt him anymore, he just used his free hand to pull his own pants down just enough to free his own cock, which he pushed into Hector's mouth. The boy gagged and tried to pull back, but one of the boys pushed his head forward. He pushed his cock into Hector's restrained hands and started rubbing it against them.
Mikhail sighed contently and just stood there for a long moment before he slowly started thrusting in and out while the boy behind Hector pushed him back and forth in a matching rhythm.
Hector was just numb as he let himself be used as though he was their toy. They weren't even treating him like a dog, or any animal, right now. As far as these boys were concerned, he was worth even less than that, and the knowledge made something within Hector break.
He couldn't even bring himself to care when the back and forth started moving him in such a way that his cock was being rubbed against Mikhail's foot. He felt nothing when the two other boys laughed, mocked him, and called him a dog in heat. He didn't even flinch when his hips were grabbed harshly as the boys decided to 'help' him to better hump Mikhail's foot.
Hector was almost gone, just barely aware enough to know that he didn't like this. He desperately wished that Mikhail had tied the sash tighter around his neck, because then maybe he would have lost consciousness from lack of air and then he'd finally be able to escape from all of this.
This couldn't have lasted for more than just a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity to Hector. Finally he felt Mikhail stiffen and grasp desperately at his hair.
"F-for someone that clearly doesn't know what you're doing, you…you…gods…" Mikhail groaned. He sounded as breathless as Hector felt. "It feels so good. With some training you could be amazing." Mikhail caressed Hector's cheek in a way that was almost gentle, and it made him feel sick. Something was finally breaking through the numb.
A pit started to form in his stomach and he felt the old instinct to do whatever he could to make the pain stop. Hector had learned to push this instinct down, because if he fought against his father he would be punished even worse than before. Here Hector was assured that he wouldn't be hurt the way he was back home, but Hector would be a fool to think that he wouldn't be punished at all.
Hector wasn't a fool. He knew that if he wanted to be a part of society, he needed to fit in. If he hurt people, they'd get rid of him. Nobody had told him as much, but Hector didn't need to be told. He just knew. He couldn't fight people. He couldn't even defend himself, because who would believe that? It was the word of four known people in the people against one practical stranger that people didn't trust anyway.
Hector knew that the smart thing to do was to keep his head down and wait for the pain to pass. It wasn't too hard. Hector had done it with his dad…but he wasn't there anymore. This was the castle. Quirin had told him it would be different. He'd promised him that he wouldn't be hurt, and yet it was exactly the same.
Hector felt his jaw tighten and his eyes water. It wasn't fair. He wasn't a pet. He wasn't a toy. Why did people treat him like one? There was a hurt building up in Hector's chest, but it was overpowered by a raw instinct that felt so similar to how he had felt in the woods when he'd wanted to run, no matter how much it hurt.
Hector's head was pounding. He'd been trying to push down the primal instinct since coming here, because that wasn't what people did. People were better than that. But people also didn't think that Hector was one of them.
They thought that he was an animal. The thing that they seemed to forget about animals was that when they were hurt, they bit right back.
Hector growled at the back of his throat and without stopping to think about it or fear the consequences, he snapped his jaw closed and clenched his teeth around the mound of flesh in his mouth, biting down harshly at it.
Mikhail screamed in pain, and Hector relished the sound. For the first time in his life, Hector felt like he had power and control, and he wasn't letting this go.
Hector headbutted Mikhail at the same time as he wrapped his hands around the cock that had been rubbing against them. He squeezed tightly and pushed his overgrown fingernails in, making the other boy scream just like Mikhail. Now the two of them were on their knees, curling up around their sensitive areas while Hector got to his feet.
The two other boys tried to bring Hector down, but he snarled at them, letting the blood drip from his mouth. The two boys hesitated, and Hector struck. He brought his knee up and slammed it up into the crotch of one of the boys, making him groan and curl in on himself. With three boys down, Hector tackled the last to the ground and started stomping, biting, and digging his knee into anything he could reach.
Hector was so focused on just causing pain and making these boys pay for every second of torment they had put him through. He didn't even notice when the door opened. He barely heard the alarmed and panicked scream, because it blended in too much with his own screams. Hector only realized that somebody else was there when he felt arms wrap around him and pull him back.
Hector's furious scream grew to one of terror as he was grabbed. He tried to kick at the person holding him, but he was pulled to the ground and couldn't get his legs out from under him.
"Hector, Hector, it's okay." A new voice broke through Hector's screams, making him falter. The tone wasn't cruel or cold. It didn't sound like someone who wanted to hurt him. The voice sounded like safety. Even the tight grip around him didn't hurt. It was restricting, but not in a bad way. Hector would have found it comforting if it weren't for the fact that any touch felt overwhelming.
Hector blinked several times as the animal instinct dimmed enough for him to realize just how much he might have just messed up. At the very least, he would probably not be allowed to train anymore with the others. He had only been let in because he'd shown that he had control. What happened here was the opposite of control.
The numbness from before was starting to come back, and Hector embraced it. He would rather feel nothing at all than the terror and pain that was trying to devour him whole. As Hector's feelings dimmed, his body relaxed. After a minute the hold around him loosened and he was released. Hector didn't move. He just sat on his knees as the one behind him started to fiddle with the sashes around his arms, hands, and throat.
It took a minute, but eventually Hector's elbows were released and the pressure around his head went away. A moment later the sash was pulled away from his hands and throat. Hector took in a deep breath, and mid-gasp it turned into a sob. Hector wrapped his arms around himself and started crying.
The one behind him came in front and Hector finally saw who his savior was. Prince Edmund knelt before him, with nothing but concern in his eyes.
"Are you okay?" Edmund asked. "What happened?"
Hector shook his head and whimpered. He didn't want to talk about it, and even if he did he didn't think he could. Edmund looked at the sashes in his hands, and then his gaze shifted to Hector's bloody mouth. He looked very briefly at Hector's bare legs and crotch before he averted his gaze and looked instead at the four other boys still on the ground in pain. Edmund's eyes darkened dangerously.
"Get out." Edmund growled in a way that reminded Hector of himself. "Now!"
The boy that Hector had kneed straightened with a wince and scrambled out of the room. The other three followed with more stumbling and curses, but they didn't question their prince. Soon they were gone, and Hector was alone with Edmund.
Hector shivered. Edmund took off his royal cloak and wrapped it around Hector's shoulders, completely engulfing him.
"Can I pick you up?" Edmund asked. "I won't hurt you. I just want to make sure you're okay, and I thought maybe you'd appreciate being somewhere more private."
Hector's ears were ringing. He barely heard Edmund's last words, let alone understood them. He understood the question though, and Hector didn't hesitate to answer. He nodded. Edmund gently picked him up and held him tightly against his chest. The cloak covered Hector completely, and if he buried his head against Edmund's chest he could be completely hidden from the world.
"I-I…trouble?" Hector said almost inaudibly.
Edmund took a deep breath. "You're not in trouble. Not if I have anything to do about it."
"But I attacked." Hector said. "I hurt." He wasn't supposed to do that.
"From what I could see, they hurt you first." Edmund said angrily. Hector didn't understand. Edmund had only seen Hector attacking the others. He hadn't seen the stuff before that. How did he know that Hector had been hurt first and not the other way around?
"They're not going to hurt you again." Edmund said. "I will make sure of it." He tightened his grip on Hector. "I'll take care of everything. You're going to be just fine. I promise." Hector didn't really know Edmund well. He hadn't ever trusted him before, but at that moment he felt like he trusted Edmund more than he'd ever trusted anybody.
Edmund had walked in on him attacking others, and the first thing he'd done was to offer comfort and security. If Hector couldn't trust that at least, he felt like he couldn't trust anything.
Hector closed his eyes and let the numbness take over completely as he finally found comfort from the darkness that he'd been wishing for.
