Chapter 4
Arthur sat on the cushion next to the throne Ivan sat in. His legs curled beneath him, his head leaned against Ivan's knee. He softly picked grapes and nibbled them, sitting almost like a cat on the cushion. A soft red silk shirt barely came down to his hips, and white lace panties barely covered the rest of him. Small red cat ears were clipped into his hair and Sasha laughed, joking about Ivan's pet fairy while Lukas stood up and informed everyone he was going to bed.
"Send Nikolai in. He'll want to be here for this meeting." Ivan sighed, hearing the men come in through the main hall. As the doors opened and the whole of the city council walked through to the dais where the three thrones sat, Nikolai wandered through, his fast paced walk letting him sit before the men were able to reach the front of the room. He stilled, staring at the boy at his brother's side and looked up at Ivan with a look halfway between confusion and worry.
"I'll explain later, if they don't' want to hear about him now." Ivan rolled his eyes as Arthur turned, laying on his back, kicking his feet in the air as he nibbled the end of one of the chocolates off, drinking the thick cherry syrup from within.
"What is this I've heard about you keeping a slave?" The leader of the group walked up, crossing his arms. The nine men behind him looked nervous, seeing the boy beside the throne and suddenly worried things weren't as they were originally told. "Is this boy your slave now, Ivan? After the last one, do you think this is such a good idea? Your popularity will plummet if you're always surrounded by death." He snarled out and Ivan stared.
General Winter had long hair, grayed with white at the temples. He was old, but not what you imagine with old men. He stood almost as tall as Ivan, ice blue eyes with a physical strength most men could only pray to work towards. A magician of renown, he'd worked hard to get to the head of the city council, and the city loved him through their fear.
He looked at Ivan and Sasha first. Both tall, 180 cm, ash blond hair, while Ivan was strong and muscular, Sasha was thin and weaker. He worried less about strength, and more about the village. Due to the work he did with the city's gardens and helping those who needed it with house repairs and such, he'd become known as the king of the city. He always smiled with soft blue eyes and reminded people of hope and kindness.
Ivan was known as the king of the country. Less known for kindness and more known for his strategy and ability, he was a great king. The country prospered under his rule. His deceptively peaceful violet eyes fluttered across the room from his innocent looking face, only General Winter realizing his fists were clenching with enough force to break bones.
Finally they looked over to Nikolai. He had the same pale hair and skin as his brothers, but his eyes were dark brown. He was nearly a head shorter than his brothers, and as the youngest of the three, he was known as 'The Guardian Prince' through the kingdom. If Ivan was seen out and about, there was a huge chance Nikolai was there, whether you saw him or not. He never had the soft smile Sasha had, or the frightening smile Ivan was known to wear. He looked pissed off all of the time.
"This is Arthur. He is my... prize for the success in the land of Ire." Ivan smiled, watching as the men tried to figure out his words, seeing the boy laying down on his back, his knees in the air, doing very suggestive things with his tongue to the chocolates.
"You're really enjoying those, aren't you?" Sasha asked and Arthur nodded, near purring as he sucked out the rest of the syrup. "Those are alcoholic, you probably shouldn't have any more." Sasha watched as he nibbled the chocolate away and picked a grape from the vine that laid in the bowl besides the chocolate. He nibbled it, surprised the flavors worked so well off of each other.
"I... had assumed if you took a slave it would have been for torture."
"Oh, he'll hate me for this so much in the morning." Ivan chuckled, knowing he was completely plastered. "I'd taken him thinking he was one of the priests. He'd begged me to spare the children in the monastery, giving his life in their stead. I took him up on the offer and didn't realize til we were already on our way back, and as I already paid the price, leaving the children in peace, I decided to keep him." Ivan watched for a moment before a little hand moved over, sliding a chocolate before his mouth.
"You should nibble off the end and drink the syrup. It's sweet, but it's really good." Arthur purred with a hazed smile and Ivan watched, nibbling the end off and sucked, clearing the juice from the chocolate. He watched Arthur's eyes which had settled on his lips before he nibbled more of the chocolate away. Arthur giggled as Ivan sucked hard, pulling the rest of it into his mouth in one bite.
Hazed eyes ran over the group, Ivan having a harder time controlling himself at his slave's behavior couldn't hide the sliver of lust that suddenly ran through him.
"Oh, I'm gonna be fucking sick if this doesn't end." Nikolai grumbled, hiding his face in the fluffy rabbit fur that lined the shoulders of his black coat.
"I think it's cute. Vanya doesn't have guys treat him like this often. It has to be heartwarming for him, Da?"
Ivan opened his mouth to respond that this whole thing was taken out of context when Arthur jumped up, pushing a grape into his mouth. "It's a little tart, so it goes with the leftover chocolate well." He smiled as he burrowed back down into the cushion, nuzzling his head against Ivan's knee again.
"We still don't think it's a good idea for you to have a slave." Winter spoke, though it was with much less conviction. "We'll have to ask you to hand him to us."
"No." Arthur grumbled, glaring at the men. He was careful not to touch the bandages of his feet to the floor, but somehow still stood tall enough to crawl into Ivan's lap. He curled up against him, laying his hand over Ivan's chest, his legs crossed over the arm of the throne. "He's mine. You can't have him." Arthur grumbled to the men who stared.
"But... we're not here for him, we're here for you." Winter spoke and Arthur shook his head.
"But you're so old." Arthur stared, obvious distaste in his expression before leaning his head back against Ivan. Arthur turned, straddling Ivan's lap and leaned back, his legs pinning Ivan's arms to the throne, his body laid out between Ivan's legs as his fingers barely reached a few more grapes in the bowl. Winter sighed, surprised at the behavior they were seeing.
"I'm sorry, but you have to come with us." He spoke and Arthur stared, his look going from worried to angry. He held out his finger, and as Winter tried to speak again he felt something smack hard into his front teeth and splatter, filling his mouth with juice. He stared, seeing Arthur flick his finger and another shot into the same space.
"I give you food. Now shoo, little mice." Arthur sat back up and made a shooing motion with his hands.
Winter realized he wasn't going to win this one, as odd as it was, the boy wanted to stay Ivan's slave. "All in favor of re-listing him from slave to pet?"
"Da." All other nine hands raised and Winter sighed in relief.
"Thank god. I never thought I'd see the day when a slave would shoo away saviors." He sighed as he turned. "We'll come back to make sure you're not mistreating him. Get him some real clothes, those weren't made for someone with his... equipment." Winter groaned as he walked away and Ivan stared down at the man currently nuzzled happily in his lap, purring like a kitten.
As soon as the others had gone, Sasha spoke up. "You must have really rocked his world on the way here."
"He was afraid of me the whole way. He's drunk, and possibly hallucinating right now. I'm fairly sure he only goes after women." Ivan spoke, looking up at Sasha who stared with shock, his smile still exactly the same though, making Nikolai laugh.
"Two pints says when he wakes in the morning and realizes what he's done he throws himself from the tallest window he can find."
"I..." Sasha looked, seeing Arthur's eyes close, the haze from the alcohol making him fall into sleep. "I think he'll try and run to them to escape. I'll take you up on that offer."
"Thanks." Ivan sighed. "I think he'll stay." His voice was soft and Sasha stared, surprised for a moment before nodding.
"Looks like it's all in, then. The winner tomorrow night gets four pints, two from each other."
Ivan carried him up to the bedroom, honestly exhausted from the events of the day. He didn't have a bed set up for Arthur yet, and as cute as it would be to connect his leash to the headboard and lay out cushions to have him sleep like a cat beside him, he really did worry if he woke like that Arthur would toss himself from the window. He walked up and pulled the blanket down and laid him on the bed.
Winter was right. Arthur, it seemed, was highly turned on while drunk and the little lace panties Sasha had brought down didn't hold him in at all. He pulled the blanket up, knowing at least Arthur would appreciate that. He stripped down and slid on a night robe, as he normally wore to bed while at home, before going to the other side of the bed and laid down, falling asleep the instant his eyes closed.
The next morning Arthur was fairly certain he was being mercilessly tortured. His head throbbed and his stomach churned. "Wake up, my little fairy." Ivan spoke with a singsong tone to his voice that almost struck Arthur as terrifying. He sat up, the blankets pulled to his neck and he turned, seeing Ivan in the same bed, a sickeningly sweet smile on his face. "Oh, good. You didn't die in the night."
"What?" Arthur almost wanted to ask him to make sure when the blanket slid down and he felt the air brush up against his arm. He looked down, finding a red silk tank top and stared as he pulled the blanket back farther, finding the tiny underwear. "What am I wearing?"
"You were being a cute kitty last night." Ivan smiled.
"What did I do?" Arthur turned, his skin pale as a ghost. He was too tired to be terrified and Ivan was almost sad he didn't get to see him panic again.
"You curled up on my lap and fed me chocolates and grapes. The city council came and said they didn't think I should have a slave. You told them you weren't interested in their salvation and shooed them away. I think I saw you perform magic, as well. Have you been holding out on me, little fairy?" The look on his face shifted to the smile which always sent shivers down Arthur's spine.
"I hadn't meant to, it's not something I do often, so I don't much think about it. I'm sorry." Arthur spoke softly before turning his head away. Ivan realized with the window behind him the light may be too much, especially with the hangover he had to have.
"Let's get you taken care of, Da?" Ivan spoke softly and Arthur nodded, hoping things would work out well for him.
They went to a lower level of the castle and Arthur walked into a giant bathroom. Marble covered the walls and floor, and a huge tub that probably fit ten people sat in the center of the room with small bricks hanging from the ceiling to the sides. Ivan walked over and slid off his robe and motioned for Arthur to do the same.
"You're going to see me naked?"
"You were naked in my arms yesterday for nearly an hour. I think you'll survive a bath." Ivan watched as Arthur nodded before realizing he wasn't wearing much anyway.
As they walked over to the room with the marble boxes Ivan reached up and tapped one. Water cascaded down and Arthur stared, surprised. Ivan tapped the one beside it and stepped in, letting the water pour over him. "What is this?" Arthur asked, astounded and Ivan stared, surprised.
"It's a shower. Rainwater is collected and cleaned. It's sent to a holding tank til it comes through here."
"It's warm." Arthur spoke softly letting the water run over him with a happy tone.
"There's a section of the pipe that leads to the bathrooms that turns hot when the water is turned on, so the water that runs through it heats up. It's the same way for the bath. They didn't have these in the land of Ire?"
"The land of Ire?" Arthur asked before realizing he'd meant the island he grew up on. "No, we didn't have showers at all, and if we wanted a hot bath, we had to start a fire under the tub." He smiled.
"You had soaps, right?" Ivan asked as he held out a bottle to Arthur who stared.
"Liquid soap?" He turned the bottle over in his hands and Ivan sighed.
"Just pour a dollop onto your hand to clean your hair, and use the same amount on the washcloth." Ivan pointed to the cloth and Arthur nodded.
At least he knew what a washcloth was! He was starting to feel like the stupidest smart guy on Earth!
They took their time to clean off. By then, Sasha and Nikolai had joined them and Arthur felt a little more comfortable, as odd as it was, to realize for them bathing was a family thing. It wasn't as individual or personal as it was in his homeland. They settled into the bath, which was a good amount hotter than he was used to, and sat back, letting their bodies absorb the heat.
"This is oddly nice." Arthur frowned, feeling muscles in his back loosen in the heat.
"Normally baths are done before bedtime, but with the city council, and you turning so cute and playful, we decided to hold it off til now." He watched as Arthur nodded, turning pale again.
"Exactly... how playful... was I?" He asked, trepidation stilling his words.
"You rubbed your half covered crotch all over my brother and shot grapes at old men while telling them they couldn't have him, he was yours. Oh, and you gave blow jobs to chocolates." Nikolai stared, seeing terror and for a split second confusion. "Oh, priceless. You have no idea what a blow job is, do you?"
"With the context, I think it's better if you don't tell me."
"After lunch, I'll familiarize him with the term." Ivan grinned and Nikolai's lip curled down, staring in horror.
"Don't you dare explain this to me later."
"Oh, but it'll be fun, little brother."
"Vanya, what are you planning to do with him for the rest of the day? We should make sure he knows his way around the castle, Da?" Sasha smiled, watching with interest.
"Da. That should be done today." Ivan nodded, but knew he had too much work to catch up on.
"I'll take him through. It'll keep us busy til lunch." Sasha smiled and Ivan nodded.
"That sounds like a plan." Ivan leaned back and Arthur nodded, looking around.
Nikolai, the shortest of the group, was still nearly a head taller than him. He couldn't help but sigh as he leaned back wondering, with how he'd woken up, if he'd be eating off of a rug with a dog bowl.
At least for now he was human. 'I better enjoy it while it lasts.' He thought as he sighed, wondering if he ever really just wanted to get out of the bathtub.