Chapter 7

Sasha showed Arthur to his room. It was right next to the barracks the other three from the group were in. When he made his way from the room, his eyes burning from excessive use, Piotr frowned.

"Your eyes are red."

"They burn. It's to be expected. There's a lot of dust in old books, you know. I'll wash them out and they'll be fine." He smiled as he walked through, the rest following him to dinner. He drank his tea before starting on the food, but found his appetite wasn't there. He frowned as he nibbled, a little let down at the feeling for the end of the day.

"Your shoulders are inflamed. Do you need to see Lukas?" Sasha asked, looking through the glasses and Arthur shook his head.

"Not over that. My eyes... they're bothering me. Is there somewhere I can wash them out? If they don't stop burning, I'm worried I'll have to trouble him." Arthur spoke softly and Sasha nodded.

"Come with me." He was taken to the restroom off of the side of the barracks. "This bathroom is just for your group. Use it as you see fit." Sasha spoke and Arthur looked, seeing four shower stalls with no walls separating. Two toilets and two sinks, also without any way to block from the rest.

"Will Master be upset with me for this? If others see me naked?" He looked up with worry and honestly Sasha had to stop and think.

He'd said that morning that Arthur was HIS woman, and though it was mostly said as a joke, he didn't know how his brother would handle something like this. It wasn't something that had ever come to pass. "I don't' know."

"I'll try and only come in after the others are asleep, then." Arthur mumbled as he turned on the sink and cupped his hands. He splashed his face a few times, washing away the dust and ache from the reading and sighed with relief when it worked. He did so a few more times before standing and staring at the mirror. "That's much better." he turned to thank Sasha, surprised to find the man's eyes wide on his.

"Your eyes are really big!"

"They get like this sometimes. I think it's... I'll probably see a lot of fairies tonight." He shifted his answer, not wanting to mention it as a leftover effect from his blindness.

"You go ahead and get your shower in now. The rest will be in a meeting for the next hour. If you start having trouble after hours, I'll be at the end of the hall, alright?"

"Alright. Thank you, Sasha. Your kindness is really uplifting for me." He smiled with a nod and Sasha smiled before patting him on the head and turning to leave. Arthur ran to his room and grabbed another set of clothes before going to get in a shower.

The other three came in just as he got back, dressed in his military uniform. He knew he'd just take it off at bedtime and wear it the next day, since it looked like Sasha had picked out the sleepwear. "You only have your military clothes?"

"Ah, Something like that." He could feel the red in his cheeks and just hoped they didn't wonder. They spent the next hour chatting, having a good time just getting to know each other, and honestly Arthur found himself wondering about Piotr. He seemed horribly kind and much more chatty than Dmitri and Alexi, who seemed fairly well wrapped in their own world. Arthur slipped into his room about ten minutes til bedtime and wrote out his first note to Ivan.

'Master,

I'm actually really enjoying boot camp. It's hard work, but it feels really good

to know I'm learning and not just from a book. My cabin mates are interesting.

Alexi and Dmitri don't seem to be much interested in befriending a slave, but

the last man in the cabin, Piotr, doesn't seem to mind. He reminds me a lot of

you. He has the same hair, shape and nose, but his eye and hair color are

different.

You said you wanted to hear the best and worst part of my day, so here's todays.

The worst part of the day was a horrible accident. I didn't know Nikolai doesn't like

to be around magic, and I tried to prove to him I was able to do what I said. He kicked

me in the stomach. It was painful, but now I know better than to do something

like that without thought first. I'm just hoping you're not mad at me for

upsetting him.

The best part of the day was when Lukas reminded me that this is practically

a different world. There's different taboos, different views here that we didn't

have where I'm from. I may be a simple slave, but it looks like even so I

may have a better life than I ever would have had before. I thank you for that.

Anyway, I should get to bed. I have to be careful not to let the others see

my sleeping attire. I think Sasha picked it out. It's not very covering and

I worry if I need to get out of the room in the middle of the night.

Thank you for bringing me here.

Arthur Braginsky-Kirkland'

Arthur looked over the letter before placing it into an envelope and walked out just as Sasha came in to tell the boys it was time for lights out. Arthur held out the note and Sasha looked at it with curiosity.

"Master said I should write him a letter every day. This is todays. I don't' know how else to give it to him." Arthur mumbled and Sasha nodded, patting him on the head again.

"Such an obedient little slave! I'm gonna be jealous if you keep this up!" Sasha laughed and Arthur burned bright red. "Why aren't you wearing the sleepwear I chose for you?"

"Too much skin! I can't let anyone besides Master see me in things like that!" Arthur burned bright red and all three of the cabin mates, as well as Sasha just stared, blushing for a moment.

"Just like a woman in love!" Sasha chirped and Arthur turned brighter red.

"Your master is very lucky. Looks like you got a good deal as well." Piotr spoke with a soft voice and Arthur nodded, his blush not fading. He even sounded like Ivan when he was quiet.

"I got lucky, but I don't' know if I'd think he did as well. The first words he said to me were 'You're the ugliest woman I've ever seen'. It would probably be a curse to look at someone you thought about like that." Arthur sighed and Sasha stared, his smile breaking down a little.

"He really said that?"

"Yeah." Arthur pouted. "When I told him I was a man, he told me I was the least masculine man he'd ever met. We were at war, I thought I was about to die, and I was so embarrassed all I could do was apologize." He sighed.

"If he really thought about you like that, he wouldn't have let me dress you up yesterday." Sasha grinned and Arthur thought back, trying to remember.

"I don't really remember much from it. If what Nikolai said is any indication, I don't even know if I want Master seeing me like that again." Arthur's cheeks burned brighter red and Sasha laughed out loud while Piotr just stared.

"Very lucky master." Piotr spoke softly before turning to his bed. "Goodnight, Mister Fairy. Goodnight, Commander."

"Good night, Piotr. Goodnight, Sasha." Arthur started to bow and Sasha nodded.

"Goodnight, Arthur."

"Arthur?" Piotr turned around, the other two looking in surprise as well.

"I guess we should have realized his name wasn't actually Mister Fairy." Alexi grinned and Dmitri rolled his eyes.

"He's not my bitch, doesn't make much of a difference to me." He sighed as he climbed into his bed. Arthur looked down before turning to his room, missing the surprised glance Sasha gave after the comment.

He'd remembered Ivan saying Arthur was very prideful, which was part of the reason the outfits had been chosen to mess with him, break away that pride.

Maybe something had been misunderstood. He seemed sad. He didn't seem prideful at all. If anything, it seemed pride was something he lacked.

"So many interesting things..." Sasha smiled as he turned, heading back into the hallway. This whole situation was seeming more and more enjoyable as it went on.

Except the three men in the cabin. Alexi and Dmitri didn't seem bad, but something warned Sasha that they weren't to be trusted with someone as valuable as the king's personal slave. Piotr was the exact opposite. He seemed very soft, kind and caring. Something about him reminded Sasha of Ivan, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

But he was able to tell almost immediately that the man had taken a liking to Arthur. Sasha couldn't kick any of them out without reason, but he knew he'd have to keep a close eye on that boy. He didn't want him trying to seduce Arthur. When someone was broken down, it was easier to convince them into things, and with the look Arthur had gotten before going to his room, he knew he didn't have way too much more to break down. If Piotr waited til the right time...

"God damn this." Sasha sighed as he knocked at the next room.

Arthur woke the next morning and dressed, making his way quickly to the breakfast table. Piotr watched Arthur make his way through with a smile. "Sleep well?"

"Ah, yes, thank you." Arthur stated, feeling a bit more like himself today. His accent was thicker than it had been the day before and he sighed as he sat, looking at the cup of tea. He frowned before taking a sip and sighed, letting the smell calm his nerves. "You as well, I'd hope?"

"Da." Piotr smiled softly. "Thank you." The other two started chatting about how Piotr was stealing someone's slave and Arthur looked at the two of them with a frown.

"That's quite rude, and slanderous." Arthur spoke as he sucked down the tea, a raised eyebrow at the two who laughed off his words, honestly not even caring if they offended either of them. After all, one just seemed to be some hick from the farm and the other was a slave.

"If the hick was going to steal a slave, shouldn't he go for one who has more muscle? He can't help plow the fields with arms like that." One pointed out and Arthur sighed, shaking his head.

"Don't worry about it." Arthur looked up with a smile. "You made the first round, so you've already proven your worth, right?" Arthur smiled at Piotr who nodded, taking in his words.

"Thank you." Piotr sighed as he ate and they quickly prepared for exercises that morning.

When the team made their way outside Arthur asked them to wait for him for a moment while he ran over, seeing Nikolai starting in with another team. He got on his knees and bent down low before getting the other's attention by reaching out, softly tapping the back of his leg. Nikolai turned, seeing the boy on the floor and stepped back, a low growl emitting from him. "I'm sorry! I hadn't meant to cause you any trouble yesterday. I didn't take your thoughts into consideration and I am so very sorry to have distressed you!"

"Why are you here now, though?" Nikolai snarled and Arthur looked up, seeing his face, trying to convey his sincerity.

"I don't want you to hate me! Magic is taboo where I'm from and since it seemed so common here, I got a little overly cocky and... proud of what I could do. I became arrogant and tried to show off, and for that I am so very sorry!" He bowed his head back down. "If you feel the need to kick me again, go ahead, just please don't stay mad at me!"

Most of the people outside had heard the confession and stood, waiting to see what Nikolai's response would be. Sasha frowned, hoping he didn't take Arthur up on the offer to kick.

"Get up, you little shit." Nikolai snarled and Arthur stood, still bowing and keeping his face down. "I hate you. I will always hate you, and it's not because of some stupid magic trick. Get to work, slacker." Arthur looked up, realizing in his own way Nikolai was trying to set a normal pace and nodded.

"Thank you." Arthur spoke just softly enough the other could hear and he heard "Da, da..." as Nikolai's hand waved him away. He ran back over to his group, seeing all three men staring at him surprised.

"He didn't kill you..." Alexi frowned, looking up at Nikolai, who almost looked red. "He's blushing. He's not your master, right?"

"No!" Arthur jumped up, shaking his head. "He would have killed me the first day, without question." Arthur sighed as he walked behind the rest as they started into push ups.

They didn't have classes that day. Breakfast, exercise, lunch, exercise, dinner, reading, bed. This was Arthur's schedule for the next two weeks. The constant strain on his muscles was causing more and more pain, and the tea Lukas gave him was soon supplemented with another, as well as a pill he was given before breakfast every day. The pill was to keep down the inflammation in his shoulders and upper arms from the working out, while the new tea was to lift his spirits, something that should boost his mood.

The second tea didn't work. Lukas hadn't told him what it was and he honestly didn't care. It wasn't unusual to find Piotr sitting in front of the bedroom door with a depressed look on his face as Arthur avoided the rest of them when Sasha came in to tell them lights off. He really started to wonder about the situation as the training wore on.

Halfway through the second week, Sasha noticed Piotr wasn't in the room and looked around, frowning. "Where's Piotr?"

"I think he went to see the medic. He didn't look... right." Dmitri frowned.

Sasha sighed, nodding. "It's lights out, guys. Go to sleep, alright?" He sighed, looking over at the small table where Arthur had started leaving the letters for Ivan if he wasn't out when Sasha showed up. He lifted the envelope, noticing the change in the handwriting on the envelope and frowned.

He was getting worse.

He walked up and softly knocked at the door. Arthur slid it open, his eyes showing he'd been crying. His hands shook as he wrapped them across his chest and he stared out in confusion for a moment before realizing who was before him. "Ah, Hello, Sasha. How can I help you?"

"I need you to come with me." Sasha frowned, reaching out softly. Arthur flinched back, shocked as worried eyes roved over him. "Did someone here do something?" Sasha asked and Arthur looked up at his face, beginning to shake.

"N-no, nothing like that." he spoke softly. Sasha could only sigh. Arthur wasn't a good liar at all.

"Come on, I'm going to have Lukas look you over again."

"I'm fine. I just need to sleep." Arthur turned, looking over the stacks of books on the table and Sasha realized something.

He was taking this all very seriously. "When was the last time you slept from lights out til lights on?"

"I haven't." Arthur looked up, shifting uncomfortably. "I read til the rest are asleep then go to shower. If I plan to get this done in time, I don't have the time for sleep." Arthur spoke up and Sasha frowned, shaking his head.

"How often do you forget when lights out is and stay up even longer?" Sasha asked and Arthur frowned, looking down in embarrassment. "You know, I'll be in a lot of trouble if I work you to death. Get in your shower. You have tomorrow off. You wake for breakfast, lunch and dinner and sleep the rest of the time. If I have to get Lukas to give you something to make you sleep-"

"I can't." Arthur shook his head. "I don't have time to slack off, Sasha! I need to get this done and a whole day off? These guys already hate me. You'll be making things much worse on me if you do that."

"Then why don't you at least stop reading for a couple of days? Just long enough to keep you from going crazy. You can use the shower in my room so you can sleep with everyone else." Sasha watched with worry as Arthur nodded.

"Just for a couple of days. I don't have time to slack. I'll just... take a small break from the reading. Just a couple of days..." He nodded, tears coming to his eyes and Sasha sighed, softly patting his head.

"Go get your shower in. I'll give you my key in the morning to tomorrow night you can shower there."

"Thank you." Arthur nodded.

Sasha turned and walked down the hallway, knowing after everyone else was in bed, he'd have to go find out what was wrong with Piotr. He was an amazing soldier. He held a lot of promise.

Which made Sasha wonder how in the hell he was going to get rid of him.