Fountain of Beauty

by Meraki P. Lyhne

  “Don’t please, it was just my job.”

  “Sounded like you loved your job. Let me show you my job. Get up.”

  The guy stood, looking stubborn, and Seldon could appreciate that.

  “Was it really your job to rape? Not just feed?”

  Stubborn silence from the soldier, and Seldon tried his hardest to not hate him for what he’d put him through.

  I will not be petty. He is a Changeling, he is experiencing trouble.

  Unlike when Daniel had been introduced to the consequences of the breeder who’d bashed Seldon with a chair, he’d show this Changeling the patience his Prince had taught him. Plus, being hit by a chair was nothing compared to a rape, and Seldon could easily forgive a chair once punishment had been dealt. But Seldon wasn’t the one to punish this Changeling since he belonged to Elakdon.

  “The dose will feed you since I’m of higher energy than you. Without it, you’ll starve. You’ll suffer. Let me feed you.”

  “No.”

  “Okay. But until you let me, the itch on your skin will increase, and your suffering will increase. I can soothe it, but it’s up to you.”

  Seldon took two steps back and watched the soldier’s stubbornness fight all he knew or thought he knew about the Cubi race. That Seldon only told him half the truth was planned, though. One step at a time, and Seldon thought himself enriched by having learned from Daniel. “When you’re ready.”

  Seldon retook his seat next to Elakdon. Out the corner of his eye, he noticed the King watching him curiously, and he remembered his and Daniel’s conversation about the old King having to learn about Daniel’s insight into that century. Following what Daniel had taught Seldon, he waited. And they waited. To make a point, Seldon didn’t take his eyes off the shivering Changeling, and the King watched in rapt fascination, his eyes lingering more on Seldon and his strategy than it did on the Changeling.

  Okay, it wasn’t exactly time conserving, but Seldon hoped to have time to prove it from productivity. No, he didn’t—he hoped they’d be out of there before the human soldiers returned and took away Geodin or Roardon.

  Still, with no way of telling time, Seldon just knew he watched the Changeling shiver for a long time before he sought out Seldon’s eye contact again. “Do you want me to feed you now?”

  “No!” The Changeling sneered.

  “Okay. But you’ll get sick if you don’t feed. Just know I will when you’re ready. The dose of a purple-eye can hurt you. So can the golden eye. Being a Sire, I can’t.” It was a fib, sure, but Seldon didn’t care. He merely resumed staring at the Changeling, quivering in the corner. Another undefined period of time went by.

  Then the Changeling looked up, pain visible in his eyes. “Okay, feed me.”

  Seldon went to him, shoving his disdain for the man deep down. Be the bigger man, don’t be petty, don’t let him take away your honor. He knelt by him. “What’s your name?” Not that he cared, but Daniel would care just like Dahlidin cared about the names of the Breeders. He remembered how he’d found it difficult to ask when he’d moved to the newly built House of Dahlidin. He remembered how it had made a difference, too.

  “Sergeant Jones.”

  Jonah. But he wasn’t Jonah.

  “What’s your first name?”

  “Danny.”

  Daniel! But he wasn’t Daniel.

  “What’s that short for?”

  “Nothing. It’s just Danny.”

  Seldon nodded, thinking, but he had to work hard at not just hating the man. He was giving him time and asking questions to soothe himself as much as he did the man. If he just dosed him and fucked him, he’d release raped energy because he really wanted to belittle the man. He wanted to visit the pain back on him. He wanted him to suffer. In return, Seldon would suffer because no pleasure would come from wanting to belittle him or the man feeling belittled.

  “Okay!” The Changeling all but sneered at Seldon as he stood. “Make it stop.”

  Well, actually Seldon had the opportunity to humiliate him a bit, and he almost smiled sardonically at the chance. “Use the toilet first, then.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want to poke a poop.” Seldon bit down hard to not laugh at the disgusted and humiliated expression as he stood and sat back down with Elakdon. The King was grinning, though.

  A while went by before the soldier took a seat on the toilet, and Seldon decided not to watch. Watching would hammer home the humiliation, but he was sure he’d say or do something petty if he did. He let Elakdon do the humiliation by letting him watch and grin.

  But how the hell was he going to go through with feeding? He actually feared it—feared his mind slipping into revenge mode.

  To find some sort of anchor in his mentality, Seldon thought about when he had to whip Jonah that second time. He’d peeled the flesh from bones on less than ten out of fifty lashes. The first time, he’d manage to bury his animosity and not swing the whip with all his might. The second time around, he’d managed to not let pity hold him back. He hadn’t even let his thirst for revenge at the fear of being starved half to death influence his verdict which was why he’d been allowed to punish the red-eye in the first place.

  “I’m done,” the Changeling finally declared.

  “Wash up.”

  The soldier did, and Seldon had already learned that the faucet only had cold water. Too fucking bad. The soldier seemed less irritated by the fact, though, and Seldon figured he was well-trained enough to have learned to live without the luxury of things sometimes.

  Seldon rocked until he noticed he was doing so.

  I’m an honorable Sire, I bring honor to the House of My Prince Nol-Beaudon.

  Seldon got up and walked to the Changeling, focusing only on seeing a starving Cubus, not a less than attractive rapist. “Open your mouth so I can feed you.” But he knew he grabbed the jaw too hard, and once he’d released the dose orally, he covered the Changeling’s mouth with his hand to make sure he didn’t spit it out. He didn’t think he had it in him to be that patient a second time around.

  The dose took, and the Changeling writhed and moaned on the floor.

  “Tell me what you need, and I’ll give it.” He would because Nol-Elakdon was testing him. Testing his honor and thus his place in the House of Nol-Beaudon. He’d do Daniel proud. He wouldn’t be petty.

  “It’s wrong!” the Changeling shouted.

  “What’s wrong? Starvation?” Seldon asked. “In your time, then.” Seldon stepped back, fighting to not just run away from the wretched being and leave him to starve. He took a seat next to Elakdon again and watched as the Changeling writhed under the overdose.

  “You take your time,” Elakdon commented.

  “Daniel taught me to. Until then, I was the one who battled the fighters. He isn’t. Not yet. Daniel taught me to be patient.” Plus going slow was the only way Seldon could actually let the Changeling suffer a bit without it being revenge.

  And then they watched the Changeling fight the dose.

  “Fuck, please, make it stop!”

  “Tell me what the dose needs to be soothed. What do you need?”

  “No!” But it was more a plea than a decline.

  “This is what you are now. You’re one of us. This is how you’ll feed. Listen to what your body needs, or you’ll be in pain.” But Seldon had to admit he got some sort of sick sense of justice from watching the Changeling writhe and whimper.

  I’m above that. I’m an honorable Cubus. I’m worthy of my status. I’m not vindictive.

  But he wanted to let go and sneer and laugh scornfully at the man in pain. He wanted to watch him suffer, but his position as Daniel’s right hand didn’t allow that. He wouldn’t let Daniel down.

  “Fuck me,” the Changeling whispered.

  Seldon wanted to cup his hand behind his ear and ask loudly and theatrically What’s that? But he didn’t. He went to kneel next to the suffering young Cubus. “I couldn’t hear you. Tell me how to help y
ou.”

  “Fuck me!”

  A slew of derogatory comments caught in Seldon’s throat as he pulled the Changeling closer. “They don’t allow us the necessities to feed comfortably, so you’re going to have to make do with spit. I’ll be careful.” Having already dosed the man once, Seldon didn’t want to take advantage of the slickness of a dose and have to come twice with the man, so he spat on his fingers and introduced one into the man’s ass, hoping he was empty downstairs. Not a lot met his finger when he pressed inside, and he kept that one finger there to let the man know what soothing effect his touch could have while he kept up his mantra that he was better than that.

  Remembering Marcadon and Daniel tell about the skill he brought to his people, Seldon tried to focus on what he found attractive about the man. Bile rose in his throat as he searched and fought back the bitterness at the memory of the raped poison spreading in his body to infect every cell.

  He had an okay ass. He loved the sight of his fingers buried in an ass, so he tried to separate the man from the ass and just take pleasure in what he usually felt from the one whose ass he worked.

  A loud moan helped, until he remembered that voice in his ear as the poison spread. He tried to remember someone else’s voice, and the softer grunt from the man sounded a bit like a breeder he’d fed from in a feeding stall about a year ago. The dark hairs lightly sprinkling the ass he was working kinda looked like him, too. If not, Seldon’s brain was trying to accommodate him.

  Seldon spat more to ease the entrance of another finger, and another desperate moan escaped the man. He still sounded like the breeder because nothing desperate had escaped the man’s mouth while raping Seldon, and it allowed him to continue. It allowed it long enough for Seldon to think him ready without having to recognize who he was with, and he finally pressed inside him, enjoying the tightness and the warmth that squeezed his cock.

  But then the guy once again began whimpering a mixture about how good it felt and how wrong it was, and for a second, Seldon lost it, clamping a hand over his mouth. “Shut up, and let me feed you!”

  He thrust into the man at a measured pace, focusing on the breeder he remembered. He imagined himself back in the Great House and taking his pleasure from a lower ranking Cubus. Pleasure built to the grunts of the breeder in his mind, and Seldon tried to stay with it and bring the body he was pleasing and thus feed him as a receiver, but every once in a while, the grunts awoke Seldon’s memory and reminded him of pain and degradation.

  Seldon shivered and pulled out before the disdain toward the man he was trying to feed got the better of him and turned the energy sour. Bile rose again, mingling with begging for Seldon to finish fucking him. The Changeling was so close.

  “Daniel,” Seldon whispered to himself and squeezed his eyes shut. He ran his hands up and down the back of the man lying on his knees in front of him, once again trying to find a way to enjoy and take pleasure while also giving it.

  Daniel had been able to bring his captors pleasure to a point where they’d lost a dose.

  Wasn’t the same, this guy had brought pain.

  Daniel had been drowning in fear when kidnapped.

  Seldon had been inflicted harm enough to impede his health.

  Steak knife. It flashed before Seldon’s inner eye.

  You fucking steal people! Daniel had sneered.

  It was just my job.

  Daniel had made his captures lose doses!

  Royal, Daniel was a Royal.

  The man groaned and shoved back against Seldon, who shivered while trying to keep himself in check and not give into his animosity.

  And Seldon was his right hand. He was Lokil-Nol.

  The man whimpered again, and Seldon sought his past to find help. Anything to help him ground.

  Again, he returned to Jonah. It was a proud point in his life, and especially recent life. Caledon had used his punishment to highlight Seldon’s honor. Had he been asked to feed the rude Changeling who had cost him so much, he would have. Especially because he’d ultimately caused the ball rolling that ended up making Seldon the caretaker of Daniel for the rest of Seldon’s life.

  Nothing bad had come of it, just pain and discomfort. He’d gotten Daniel. He was the lover of the young beauty. And Caledon. Oh, God, he’d gotten them both.

  Remembering how lovely it was to feed from them, Seldon entered the man again, focusing solely on remembering the ecstatic feeling of his lovers and how proud he was of Daniel.

  But it felt wrong thinking about him now, yet Seldon was running out of strength. His beautiful boy, his strong and beautiful boy. Finally, he managed to find a clear image of Daniel. When he’d picked him up at the arena. When the boy had finally decided to stand tall. Already then, Seldon had glimpsed greatness. Now he had to live up to that. He had to deserve respect. So he kept that image clear in his mind’s eye and penetrated the man again, fighting to focus on that strength.

  Be greater, choose to be greater, deserve that respect.

  Desperate cries sounded, and an ass shoved back against his crotch. “Please, please.”

  Seldon snapped his hips a bit harder.

  Hate and mercy, Seldon had the power to dish out both. What would Daniel do? Truthfully, Seldon didn’t even want to know the answer to that because he had an idea that even he didn’t know what his young lover was capable of once he learned what Seldon had been through.

  Apparently, he’d learn soon.

  The Changeling came, and Seldon enjoyed the feel of his ass muscles working. He felt almost triumphant for having managed to overcome his hate, and the memory of how wonderful Daniel and Caledon could make Seldon feel, Seldon managed to reach a meager orgasm with the Changeling.

  Seldon pulled out from the Changeling, watching as he scurried off into a corner as the dose’s hold evaporated from his system. Seldon stood and walked away without uttering a word to the Changeling. He just went to the sink and washed his dick in the cold water, biting his lip because that stung like hell.

  He then took a seat next to the King again, not looking at him.

  “You truly are a Grand Sire, title or not. You bring honor to your Kingdom and the position you hold.”

  The softness in the King’s voice made Seldon look up, and the look in Elakdon’s eyes warmed Seldon to the core.

  “I’m very proud of you, Seldon.” Geodin reached through the bars to put her hand on his shoulder. “I don’t think I’d have been strong enough.”

  “I expected to have to rinse two systems of the poison,” Elakdon said. “How was the orgasm?”

  “Flat and irrelevant.”

  Elakdon cocked his head. He then moved in on Seldon, pulling him up to stand and into an embrace. “Look at me.”

  Seldon did, and the King’s eyes shone brighter. Where their naked bodies touched, warmth and pleasure stirred in Seldon, and it spread faster and faster.

  “Look at me,” Elakdon whispered again, yet Seldon hadn’t taken his eyes off him, but he focused harder on the King. Elakdon gasped and an orgasm barreled through Seldon, making him quake and gasp. His knees gave out from the intensity, and Elakdon held him up and close, still locking gazes with him.

  Seldon breathed heavily and shivered, managing to stand again as the powerful euphoria ebbed away. “What the…”

  “I thought you deserved some pleasure.” Elakdon lowered Seldon to the mattress again.

  “I certainly got that, wow.” And Seldon certainly recognized that trait in Daniel, just far from as pronounced as in the old King.

  If that treat was any indication of whether Seldon had passed the King’s test or not, Seldon would say he’d passed with flying colors.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  C aledon, Daniel, and Aaron waited in their room for Levidon and Marcadon to return from finding a room with hot water. As Caledon had suspected, the Guard Lord had not been pleased to learn he had to leave the room to find a shower. Caledon didn’t care. In his mind, it was the lodge who hadn’t taken the
need for hot water in Cubi rooms into account, so the fault was theirs.

  Aaron and Daniel sat by the window and talked. Caledon tried to give them some privacy to catch up, but it was obvious Aaron’s thoughts were more self-centered than Daniel needed at that moment. Seldon was gone. Daniel’s strongest supporter and the one he loved the most was gone. Yet Caledon thought he understood Aaron, too, because he’d come to understand Daniel better, and Aaron had some of the same defense mechanisms as Daniel had had two months earlier.

  The door opened, and Levidon and Marcadon entered. “Are you ready for breakfast, My Prince?”

  “Yes.” Daniel and Aaron stood and came to the door. Daniel took Caledon’s hand, warming his heart.

  “Your Guard Lords and I have secured the area, and the lodge has been closed down so no humans, who don’t feed us, are here. We would, however, ask that you do not venture into the lobby.”

  “Okay, I won’t. Will the military guess at our location?”

  “We’re under the cover of a wedding reception, and this lodge is owned by a human woman. The one who shares a love life with Dame Tadin. This is a safe house.”

  “One Lords and Ladies stay at to dose Minglers,” Caledon added.

  “No one knows about you, and we need to keep it that way for now. Your eyes are red now, please see if you can keep them that way. We’ve been alerted that Royals will arrive later with warriors so we can reclaim our Cubi people.”

  Caledon saw how the determination of Levidon rubbed off on Daniel, and the young Prince stood a bit taller. It suited him.

  “I will have to be revealed once the Royals get here.”

  “Yes, but until then, My Prince, keep your head down.” Levidon turned to face Aaron. “To secure you among the many Cubi here, you must wear this. It marks you as an Untouchable.”

  Aaron wrinkled his nose at the impromptu collar that someone had taken a marker to and written Untouchable on with the Cubi word as a divider between the repetitions in English.