[Measure of Devotion 01.0] Measure of Devotion

by Caethes Faron

  “You better hope it is. If I find out differently, I won’t hesitate to beat you senseless before I sell you off.”

  “Yes, sir.” Kale kept his eyes lowered. He felt more than saw Robert step back and change his entire demeanor.

  “Well, get to cleaning up. You don’t want to keep Jason waiting, do you?”

  “No, sir.” The light tone of Robert’s voice put him even more on edge. The change from cold ruthlessness to calm composure was unsettling.

  Twenty-One

  For Jason, the night dragged. It was nice to only have to talk with his father, the overseer, and foreman, but he didn’t have anything in common with these men. More than anything, he wanted to go up to his room and fall asleep with Kale. He hadn’t realized how used he was to spending all of his time with him until he couldn’t. It felt wrong to have Kale standing so far away and acting like a slave when he was so much more than that.

  After dodging the cigars and nodding his way through a glass of port—he didn’t much care what had been happening in the county since he left or the state of his father’s business—he was finally able to take Kale and go upstairs. The urge to put his arm around Kale and draw him close was strong, but Kale was carefully composed and kept a proper distance. No one would be able to tell they were anything more than master and slave.

  Once the door to his room was closed, Jason broke out in a grin, feeling as if he had gotten away with a great deception, and put his arm around Kale’s waist, pulling him close. As soon as their bodies touched, Jason kissed Kale as if they had been separated for days rather than hours.

  “Saints alive, Kale. I thought they would never let us leave. It’s been so hard seeing you there, so close and yet not being able to touch you. You’re mine, for gods’ sake, you’d think I’d be able to do whatever the hell I want with you.” Kale’s eyes widened slightly. “What? I can curse when I want to.”

  “Apparently. I’ve just never heard you use anything other than all that saints crap you and every other free man seem to swear by.”

  “You’re rubbing off on me.” Jason was all smiles, but he saw a cloud pass over Kale’s face. “What’s wrong?”

  Kale jerked slightly, as if his mind had been elsewhere. “Nothing.”

  Jason looked closer, trying to see the problem, but he was never good at reading people. With scrutiny, he did see something he didn’t approve of. “Kale, did someone hit you tonight?”

  “No, sir.” It sounded like the truth, but Jason saw a faint mark on his cheek. Brushing his finger over it lightly, he watched for a reaction. There wasn’t much, but Jason did catch a slight twitch.

  “You’re lying.”

  “No, I’m not. When I was cleaning up in the dining room, I had to bend down to get some silverware that had fallen on the floor. I turned and whacked right into the table. Not my proudest moment.”

  Jason frowned. “Oh, you poor thing. Well how about I take care of it for you?” Jason leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly against the faint mark. When he pulled away, he grabbed Kale’s arm and began to drag him toward the bed. “Now come on. I’ve been waiting all night to get you here.”

  Kale smiled. “You sure you don’t want to tie me to the bed, Master?”

  Jason groaned. “Gods, was I stupid. I feel like such an idiot. Do you forgive me?” Jason sat on the bed and had Kale standing between his legs. He looked up at Kale’s face, not completely teasing in his request for absolution. Kale merely sighed, as if he were thinking it over. “How about you tie me to the bed?” Jason asked.

  Kale laughed, “Don’t tempt me.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “You are, aren’t you?” Kale sobered. “No, I don’t need to tie you up to forgive you. I was just teasing, anyway. I never really think about that. You were disappointed and drunk that night.”

  “And you are far too forgiving.”

  “And you’re crazy thinking that you need to ask for forgiveness for anything from your slave.”

  Twenty-Two

  The next morning, Jason felt better about being home. It must have been the time with Kale, but he felt like he might just be able to make it through this trip unscathed. It didn’t take long to be proven wrong.

  Breakfast was a small affair, just him and his father. Jason found himself counting how many more breakfasts he would have to endure without Kale sitting opposite him. What exactly were he and his father supposed to talk about? As it turned out, his father had ample conversation material in mind.

  “I noticed that your slave slept in your room last night.” Robert said it casually as he ate his eggs, but Jason had a feeling that this wasn’t going somewhere pleasant.

  “Yes, he sleeps in my room in Perdana.”

  “There aren’t slave quarters at the house in town?”

  “Yes, there are, but I prefer him in my room, available whenever I need him.” Jason hated the way he automatically got defensive whenever his father spoke to him.

  “Ah, using him to warm your bed then? There’s no need to blush, boy, I was a kid once too, you know. Just make sure you’re keeping him in his place. You invite a slave into your bed, and next thing you know he’s putting on airs.”

  Jason didn’t know whether he blushed from the implication that he and Kale were having sex, or from the implication that he was using his slave for sex. “I know what I’m doing, Father.”

  Robert made eye contact for the first time. “Yes, of course you do.” Jason wondered if his father’s words were mocking. The way his father held his eyes made him feel inadequate. Why was it that nothing he said or did ever satisfied this man?

  “Kale, come here.” Robert’s tone was firm, and his eyes never left Jason’s. When Kale silently appeared between himself and his father, Jason looked at him for a clue as to what was about to happen. Kale looked as docile as Jason had ever seen him, and something didn’t feel right.

  “You taking advantage of my son, slave?”

  “No, sir.” Kale’s voice sounded soft and timid in a way that Jason had never heard before.

  Robert finally looked at Kale, and Jason could see that he didn’t view him as a person. Had he once looked at Kale the same way? “Good. You’ll be sleeping in the slave quarters from now on.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jason felt anger boiling up inside him. He didn’t know what was more disturbing: his father giving his slave orders or Kale so humbly accepting them. What had happened here?

  “No. Kale, you’ll continue to sleep with me.” Jason was looking at his father when he spoke, but looked up at Kale when he didn’t get any kind of confirmation. Kale’s eyes had a look of desperation in them, as if he were begging Jason to see or understand something.

  “I don’t have a problem with him servicing you—fuck him all you want—but it’s inappropriate to have a slave sleeping with you. I’ve seen the way you react to him, like you’re lovers. Are you lovers, Kale?” Again, he didn’t take his eyes off Jason’s.

  “No, sir.”

  “What are you?”

  “His slave, sir.”

  “Did you tell him that I slapped you last night?” Before Jason knew it, he was on his feet. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registered the sound of his chair crashing to the floor.

  “You what?” Jason couldn’t remember a time when he had raised his voice this loud—and certainly never to his father. “You hit him?”

  “Yes. Is there a problem?”

  “Yes, there’s a problem. He’s mine. You don’t touch what is mine.”

  “Seems like quite the reaction for a slave. You were raised in this house. You know how slaves are treated here. I’ll take a whip to his back if I want to.”

  Jason lunged at his father. Kale moved to stop him, but he was too late. Jason grabbed his father by the front of his shirt, hauling him up and ramming him against the wall. “If you ever touch a hair on his head again, I swear I will have the law down here and charge you with destruction of property so
fast you won’t know what hit you.”

  “I suggest you take your hands off of me, boy.” Robert’s voice was dangerously cool, but Jason didn’t care. The only thought going through his head was that Kale had been threatened. Jason had been threatened, and there was little he could do about it. He couldn’t protect Kale here.

  “Master, please.” It wasn’t the words so much as the pleading tone in Kale’s voice that brought him back to himself. He let go of his father and stepped back.

  “If I can’t be assured of my property’s safety while I’m here, then I’ll have to leave.”

  “You’re missing the point, Son. This slave has an unhealthy effect on you. Right now, you should be courting lovers or potential brides. As I said before, fuck all you want with however many slaves you want, but this has gone way past that. If I’ve noticed his effect on you in less than a day, then you can bet others have too. Think about your reputation, Son. Think about your future.”

  “I’m happy, Father. Why can’t you be happy for me? I thought that’s what you wanted.”

  “You have the shortsightedness of youth. I want you to grow up and be a man. Stop disgracing yourself like a spoiled little boy.”

  “I’m not being shortsighted. I’m focusing on my studies, doing what I went to Perdana to do.”

  “No, you went to Perdana to climb the social ranks. University was just a good excuse to get there.”

  “Just because you can’t understand the appeal of learning and improving yourself doesn’t mean I don’t. You may be satisfied being an ignorant hick, but I’m better than that.”

  Robert’s hand rose to backhand him, and Jason braced for the blow, closing his eyes. When it didn’t come right away, he opened them to see Kale standing between them, his hand gripping his father’s raised wrist. The look of pure shock on his father’s face would have been funny if the circumstances were different.

  Gone was the docile slave who had quietly shuffled to and fro this morning. Now Kale was as Jason was used to seeing him: strong, steady, and eerily calm as he stared Robert down.

  “Release me.” The mere tone of Robert’s voice would have compelled instant obedience in anyone but Kale. Jason was a little in awe of how he could stand up to Robert like that. But now it was his turn to plead.

  “Kale.” Jason didn’t need to say more than that. As soon as the word was out of his mouth, Kale released Robert and moved to kneel. Before his knees hit the floor, Robert’s hand had closed around his neck and jerked him up and against the same wall that he had been held to only moments before.

  “You’ve done it now. See, Jason, I told you. Give them a little bit of freedom, and they start thinking they can do whatever they want. It’s time we beat some sense into this one.”

  “Father, no. Let him go or I’m going to go get the sheriff and bring him back here.”

  “To do what? I should kill him for raising his hand to a free man.”

  Fear gripped Jason’s mind and paralyzed him. His father was right, and he knew it. In the silence as Jason tried to figure out what to do, Robert let go of Kale, and Jason watched Kale fall to his knees, bending his forehead to the ground. The sight made Jason’s stomach roil.

  “Don’t worry, Son. I’m not going to kill him.” There was an edge of softness to Robert’s voice, but Jason wondered if it just seemed that way because of how he had sounded earlier. “But I am going to have him beaten. It will do him some good, and you too. You could both use a reminder of what he is.”

  “No, Father. I meant what I said; you harm him in any way and I’ll have you charged.”

  “Master, please. I deserve it.” There was something broken about Kale’s voice.

  “You’d best listen to the slave, boy. I’ve made allowances because I know you’re young, and you don’t always think things through, but I suggest you stop threatening me in my home.”

  “No, Kale, you don’t deserve it. And Father, it’s not a threat. You’re right, this is your home. It’s no longer mine. Kale and I are leaving.”

  “So you’re going to let him get away with what he did?”

  “With protecting me? Yes, I think I will.”

  “You’re my son. I’ll slap you if I want. A slave has no business interfering. If you’re going to choose him over me, then I’m no longer your father.”

  “I’m not going to let you hurt him.”

  “Fine, go get your things and get out of here. You’re dead to me.”

  “Father, please.” But it was too late. Robert had turned his back on his son and left the room.

  Twenty-Three

  Kale was in shock. What had possessed him to physically assault a free man? Kale found it difficult to restrain himself when anyone threatened Jason. Still, it was a stupid move to let Robert unnerve him like that. After Robert left the room, Jason had tried to comfort him. If there was anything more confusing than Kale’s own craziness, it was his master’s choice to be disowned by his father rather than allowing the man to take a whip to his back. They had both let their feelings of protectiveness toward each other get the better of them and cloud their judgment. The difference was that Jason was full of young drama, and Kale expected this kind of thing from him. Kale, on the other hand, was more practical than that. He knew better than to put his own ass on the line. What would have happened if he hadn’t interfered? Nothing. Jason wouldn’t have been mad because he wouldn’t have expected it.

  Kale knew he was being the shortsighted one this time. If he had seen Robert strike Jason, when all Jason had ever tried to do was please the man, Kale would have snapped. If he hadn’t interfered when he did, things would have been much worse.

  When had he become willing to risk himself for this man who owned him?

  Sitting next to Jason in the carriage—there was no need for pretense now—Kale turned the situation over and over again in his mind. All he could think was that this was not good. If Robert did have his title, and Kale had no reason to doubt him, he could legally send someone to take him away. The thought was enough to increase his heart rate. Knowing that he couldn’t think straight in a panic, he willed himself to calm down. Jason had said once that Kale wasn’t afraid of anything. That wasn’t quite true, he had just learned to distance himself from the fear and examine the problem to find out the source and face it head on.

  If Robert sent men after him, they would take him away.

  Calm. Breathe. In and out.

  Then what? They’d beat the shit out of him, that’s what. He’d taken pain before—a lot of it when he belonged to the Cartwrights. There was nothing new or scary there. He would either survive it or he wouldn’t. There wasn’t much he could do about it, and that helpless resignation was also nothing new. Then what? They would either take him back to Mr. Wadsworth’s and he would serve there, or he would be sold. He’d been through both experiences before and there was nothing earth shatteringly frightening about either. A lifetime of experience had taught him that it was futile to worry about things he couldn’t control. His mother had taught him to not let free people scare him, it was one less power they could hold over you.

  So why did he still break out in a cold sweat every time he thought about being taken away? It didn’t make sense.

  It must have been hours before he realized they had been sitting in silence the entire time, and that it was comfortable. Kale glanced at Jason, trying to discern his thoughts. His face gave nothing away. There was no indication that this boy—could he really still be called a boy?—had just abandoned everything he knew.

  “Why did you do it? Why did you turn your back on your father? On your home?” It came out in a rush. Kale hadn’t realized how much he wanted to know until it all came bubbling out of him.

  Jason started and turned to Kale, a faint smile gracing his lips. “Actually, he was the one who turned his back on me, if you recall.”

  “You know what I mean.” Kale was not in the mood for jokes. This was not a laughing matter, didn’t Jason see that? W
as that his problem? Did he really not understand what a big deal this was?

  “Yes, I do. I suppose this must be awkward for you, but it’s not your fault. That place was never really my home. Perdana is my home now.”

  “Of course it’s my fault. And you’re pretty dumb for being so nice to me after what I’ve caused, if you don’t mind me saying so, Master.”

  “You never much care whether I mind or not.”

  “See, and that’s the point. What were you thinking bringing me here? We both know I’m a shit slave. Or at least I am now. I used to be pretty decent at it, if I remember. You should have just left me back in Perdana.”

  “Well, for starters, you’re not a shit slave. I happen to think you’re the best. Why else would I have you? You know I only get the best.” Jason smiled. How could he be humorous at a time like this?

  “Which is why you wanted Demetri.”

  “Which is why I kept you instead of selling you the moment we arrived in Perdana.”

  “You didn’t sell me because you couldn’t. Stop playing these games. Your father told me he still holds my title. And what do you think he’s going to do now? He’s going to take me away.” Damn, did his voice actually catch? That’s exactly what he needed right now, to let Jason know his fear. “So what exactly did you accomplish back there? You didn’t save me. All you did was get yourself in a world of hurt with your stupid sense of loyalty.” When Kale finally got it all out—it felt like it had all been in one breath—he saw that Jason was trying, rather unsuccessfully, to hold back a laugh.

  “Are you done? No, my father does not hold your title.” Jason’s face went from humorous to furious frighteningly fast. Kale marveled that he had inherited that skill from his father, though instead of changing to ice, Jason was hot fire when angry. “That sick bastard was just trying to scare you. I wish you had told me the truth about it when it happened.” Jason paused to glare at Kale.