“Why?”
“So we can have coffee with Rosadin.”
“She’s out feeding,” Daniel said.
Both Cubi laughed loudly.
“With two doses in his system, no wonder he didn’t hear her come in,” Caledon said, snatching his shirt from the floor.
Chapter Sixteen
Seldon relaxed on the couch, enjoying the fact that he had healed enough to lie on his back and not his stomach. He had also healed enough to fuck Daniel to three orgasms in the bathroom that morning.
His thoughts returned to the feeding the day before where Caledon and Seldon had both fed and fed on Daniel at the same time. Remembering that he had thought Caledon asked him to dose but dosed Daniel, too, made him chuckle. Rosadin coming home and rolling her eyes at them as she made her way to the kitchen saying something about lunch. He wondered how long she was planning on staying. Not that he minded, and he loved the healthy banter between her and Daniel.
Before Caledon left the night before, having fed on Daniel again, he aired his thoughts about Seldon being ready to feed the boy himself. Seldon agreed with a small sense of relief. Why did he feel that way? He never had before when it came to someone, but he felt protective of Daniel. Was it because he had failed him? Was that what caused the innate need to keep him safe, satiated, and happy? Was it because he feared not taking care of the boy adequately?
“I think I’ll be done with this essay in a matter of days,” Daniel said, looking up from his homework. He sat further down the crescent couch, working on his assignment. Seldon was proud of the work the boy had put into the essay to Caledon the last few days, but it also reminded him of something else.
“Come and help haul my ass up, I need to show you something.”
Daniel grinned and left his pen and book to grab Seldon’s arms and help him up. His back might have healed and all scabs fallen off, but moving the new skin could still sting like a motherfucker. Daniel had run around with a broom three times a day to sweep the floor from scabs, and Seldon loved him for being tidier. There was still the odd little thing about dirty mugs being left on the table, but Seldon had decided to dial it down since Daniel wasn’t a slave anymore, and the boy was actually doing good.
Seldon took Daniel to the second bedroom he had shown him the day he had arrived. At that moment, it functioned as Rosadin’s bedroom, but at some point, she’d go home. And Daniel needed a study for when he began school.
“I once told you you’d get your own room when you earned my trust.”
Daniel gaped. “You’re kicking me out of the bed?”
“No, cub, I’m not. But you need a study, right? Plus, maybe sometimes you want to be alone or something. The bed stays because it doubles as a guest room, but other than that, it’s yours. You have almost no belongings, but that will change. Clothes, you can still use the walk-in. You can help me clear some room. Probably enough to just restack most of mine.”
Daniel walked in and looked around with more interest than the last time he had seen the room. The smile on his face warmed Seldon.
“When do you think Lord Caledon will get that computer for me?”
“Before you start school. He usually comes through pretty fast when he promises something. A week or so. He did say it wouldn’t have internet access, right?”
“Yeah.”
“If you need it, you can come to me, and I will be monitoring what you look up.”
Daniel didn’t look too happy about that. “What if I wanna look up porn?”
Seldon grinned. “Oh, we can watch that together, too.”
“I was joking.”
Seldon had guessed as much. “It’s not me trying to be a dick here, it’s the rules. No Changeling is allowed to use the internet unsupervised for ten years. Means no Facebook and stuff.”
“Do you have a profile?”
“Yes, I do. Not under my real name, of course, but that’s how I stay in contact with my kids when they’re out in the big world.”
“I just miss some of the fun stuff there.”
“No games.”
“No, no, just…you know, videos, memes, stuff like that.”
Seldon nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. Those were the things he enjoyed about Facebook, too. He never got the hang of any of the other social medias, though.
“Thank you. And thank you for the study.” Daniel looked around the room. “I might need some stuff.”
“Just tell me, and I’ll help you get it.”
“Stuff like…school stuff.”
“I’ve got plenty in the office. And you already informed me that you know where to find it in there. Just let me know when you take something so I can order more and not run out when I need it.”
Daniel nodded, smiling, before his brows knitted in contemplation. “When do you go back to work? I mean, the whole house arrest thing and all.”
“I’m at work when they need me. But only phone calls and paperwork. Unless Lord Caledon tells me to leave the house. Then I’ll be escorted to and fro, and I’ll be wearing that fucking shirt.”
“I washed it,” Daniel said, looking as sour at the thing as Seldon felt.
“Thanks. You’ve been a good help these past few days.”
Daniel beamed. “Is your back well enough to play pool? Or would all that bending over hurt?”
“Bending over, huh?” Seldon asked, grinning. Daniel looked unimpressed, but he couldn’t keep a straight enough face. “Let’s try. We can at least have a few games before dinner. If I’m able.” Seldon turned and led them up the stairs.
“And if you’re not?”
“Well, I’d play some flute—”
“Meat flute?”
Seldon stopped by the pool table and turned to look at the smirking boy. “You hungry again?”
“Not yet, no.”
“Then rack the balls.”
Daniel wiggled his brows, making Seldon snort. “Hey, you started the sexual innuendo. I’m just learning from the best.”
“The best?” Seldon barked laughter. “I’m far from the best. There’s this guy in the stables who can turn just about anything into something sexual.”
“Like?” Daniel asked and knelt to fish out the balls and place them in the triangle on the table.
“Like…I don’t remember the wordings, but he was a mechanic before we collected him, and he made every car name into an acronym for something dirty. I laughed so hard I pissed myself.”
“Really?” Daniel looked up.
“Really. I’ll introduce you sometime.”
“He a breeder?”
“No, Changeling. He’s part of the cleaning crew who works the stables.”
Daniel got up and placed the balls before finding himself a cue. Seldon picked his favorite which had duct tape on the handle. Not to mark it but because the rubber thingy at the end had fallen off. It shot true, and no one was allowed to play with it.
“Wanna break?”
“No, you better do that,” Seldon said, figuring the extra force could be a nuisance to his back. Daniel just nodded and went to the end of the table, looking a bit more secure with the cue in his hand than he had the first few times. The break still sucked but the balls somewhat scattered. And one went in. “Good.”
“Stripes,” Daniel muttered with a small smile of satisfaction. The next one missed by millimeters. Seldon tentatively leaned over the table, feeling the sting as the skin stretched. He found a way to stand, but it didn’t allow him to aim very well. At least he and the boy would be more equal. Missing the shot by an inch proved it, and he noticed Daniel glancing at him, gnawing on his lower lip.
“We’ll stop in time if it hurts me,” Seldon said, seeing relief ease the creases on Daniel’s young face.
“So…tonight is movie night? Now that you can sit on a couch again?”
“That’s a possibility,” Seldon said, leaning against the table to watch as Daniel pocketed another ball. “Or we could read that naughty Incubus book to
each other.”
Daniel gaped at him. “You mean read out loud?” Daniel made the shot and missed.
“Yeah.”
“I suck at that.”
“Practice makes perfect. And you suck well.” Seldon lined up a shot that his stiff skin didn’t prohibit him from aiming. It went in, clean. “Plus, you’ve got about a thousand years to practice.”
Daniel snapped his head up, and it was obvious that the prolonged lifespan of a Cubus hadn’t made it into the boy’s contemplations about what the changes in him meant. As it sank in, his eyes went wide, and it looked like he mouthed the amount as if repeating it to himself just to make sure.
“Hadn’t thought of that,” he finally said, looking like this was actually the most difficult difference to swallow. Then again, Seldon hadn’t been around after the first dose and classification, so he had no idea how Daniel had reacted then.
“Let’s grab a drink. You look like you could use one.”
“No, no, I’m okay,” Daniel said and lined up for a shot. Seldon chose not to tell him it wasn’t his turn, because at least the boy focused on something, meaning he wasn’t going into shock or anything. He shot, missed, and stood up, wringing the cue. “I’m gonna be nineteen for a thousand years?”
“You might age a few years still, but you’ll probably always look young because of the early change. You can age through hunger, but it’s uncontrollable and irreversible. It could be fifty years packed on or just five. So yeah. That’s why it’s so serious.”
“I remember you explaining how times can change. But a thousand years…” Daniel shook his head. “Just…surprised at actually hearing the number, I guess. And I’ve had so much to think about that this actually completely slipped my mind.”
“I gathered.”
“What was…what was time like when you changed?”
“It was in Europe. Greece. Come sit, I need a drink for this. You want a soda?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Seldon went behind the bar to pour himself a scotch and find a soda for Daniel. Luckily, the boy had kept the bar stocked so Seldon wouldn’t have to reach too far down for it. They sat on the couch in front of the bar, and Seldon gently leaned back until comfortable before throwing his feet up. He thought back to the time Daniel had asked about.
“It was a different society back then. We’ve been around since before the current timeline. Cubi has a different timeline than humans because we count from the first Queen. We’re way older, but she’s the marker in our timeline. We’re in the year twenty-three ninety-seven now.
“In those times, many human societies were under a matriarchal rule, and we were no different. Not in Greece at the time but where the first Cubi gathered. She ordered the Cubi to multiply, and we did with both Cubi and humans. They spread and Lords and Ladies were assigned areas of land where the humans knew nothing or little about us. Some details spilled over into human history, others were hidden well, but the idea of the Cubi is old because the mythos is of us. Not very close to home, but still,” Seldon said, sipping his drink.
Daniel sat with his legs pulled up underneath him, a curious expression turned to Seldon. He smiled at the boy, wondering why he hadn’t put makeup on that morning.
“I read a bit about what spilled over into human history and how it was corrupted by human religions making you…us demons. Do Cubi have a religion?”
Seldon chuckled. “Since there are so many Changelings? We’ve got everything. But I’m guessing you mean born Cubi, and yes, we do. We’re brought up to view the kings and Queens as something close to a god or goddess. We don’t pray to them, but we see their powers as godlike. The Royals always bring something new to the table and it reveals itself as they age and mature to rule. The first Queen was the first to be able to camouflage. Over the years, it spread to us. We don’t know how, but it’s theorized that it’s like a hive thing and that the ability passes with the dosing of lesser evolved Cubi. Royals actually empower all their people now because of it. She was the first royal, and she carried many Cubi, fathered by Incubi. All of them had the skill, just stronger than those getting it through fluids. And that’s how it spread. Only born Cubi can camouflage, Changelings can’t.”
“Like the tongue thing are only with pure breeds?”
“We don’t call it that. Not anymore, or at least not in this Great House of Dahlidin. But Halflings can camouflage and elongate their tongues, too. On with the story and you’ll know why we stopped calling ourselves pure breeds. When I was born, the Lords of Europe belonged to one of the Royals. You’re born into that monarchy, and you don’t leave unless the Royals decide you do. Even now. That’s why we don’t have a monarch. We were sent here to expand the Cubi Kingdom and await the birth of the next monarch. Changelings were slaves back in the day, even after their eyes turned. They were a breed of slaves and nothing more. This changed when we came here.”
“When did you?”
“Me or the Cubi?”
“Cubi.”
“With the Mayflower,” Seldon said, and sipped his drink. Daniel blinked. “Don’t tell me you don’t know enough of the American history to know that it was the ship that brought the first immigrants here from England in sixteen twenty.”
“I do now.”
“God, boy!” Seldon let his head fall back against the backrest for a second. “You need another trip to the library. Anyway, there was a lot of sickness on board and the seven Cubi almost starved into aging.”
“How did you explain the eye colors on the ship?”
“They were predominantly Minglers, which are born Cubi whose eyes haven’t changed yet. We call Changelings that, too, now. The one Lady sent here, Great Lady Dahlidin, brought a few Changelings as slaves too, and she played blind to cover her eyes the entire trip. Over the years more came here, including me about two hundred years ago. The Lady is now dead, died sixteen years ago, but this complex is named after her. She was the first Grand Lady of the First House, and sister to Nol-Elakdon, the King of North, who sent her here. Geodin is her daughter, and she accompanied her on the Mayflower.”
“Wow, it’s amazing that there’s so much history in one person.”
“Yeah, and you asked about my history. When I reached the age to be empowered, which is also at least twenty-two years of age, I was sent from Greece to Rome to serve under Lord Feladon. Bastard. Then again, the times were cruel, and he dished out punishments like there was no tomorrow. Never got his hands dirty himself, but he loved watching. He was pretty selfish when dosing, too, and since the dose is also how trades are inherited, every Lord has to dose everybody in their ranks. In those times, only purebloods.
“We did have a pureblood policy back then. It was to keep the bloodlines of the first Queen, Nil-Kardin, clean as all Lords and Ladies, purple-eyes, were pureblood and those of her were the strictest of all. It was considered an honor to be taken in by one of them to be empowered.
“We were traded upon maturing. Sent out of the House we grew up in to move in with a Lord or Lady someplace else. There we were empowered by the dose. The rite is called the Empowerment. It’s a weeklong orgy with the Lord and whoever of high energy he invites. I couldn’t walk for a week after, I was so fucking tired and sore. Luckily, I was classified a top, so I had an easier time feeding. Three of the others I was empowered with weren’t that lucky.” Seldon chuckled at the memory. It was easy now, but the binging on whatever body was near to satiate his desperate and constant need was not fun when it happened. Had Daniel not been dosed several times a day by Seldon, he would have been just as desperate to fuck everything.
“Are you of that line?”
“Nil-Kardin? Yes, I’m of royal descent and a pureblood, but it doesn’t mean anything now. Just that I’m stronger. Caledon is of her line, too. My surname is Echleo-Nil meaning fourth from Nil. Caledon is Udleo-Nil, second from her bloodline.”
“And your children’s names?”
“The mother or father with the name clo
sest to Nil-Kardin gives the name to the child because it’s the blood that matters. So Rosadin and Talidon are Sekleo-Nil, fifth from Nil. Marcadon was counted from his mother who’s the daughter of a Grand Lady. He’s third from Nil.”
“Do you still talk to her?”
“Marcadon’s mother? Yeah, of course, I talk to all the mothers of my children.”
“Didn’t you say it took a hundred years for your eyes to change?”
“Yeah, so?”
“How often were you dosed?”
“Once a month. Feladon had a lot of us to feed. Three months is the max a Mingler should go without a dose. We get sick if we don’t get it. We can start to age, but not in a good way, so still, don’t get any ideas if you think you end up looking too young.”
“I won’t.”
“With the amount of doses you get from us, I’d be surprised if your eyes don’t change way sooner, and Changelings usually take a hundred years to gather that amount of strength.”
“Wow,” Daniel sat staring into empty space, lost in thought. “How do Changelings change other than eyes and dose?”
“Physical strength. When my back is better, you are going to join me in my gym. We are going to pack a bit more muscle onto your frame, but we also have to track your development through a few compound lifts. Deadlift, bench press, and weighted squat. Don’t know if you already know your max, but I tracked mine by lifting boulders.” Seldon chuckled when Daniel’s stomach growled angrily. “Think it’s time to put something in it?”
“I promised to wait for Rosadin.”
Seldon pulled out his phone to text her and find out when she’d be back. She replied shortly after that she had met a friend in the common area.
“Why did the pureblood thing stop?”
“Mainly because we came over here but the Thirty Year War had just broken out in Europe, and it was territorial. There were many aspects of the war in human history, but our King got caught up in a dispute, and we lost a lot of Cubi. Some were taken as…amusement for the rich and powerful. Others died fighting. So, we had to procreate. Until then, we had found that if the Changelings only bred with Changelings, it could thin out the Cubi line to a point where they didn’t really feed properly. We call them washed. It’s a bad translation, but it means diluted to a point where their system is cleaned out. So, washed.”
Claimed Beauty (The Cubi Book 2) Page 19