When Cailan turned sixteen he expected things to change between them. That was the age at which Liam had left his father’s house and forged his own path, the age at which he had joined the military. When Liam had been sixteen, he had considered himself a man.
Cailan lived with Liam at the military camp now. They had more time together but less time alone. During the day Cailan was left in a tent with other slaves and at night he would sleep cuddled up with Liam in a tent with four other men.
Sometimes Liam would finish training early and he would take Cailan back to the tent and they would be alone, and Cailan would wonder if this would be the day when he was finally called upon to serve his purpose. He was ready.
Liam didn’t call him a baby or a child anymore. Sometimes, in those rare moments alone, he would sit Cailan down on their sleeping mat and comb out his golden hair and tell him how beautiful he was.
But he never took things any further. He never pressed their lips together or let his hands wander. He heaped affection on Cailan, but it was always chaste and innocent.
They talked about most things. Liam never reprimanded him for speaking his own mind. But this… this they had not spoken about. Cailan was too afraid to bring it up, to hear Liam’s reasons for leaving him a virgin. He was certain Liam had no ill intentions, but what if he had come to realise he simply wasn’t attracted to Cailan in that way? That human men appealed to him more?
Sometimes instead of being early to fetch him, Liam would be late. He would smell different and he would seem distracted and Cailan would know that he had been with someone else.
Cailan hated how jealous it made him feel. He knew he had no right to those emotions. Cailan belonged to Liam, not the other way around. Liam could do what he pleased with whoever he pleased. How could he feel anything but love and devotion towards this man who had cared for him so diligently and asked for so little in return?
#
Cailan was eighteen when Liam came to fetch him from the slave tent early one day, an extravagant bouquet of flowers in hand. He led Cailan back to the tent where they were alone before handing the flowers to him.
“They’re beautiful,” Cailan told him as he breathed in the sweet aroma of the flowers. “Thank you.”
Liam smiled. “Just like you. I saw you looking at the flowers through the window when we went shopping last week.”
“Oh, I— I didn’t mean to—”
Liam smiled and pressed his palm against Cailan’s cheek, cupping his face in his hand. “Cailan, you know I don’t want you to hide what you want from me. It makes me happy to spend my father’s money on you, and I may as well be buying you things you’ll actually enjoy.”
“Did he send more?”
“Mm.” Liam let his hand fall back to his side. “I swear he thinks I would have died by now if not for his generosity. It’s more than a little insulting.”
“Have you sent him a response yet?”
“No. I’ve started trying a few times, but they always come out with more bitterness than I intended. I don’t want him to think me childish any more than he already does.”
“You’re not childish at all.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.” Liam planted a gentle kiss on Cailan’s forehead. “Anyway, I did not bring you back early to talk about my father. I have some good news. I’ve received that reassignment to Saffron Rock Base that I was hoping for.”
“Oh! Congratulations!”
Liam smiled. “Thank you. We’ll be sharing a tent with two friends of mine, so we can be a bit more relaxed in how we conduct ourselves and it should be safe for you to stay in the tent alone during the day. I’ll be able to visit you during lunch more often if I don’t have to first go and fetch you from a secondary location and then take you back afterwards.”
“I would enjoy that. I don’t want to seem needy, but I miss you when you’re at work.”
Liam gave Cailan’s forehead another kiss, longer and firmer this time. “Pack your things. We leave tomorrow morning.”
#
Liam hadn’t seemed particularly concerned about what happened to the flowers after he had presented them to Cailan, but Cailan treasured them and wanted them to last as long as possible. It hadn’t been easy, but he’d managed to prop them up in a cup of water over night and by morning they still looked fresh.
It occurred to Cailan that bringing the flowers along with him for the carriage ride might look strange, but he didn’t want to leave them behind and Liam only smiled at him fondly when he noticed him clutching them so he brought them with him anyway.
One of Liam’s friends was already waiting in the carriage when they arrived.
“Good morning, Roope,” Liam said as he helped Cailan into the carriage. “This is Cailan.”
Roope was a tall man with long, ginger hair and pale, freckled skin. A wide brimmed hat sat across his lap. Roope stared at Cailan in silence for a long moment. “Huh. Is his hair actual gold?”
Liam brushed his fingers through Cailan’s long, golden hair. “No, though it is quite convincing, isn’t it? I burnt some of it myself once and I can assure you it smells and behaves just like any other hair when you take a flame to it.”
Roope’s eyebrows lifted. “You burnt his hair?”
“A few strands, obviously. I wouldn’t ruin his lovely hair.”
Roope shuffled over as another man, short and slightly stocky with dark hair shaved close to his scalp, climbed into the carriage and claimed the spot next to him. “Shit, that is an expensive looking slave. Hey, Liam, can I have some money?”
“Ah… probably. What do you need money for?”
“Well I was going to try to grift you, but it’s no fun if you’d just give me money because I asked as like… a nice gesture.”
“Sorry?”
“Did you buy the slave the flowers as well?”
“His name is Cailan.”
“And mine is Tris. Not my fault you didn’t introduce us. But back to the flowers. Roope, how come you never buy me flowers?”
“Do you want flowers?” Roope asked.
“No. What would I do with flowers?”
“Hold them for a five hour carriage ride?”
Cailan winced. “I’m sorry if they’re an annoyance, sir. I’ll try to keep them out of the way, but if they’re going to be a bother to anyone perhaps Liam would prefer that I leave them behind.”
“Nah, he’s just joking,” Tris said. “Don’t worry. Nobody wants to take your flowers away.”
“Good,” Liam said as he wrapped an arm around Cailan’s shoulders. “He’s more polite than he needs to be. I wouldn’t have asked him to leave the flowers behind.”
Cailan dipped his head and silently acknowledged the correction. Liam’s friends probably wouldn’t even interpret it as such, but Cailan was familiar with Liam’s more subtle approach to shaping his behaviour. Liam never hit or even raised his voice. He didn’t need to. He was well aware that even the most subtle sign of disapproval would reach Cailan and be taken on board.
#
This military camp was far larger than the old one and full of a fresh set of leering faces and suggestive comments aimed in Cailan’s direction. They didn’t bother Cailan terribly much anymore. He knew he was safe with his master at his side and there was nothing new in the things they said.
It infuriated Liam, however. He knew better than to challenge anyone in a brand new place where he knew so few people, but by the time the four of them made it to their new tent his teeth were clenched and he was squeezing Cailan’s hand hard enough that it hurt.
Liam took a deep breath in, let it out, then looked down at their joined hands and released his grip. “Sorry, love. Did I hurt you?”
Cailan shook his head and stroked the back of Liam’s hand. “I’m sorry they upset you.”
“You’re sorry? No, I’m sorry those filthy animals talk to you like you’re a common whore. They have no class. They don’t understand what you are or how you should be treated.”
“Don’t think they really care,” Tris commented as he tossed his bags down on the floor of the tent. “I don’t either, actually, but I’m pretty polite to whores too.”
“Well, I suppose that’s fine.” Liam let out a long sigh. “You know, sometimes I hate it here, but then I think back to how my family treated him, how my school friends did when I let them near him, and I realise the only difference is that the language they used was less crude. They were no kinder to him.”
“Yeah, I mean, that is kind of the thing with being a slave, right? Doesn’t get you a whole lot of respect.”
“Can you not have power over someone without being cruel to them?”
“I guess, but if what you want and what someone else wants are the same thing or if they’re not but you’re not gonna do anything about it, what do you need power over them for? Power’s for making people do what you want instead of what they want, right?”
“I suppose you could describe it that way, but it doesn’t have to be an awful thing. We’re all part of power structures, whether in our work or in our personal relationships. They can be caring and mutually beneficial.”
“Listen, I’m not trying to make any statement on your personal relationship with your slave. I don’t know anything about any of that. All I’m saying is once you scale it up to the whole thing, to the institution of slavery, things are gonna get ugly because the whole point is not giving them a choice in things because if you did they wouldn’t wanna be your property.”
“I do,” Cailan said. He didn’t normally intrude on Liam’s conversations, but Liam was starting to look upset. “I want Liam to be my master. I want to serve him.”
“Huh, okay,” Tris said. “I’m glad you’re doing what you want to be doing.”
Liam’s eyebrows lifted. “What, no lecture about how he’s been brainwashed into it?”
“I mean that seems like a thing that could be true, but I don’t know shit about shit so what am I actually gonna say? And what would the point be? He’s still gonna be a slave. If he’s happy, well… good. I’m glad.”
“Well, I appreciate—” Liam started to say, but he was interrupted by the sound of someone smacking the side of the tent near the flap. That was the equivalent of knocking on a door in these places.
Without waiting for a response, a man with curly dark brown hair stuck his head through the flap. “Ah! You’re here. Hello.”
“Hamish!” Tris said as the man entered the tent. “Liam, this is Hamish, the man who made this all possible.”
“Oh, Hamish!” Liam said. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“People do tend to have a lot to say about me.” Hamish’s attention narrowed in on Cailan and his head tilted ever so slightly to the side. “Wow, you do look like you were expensive. Is your hair real gold?”
“No, sir, just hair,” Cailan murmured.
Liam’s wrapped his arm around Cailan’s waist. “I can give you a few strands from his brush if you’re curious, but I do ask that nobody but myself touches him. I hope that was communicated clearly and that we have an understanding.”
“Relax. About the only thing that turns me off is timidity. And women, I suppose.” Hamish thought for a moment. “No, actually, women are fine, they just don’t turn me on. An important distinction under the right circumstances.”
“Well, I— yes,” Liam said. “What about everyone else? I’m told it should be safe to leave Cailan alone in the tent here.”
“He’ll be fine,” Hamish assured him. “We have a bit of a community here, and as a community we have a bit of a reputation. Of having sex with one another. That’s our reputation. Which is an issue because it’s technically illegal, and more importantly icky, at least in some people’s eyes. Anyway, the point is that none of us would be all that safe alone but we have our tents together here and we keep an eye on one another and nobody bothers us all that much.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it,” Liam said. “There was a tent where slaves could be left during the day at our old camp, but I really dislike leaving Cailan with other slaves.”
“Why? Isn’t it good for him to be able to make slave friends?”
“See, I thought so too, but they’re mostly poorly trained children who are treated quite cruelly by their masters. It’s not a healthy environment for him. It was a situation there that prompted me to make this move, in fact. A man came into the tent while Cailan was there, and while he only touched his own slave he did it in front of the others. In front of Cailan. I don’t want Cailan exposed to that sort of thing.”
“That’s fair,” Hamish said. “I wouldn’t like to see that either.”
Cailan bit down on the inside of his cheek to suppress a frown. Liam had been upset about that situation when Cailan had told him about it, but he hadn’t brought it up since. Certainly not in relation to this move. He had been excited for the promotion and had talked about getting to see Cailan more, but nothing else.
Liam pressed a kiss on the side of Cailan’s forehead and murmured, “I know.”
“Hm?” Hamish asked.
“Oh, I didn’t tell him that was what motivated all of this,” Liam explained. “It makes him feel guilty when I prioritise his needs, but on balance I think it’s more important that he understands that I will.”
Cailan ducked his head. He hadn’t told Liam about that incident expecting him to do anything about it or even with the intention of seeking sympathy. It had simply been something Cailan thought Liam ought to be aware of. In retrospect, he wasn’t at all surprised that Liam hadn’t forgotten about it as quickly as he had pretended. As upside down as it seemed, Liam did prioritise Cailan’s needs.
“Well, seems like everything is fine hare,” Hamish said. “Welcome to the camp, hope you enjoy your time here, stay away from Simon he hates you on principle, and if you need anything don’t hesitate to come and see me.”
“Uh…” Liam started to say, but Hamish had already left. “Well, he’s… interesting.”
“You’ll like him once you get to know him,” Tris said. “Everyone likes Hamish.”
“Oh, no, I think I already like him, but he is strange.”
“And he was looking at the two of you like he’d never seen anything like you before, so what does that make you?”
“Sometimes when things are mostly not very good, being strange is necessary,” Liam said. “Come on, Cailan. Let’s see if we can find something to put those flowers of yours in before they wilt any more.”
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