It wasn’t long before Simon swatted Hamish away and claimed Danya’s other hand for himself as well. He lifted his shirt and wrapped both of Danya’s arms back around him, pressing one of Danya’s palms against his stomach and the other against his chest.

A few minutes ago, Danya would have been perfectly happy if Simon had told him he would be serving Hamish instead. Now he could feel the damp warmth of Simon’s bare skin under his fingers, the steady pulse of his heartbeat, and energy flowing strong between them, and he wanted nothing more than to wholly give himself over to this man and nobody else. It took almost more self control than he possessed to keep his hands still and focus on the task he had been given.

He would never be a perfect slave, or even a particularly good one, but perhaps if he could find enough moments like this where he could make himself useful he could at least be an adequate one.

#

They kept a steady pace for most of the day, but as the sun sank lower towards the horizon, they pushed the horses harder to make it to their destination before dark. Empty scrub turned to farmer’s fields once more, and then gave way to streets packed more and more densely with crumbling, long abandoned pre-war houses. 

The sun was setting by the time they reached the centre of the city where tall, inhabited buildings still stood. There was nobody on the streets, but Danya could feel the press of human life at the edge of his mind.

“Lainton’s infested with vampires,” Hamish explained as they followed the road around a collapsed building. “Me and Simon are going to be working to fix that once we finish getting his new unit together, but first we have to do diplomatic stuff with the mayor.”

“Hopefully it goes better than our last diplomatic obligation.” Simon’s gaze traced the outline of the building next to them, his body straight and rigid.

Hamish laughed. “Well, it could hardly be worse.”

“You have too much faith in me.”

Their destination was a beautiful old sandstone building that stood far shorter than the buildings surrounding it. The heavy columns along its front and the ornate carvings around the windows suggested it had been old even before the war. The newer buildings were far more utilitarian in their simplicity.

As servants took the horses away, a slightly portly older man stepped down from the stoop to greet them. His gaze held on Danya for a moment before cutting back to Simon as he forced a smile onto his face. “Welcome! I was starting to worry you might not make it before dark.”

Simon hoisted his bag over his shoulder and stepped towards the man. “I wouldn’t come within an hour’s ride of this place with only two men if I didn’t think I could make it inside before dark, Augustus.”

Augustus’ gaze cut back to Danya again. “Looks like you’ve picked up an extra.”

“He’s mine,” Simon said, some of the warmth fading from his voice. “I apologise for the lack of notice. I know mages can be a bit of a hazard in cities like these.”

Augustus dismissed the concern with a wave of his hand. “No worries, no worries. The building is secure.” He tapped one of the servants on the shoulder as she passed. “Lilly, could you make up a bed for the Captain’s slave in the servant’s quarters?”

“He’ll share my room, actually,” Simon interjected.

“Ah.” Augustus licked his lips, his gaze jumping between Simon and Danya. “Well, of course, yes, but the beds are a bit small for two, I would think, so—”

“Make a cot for him on the floor, then.”

Augustus hesitated.

Before the tension could grow any further, Hamish stepped forward. “He’s a Companion, Augustus. Fine breeding. Not the sort you send off with the servants.”

“Ah, I apologise! I misunderstood the situation.” Augustus clapped his hands together. “I will make arrangements for a cot, of course.”

Simon gave a stoic nod of appreciation.

“Anyway, let’s get inside before it gets dark, shall we?” Augustus said as he led them towards the main entrance. “I’ll have someone show you to your rooms. There’s hot water, so take your time getting ready for dinner. I’ll make sure there’s an extra seat made up for your slave.”

Simon and Hamish exchanged a look, but they didn’t comment. Having Danya sit at the table was an unconventional choice.

“Thank you,” Simon said.

The closest servant was given the job of showing them up the wide, ornate staircase. Simon thanked her stiffly once they were inside his room and then shut the door as Hamish flopped down on the bed.

“That was weird,” Hamish commented.

Simon made a sound of agreement and sat down on the edge of the bed, his brow pinched tight. He ran a hand over his hair. “Danya, go wash up for dinner.”

“Yes, sir,” Danya said. Ordinarily he should have been the last one to wash, but Simon clearly just wanted him out of the way.

“Just there and back,” Simon said as Danya’s hand closed around the doorknob. “Don’t go anywhere with anyone.”

Hamish rolled onto his side. “You don’t think anyone would mess with him, do you?”

“No,” Simon answered quickly. “Most likely Augustus just isn’t used to dealing with slaves and found the idea of me with a male slave uncomfortable. But it was weird and I don’t like it. So, Danya…”

Danya nodded. “There and back. Don’t go anywhere with anyone.”

“Good. You can go now.”

Despite Simon’s concern — or perhaps because of it — Danya felt light as he headed towards the washroom. Simon worried about him. Simon cared. Simon wanted to keep Danya with him enough to make it a point of insistence. Maybe it wasn’t the relationship Danya had always dreamt of having with his master, but it was something. It was better than he deserved.

Danya could wash himself magically, so he didn’t really need to bathe, but he permitted himself the novelty of a few minutes splashing around in a bit of water before he set to properly cleaning himself and his robe. After a full day of riding with Simon, he felt fantastic. Not just properly balanced, but also stronger than he had ever felt before. It was hard to imagine how amazing he would feel if they ever connected deeply enough to have sex.

As soon as Danya was clean, he headed back to Simon’s room. He paused outside and leant against the door, listening to the murmured conversation inside to determine whether it was okay to come back now or if they needed more time alone.

His back stiffened when he realised he was the topic of conversation.

“I can’t have a slave,” Simon said. He sounded tired. “You know I can’t. With everything we had planned…”

“I know, I know,” Hamish said. “What can we do about it, though?”

Simon let out a long sigh. “We’ll deal with it after we leave.”

Danya carefully stepped away from the door. His legs felt so weak he was worried he would trip over them and give himself away. Deal with it. Deal with him. He knew what that meant.

He could barely breathe as he headed back to the washroom and shut the door. Tears filled his eyes and ran hot down his cheeks. This wasn’t fair. Everything was supposed to be okay now. 

Danya sat down on the floor and wrapped his arms around himself, digging his fingernails into his palms. He felt foolish and naive. He had let himself fall prey to childish fantasy. He was not wanted. He had never been and would never be wanted. Finally the day was about to arrive when he would be killed for it.

Danya wiped the tears away with the back of his sleeve. Well, not if he could help it. He needed to run away. 

If he could get hold of something sharp, he could try to cut the tracking chip out of his wrist. He knew it was in there somewhere. He couldn’t run away tonight, in this city infested with vampires, but he had enough magic on hand from a full day of contact with Simon that he could probably heal any damage he did to himself removing the chip and clean up the evidence. Once it was out, he would just have to hope he found an opportunity to escape.

And then… Danya felt tears starting to fill his eyes again and rubbed at them angrily. He knew he was going to die, one way or another. Because there was nowhere to go. He would head up into the woods, hoping to find someone or something that would take him in and protect him — the fae, maybe, or whatever else had hidden itself away from human civilisation.

He wouldn’t. He would be caught or he would die alone in the woods. He knew that. His only other option was to willingly surrender to death, though, and he couldn’t do that. He was a poorly bred, defiant slave. An accident. A fraud. And he was not going to die quietly.

Danya took a deep breath, wiped his eyes again, and stood up. He’d been gone too long already. He needed to get back. He took another few deep breaths until they no longer came out shaky and then headed for the door.

He could do this. He had been trained to play a role and not let his own feelings intrude upon it. Of course, he had never been very good at that, but… he could do this.

He knocked, paused for a moment, and then entered Simon’s room. He couldn’t even look at him.

“We were about to go see where you’d gotten to,” Simon said. He was still sitting on the edge of the bed that Hamish was laying on.

Danya knew he should make an excuse, apologise, but his throat felt tight and his mind felt numb and then the silence had stretched too long. He sat down in the corner and pretended to be smoothing out his robe.

Simon stood and took a step towards him. “Did someone bother you?”

Danya swallowed hard and fought to keep his expression neutral. He had expected anger, but the faux concern hurt more. He wanted more than anything to give himself over to it, to believe in it, but he knew it wasn’t real.

He forced himself to look up at Simon. “No, sir. I didn’t see anyone else.”

Simon’s brow wrinkled as he held Danya’s gaze. Danya was the first to look away.

“Okay.” Simon turned away and went to get clean clothes from his bag. “Well, I’m going to go wash up.”

Hamish stood to follow Simon out of the room, but he paused in the doorway after Simon was gone and turned back to Danya. “You okay?”

“Yes, sir,” Danya said in his best steady, neutral tone. “I’m fine.”