NSFW

The bearded man arrived early in the evening. He was tall, with dark, receding hair, and was probably no more than forty. Seren felt a shudder of excitement when he saw him. To think that there were men in the world who wanted to be fucked. Granted, the man in question wanted it from a woman, which Seren was not; but it opened the door to a world of possibilities that could lie outside the confines of this inn. Seren shyly approached the man and offered him a drink which he politely declined, instead he cleared his throat and asked when Miss Dal would be ready to receive him. The man was well-mannered, and Seren's opinion of him continued to improve. It wasn't often he met a guest at the Skin & Chalice that didn't disgust him.

When the man was beckoned into Dal's chamber, Seren collected the empty glasses from the parlor and brought them to the kitchen. He ducked into the pantry, moved the basket of old, moldy barley that covered the hole in the wall, and nervously watched the action unfold in the adjacent room. The man removed his clothes himself, hanging them next to the shawl that Seren had neatly mended, and knelt on all fours on the bed, his head pressed down lightly to the bedclothes. There were no sweet words or gentle kisses, everything was done in silence, and conducted in a business-like manner. Dal took a green glass vial from her bedside and warmed the salve inside it with her fingers. From Seren's vantage point he couldn't see how she prepared the man; but she seemed to take her time ensuring he was comfortable. The man raised his ass, and turned his head slightly to give a nod in her direction. Dal fastened the wooden phallus over her clothes and smoothed some more of the salve across the tip. Seren swallowed, his hands sweating, and his eye watering as he fought the urge to blink. He couldn't see the penetration he had so fervently had imagined, but instead he had a clear view of the man's face as he gritted his teeth, breathed out slowly, and bore the initial discomfort of taking the hard wooden object inside himself.

Dal adjusted her position and began slowly thrusting the phallus into the bearded man, changing her angle as he used his words to guide her. Seren was transfixed by the man's face, pain turning to pleasure as he flushed with a red, sensual hue. The man arched his back and started moving back and forth on his own, finding a rhythm that caused his voice to cry out in gasps and moans, the tones of which were greatly exciting Seren. The man grabbed the sheets beneath him with one hand as the other was slid between his body and the bed. His cries were becoming frenzied, and Seren couldn't help but touch himself as he watched. An unexpected grunt escaped Seren's lips, he covered his mouth but the man on the bed was already looking in his direction. The man moved faster and slammed back on the phallus with harder strokes. Seren felt his eye was locked with the man's fervent gaze. His hand worked faster as they reached their climaxes almost simultaneously. The man collapsed face down on the bed, then turned and motioned for Dal to withdraw. Seren stumbled back from the hole in the wall and looked down at the mess in his hand, his face numb and his legs unstable. He hurriedly pushed the basket back into place, cleaned himself up and sat on the cool floor of the kitchen, replaying every second of the scene he'd just witnessed.

Thinking of the man's face in the throes of passion was putting Seren in danger of getting too excited again. He dragged himself up, shook his head, then went outside to get some air. The night was young and there was still work to do, but Seren felt he might faint from the heat in his body. The evening air was cool, and a gentle breeze dried the droplets of sweat that had formed on Seren's back. The sound of Dao and Kaio's gentle laughter helped dispel his intrusive thoughts of the bearded man. That a man he had no attraction to could appear before him in so captivating a manner... he had never entertained the thought before today, that perhaps it wasn't better to give, but rather, to receive. If there had ever been a doubt, Seren was now sure. In this life, he could never be married to a woman. This had been the most exhilarating evening of his life, and he had only been a bystander. 

Dal's guest rested in the room for a while before he left. Seren watched him secretly from behind the stable wall, too much in awe to approach him as he wished. The man walked carefully, but was able to mount his horse and ride away with dignity. Seren smiled and applauded him in his heart. There was a real man. The last guest departed shortly after, and the inn wound down its business for the night. Seren bolted the doors and climbed the stairs, ready to lie in his bed and get lost in his thoughts of the bearded man. His mother was still awake when he reached the parlor, and next to her sat her husband. Adalina's face was grave. As Seren entered the room, his father pointed to a chair at the table, "Sit" he commanded.

Seren cautiously sat down before his parents. A guilt surged within his chest and brought with it a cold sensation that spread throughout his body. Lunis save me, he must have seen me. He must have seen me watching them... Seren struggled for breath and gripped the sides of the chair until his knuckles turned white. He'd never been hit by his father before, Therobod would rather ignore his existence than acknowledge it with either praise or punishment. But today Seren was truly scared, that his actions in the pantry could not be ignored. That today, his father might really kill him. Seren swallowed and was about to speak when Adalina shook her head. After what seemed an eternity of heavy silence, it was Therobod that opened his mouth to speak. "Tomorrow..." he began with difficulty, "Mr Thatch... needs some help at his house in the Big Village." Seren's hands lost their strength and hung limply at his sides. "Seren will go and assist him. I need not tell you how important Mr Thatch is to our business. I trust Seren will obey his every order as if it were my own." Seren's broken heart was etched across his pale face. Had his father really sold him like this?

Adalina saw her son's reaction and turned questioningly to her husband. "What help does he need that only Seren can do for him?" Therobod hung his head, hardened his resolve and spoke again with determination; "What does it matter what he needs to do? We owe a lot to Mr Thatch. It's only right we help him when he calls for it!" Adalina's temper burned beneath her skin, her little one had turned sick and ghostly at the mere mention of the man's name, "Then why not you?!" she spat, "Why send my son to tend to your precious friend? You go and assist him!" Mr Straw's gnarled hand cut through the air, slapping Adalina to the floor. Seren returned to his senses and rushed to her side, examining the fresh red marks now staining her fair face. He looked up at the monster that towered above them and pulled his mother behind him.

"You've forgotten yourself, Mrs Straw" sneered Therobod. Seren sprang to his feet and stood between his parents, his fists clenched and his anger rising. Adalina panicked and grabbed Seren's hand, "I'm fine dear one, I'm fine!" she cried. Seren squared his shoulders and faced his father, his eye burning with rage, still Therobod refused to look at him. "I'm not going to Mr Thatch" he told him, "So if you want to hit someone, let it be me." Therobod kicked at the chair Seren had vacated, sending it crashing loudly into the wall. Adalina flinched and cowered behind her son, before gaining the strength to pull him a safe distance from his father. Therobod roared and smashed his fist down on the table. He turned to his family, raising his voice with vicious intent, "I will not tell you again! Tomorrow, Seren will go to Mr Thatch. And you will both, heed my words!" Seren felt a static charge building where his fingertips met his mother's hand, as she stared daggers at her husband. The charge crackled and died, and Adalina fell to her knees. "You dare to try me, woman?" challenged Therobod, as he pointed an accusatory finger at his wife, "Did you forget who wields the power in this house now?" Seren held his mother in his arms, her dark brown eyes had dimmed to almost black and her cheeks became wet with tears as she broke into violent sobs.

Seren was bereft. He'd never seen his mother cry like this before. "What use are either of you?" asked Therobod, before walking out of the parlor and slamming the door closed behind him. His footsteps shook the room as he thundered down the stairs to the lower floor. Seren removed his eyepatch and gently dried his mother's face as she smoothed out his messy eyebrow and gazed up at her beautiful son. "Should we run away..?" she asked in a whisper. Seren smiled and nodded, "Let's run away from here" he said without question. Adalina got to her feet and sat down slowly on the small wooden sofa with her son at her side. "Seren, do you really want to leave here? Your father may not be a great man, but you're fed and clothed. If... if we left there would be no one to help us." Adalina spoke quietly, afraid her husband would return and hear them.

"And if we stayed?" Seren began, "Father would leave me at the mercy of Mr Thatch... and still have me marry that farmer's daughter for the dowry. Worse than that, he hurt you. It's not safe here for either of us." Adalina couldn't help but agree. Twelve years ago she had foolishly dreamed of escaping this place, that she could find some remaining trace of her life before she came to the Cinder Vale, that there was still a chance to go back one day... When it all fell apart she clung to her child, and accepted that his protection and happiness were all that was left to hope for in this life. If Seren wanted to leave, she would do whatever she could to help him. Taking her son by the hand, she opened her sewing box and took out a small, brown hemp pouch from underneath her cotton bobbins. "This is all the money I have, but isn't much at all." Adalina pressed the pouch into Seren's hand. "If I bring my sewing things I might be able to find some work... it won't be easy, Seren. I'm sorry you have such an incompetent mother. This isn't what I thought my life would come to..."

Seren assured her there was nothing to be sorry for. He had a little saved up from the jobs he'd done for Dal and the girls. It wasn't much either, but it no longer mattered. Thinking of the ladies downstairs, he hoped they wouldn't be too sad that he didn't get the chance to say goodbye. They planned to take only what they needed, and sneak out once Therobod eventually came upstairs to sleep. There was no telling what time Seren would be sent to the Big Village the next day, it was safest to leave in the night and try to put as much distance as they could between themselves and the inn before sunrise. Aside from his clothes and eyepatches, Seren placed only a few items into the bag, the most important was the book his mother had given him for his seventeenth birthday. Adalina packed her things quickly, and hid her cloak and bag in Seren's room. She hugged her son tightly, before slipping into her own bed and pretending to sleep.