My Angel of the Dawn (WomanxBoy, ManxBoy, Sci-Fi + Romance)

***5***

"Mistress Thorn, sign here, please. Thank you. Congratulations, Master Dominique, you are now a free man." The notary stamped his seal to the document and handed it to Ariel. "Please, proceed to the next room where your tattoos will be removed."

The boy returned in fifteen minutes. His forehead was now as clean and pure as a newborn child's. The registration number, specified in the bill of sale, was removed from his wrist as well.

Nelsa noted with approval that he didn't look a street whore anymore: no slave brand, no vulgar shiny bracelets, fully clothed, his golden curls tied back in a neat tail. She counted the notary's fare, and they came out of the office into the street.

Under the circumstances Ariel should have been beaming like a supernova. But he was strangely grim and quiet. Maybe the concept of finally being a free man hadn't fully sank in yet. On the other hand, Ariel had only been given back what was his by right, why should he be jumping with joy?

They came into a canteen she knew near the spaceport, less shady than the others, and sat in the far corner, away from the crowd. Nelsa handed Ariel a small pile of money, a vibroblade and a small blaster complete with a shoulder rig.

"I strongly advise you to wear it under your jacket, out of sight. There are plenty of those here who would off you just to steal your weapon."

He sighed heavily.

"Now what? Why the long face? The money will last you a month or two. That's plenty of time to find a job."

"Mistress Nelsa, please, don't leave me here."

"Say again? Come on, where I should leave you? I can't well afford to take you along."

"Why not? I can help you, I..."

"Stop it, Ariel. I'm in a rough and dangerous trade, and I'm used to working alone. You'll only get in the way. Use your head, the upper one. I have only one cabin, and the ship is too small for two people."

"She's a 'Trident' class cargo ship. They always have two cabins. She's designed to be navigated by two pilots. I bet it gets difficult sometimes to pilot her all by yourself."

"Wait a minute. How do you know anything about ships?"

"I was born and raised on one," he said, beaming with pride. "Not like yours, though. An 'Axe' class. And I can pilot one, my father had been teaching me."

"Good for you. You'll find a job in no time then. Hire out on any ship in the spaceport. Pity I have no contacts here able to fake your letter of recommendation. And mine won't do, obviously."

"Mistress Nelsa, perhaps you don't visit Aescuzan often enough to learn its ways. The whole city is a big brothel. Everyone sells themselves out, for money or for food — kitchen help, ship's boys, stevedores' apprentices. No one under thirty is safe, unless they have family or a rich patron. In the first canteen I come into they'll drug my food. And when I've come to my senses, there'll be the exact same tattoo on my forehead."

She looked at Ariel sheepishly. Of course she knew the ways on Aescuzan, just forgot. Or rather tried not to complicate things by thinking too hard.

Didn't it occur to you that it wouldn't be enough to buy him and free him? Did you want to shove some creds into his pants, abandon him in the middle of the street and go about your own business? Leave him on Aescuzan, and after three days tops he'll end up in the place that frightens him so much — a brothel! Nelsa, you are a perfect swine. At Alric's he had a roof over his head at least, and some food in his belly.

"All right, all right," she capitulated. "Seeing as I have some sort of a responsibility for you, I'll take you as far as Cendar. That's where I'm going next. I have friends there, it'll be much easier to get you settled in."

"I would be happy to stay with you, Mistress Nelsa. Please!" His big blue eyes begged her even more hopelessly than his pleading voice.

"Enough talking," she said tightly. Why couldn't he understand? "I've managed all this time without a partner and intend to keep it that way."

Nelsa returned to the Aurora with Ariel, gave him a mop and a bucket for cleaning the corridor and went to visit some business associates. When she returned, the floor and the walls were squeaky clean. He had also managed to fix the burned-out lights which she had been reminding herself to do only for a few past months or so. A few dents in the wall seemed to have been straightened as well. On top of that Ariel had fixed the jammed door to the cockpit which was totally unnecessary if he'd asked her since she didn't like to close it. But he'd made his point, he really knew his way around ships.

The same say, in the evening, they departed for Cendar, the safe haven for smugglers and mercenaries.