The Slave

Will's POV

description: slavery has been outlawed in Araluen; however, there are still those few that own them, and of course there are illegal slave traders. what happens when King Duncan and his group come upon a young slave that has them all falling in love with him, even the emotionless Halt? a young slave has somehow found himself to be the company of the king and some of his men, what will happen to him? and just exactly who it this slave?

warning: punishment of slave, mentions of inappropriate touching, blood, memories, beatings, and so on. ALMOST RAPE!

disclaimer: all known characters belong to author, John Flanagan! not me!

okay so I just wanted to clarify something, so my computer isn't actually broken, it's just that my house has little to no heating and it's -24 outside, so my computer seems to be trying to freeze itself. anyway, thanks for being patient, and here's the next chapter.

oh, and FYI: spending 13 hours in a cold (-18 C) high school because of a stupid sport is NOT fun!

Will's P_O_V

I woke the minute I heard running feat, staying still as I tried to remember where I was. I felt something move beneath my head, and I suddenly remembered everything. Allen buying me, being branded and having my nipple pierced, his brother John arriving and my 'punishment'. and then King Duncan showing up with his group and rescuing me. then me waking up, telling them my name, and finally, eating and falling asleep on the young knights shoulder. my instincts are telling me that it would be best to stay still and pretend to be asleep for just a while longer, and as usual my instincts were correct.

the running that had awoken me stopped as the man reached the group sitting around the fire, and a man spoke.

"Sir, their are a group of men around the bend, it looks like they are heading towards this meadow." the man said, sounding as if he was out of breath. soon after the words were out I heard the Ranger Halt speak.

"you five will come, stay behind me and do as your told. Crowley, go around behind them just encase there is a fight. Gilan, you'll stay here with Horace and these ten men to protect the Kind and Will." Halt paused for just a moment and then continued. "Sire, you are injured and you know your daughter will kill us if we bring you home in worse condition than you are already, and she will most likely castrate your men if she finds that we allowed you to fight while injured. please, stay here and help protect Will."

I quickly processed this, remembering all the tails I have heard about King Duncan and his daughter, Cassandra I think was her name. his wife had died when his daughter was about seven when she had fallen ill and her body couldn't fight it. from the stories I knew that his daughter had a temper on her and she was very protective of her father. and the image I got when Halt had said that she would kill them almost made me laugh and give away that I was awake. however, my smile disappeared when he asked him to protect me, as if I was a weak child. but as quickly as I my temper had appeared it disappeared. after all, at the moment I am as weak as a child. I've had very little to eat or drink, I've lost a lot of blood, I've been branded and pierced, and both the brand and piercing are slowly becoming infected. I come out of my thoughts as I hear people moving away.

the young knight I had been leaning on moved and lowered me gently to the ground onto the blanket we had been resting on, only then reminding me that I wore nothing but a blanket to cover myself. with the thought of finding clothing in mind, I slowly opened my eyes, and found myself looking into the eyes of the King.

King Duncan's P_O_V:

"Sire, you are injured and you know your daughter will kill us if we bring you home in worse condition than you are already, and she will most likely castrate your men if she finds that we allowed you to fight while injured. please, stay here and help protect Will."

as soon as Halt said the words I knew them to be true, and so I said nothing as he turned on his heel and walked away to see who the men were and what they wanted. as he did I turned to look at Will. I quickly noticed that Will was awake and pretending to be asleep, something that Horace seems to miss as he gently lowers Will down to the blanket.

I knew that he was uncomfortable with just the blanket to cover him, so I gestured towards Gilan to get some of his spare clothes, him being closer in size to Will than most of my men. as Gilan goes to collect the clothes and Horace walks over to stand guard beside another knight I keep my eyes on Will, making it so I was looking him directly in the eyes as opens them. as soon as he sits up I give him a soft smile, and gesture towards his pierced nipple.

"what do you say we remove that thing before and treat it before it becomes infected?" I asked, and he gives a hesitant nod. I know that he is uncomfortable with me being so close, and remembering what he's been through I move slowly as I remove the ring, wincing myself as I feel him flinch beneath my hands as I'm forced to wank it out and it begins to bleed again. I quickly move a little farther from him, knowing he will like it better if I'm not so close.

I spot Halt's healing kit noticing for the first time that Halt had left it behind. I quickly grab it and pull out some gauze to wrap around Will's chest, effectively stopping the bleeding before Will loses any more blood than he already has. as I wrap the gauze around Will's chest I realized just how fit Will is. it's as if he has no fat on his body at all. he is lean and wiry and stands at about the same height as Halt, if not a little shorter.

Gilan appears at that moment with spare clothes and I hand them to Will, who takes them and slowly - and painfully - makes his way to the nearest tent to change into the clothes. when Will reappears he is wearing the trousers but not a shirt, and at my questioning look he looks pleadingly at the water skin beside me, which I quickly hand over to him, only to be surprised when he only sips and doesn't gulp as most men do which later causes them to throw up.

"thank you Sire." he said after a while, and I find myself wondering how he knew that I was King when he'd first saw me, when it appeared as if his education had been terrible and I can't remember ever going to his small village, but then again he also seemed to recognize Halt, which was also surprising. I would have to question Halt later on just how well he actually knew Wills father.

I came out of my thoughts as the others returned, with about four or five prisoners, one of which was covered in a hooded cloak. I look at Will for a moment, before gesturing for him to stay at his spot on the ground, waiting until he nodded in understanding and leaned back against the log behind him.

as I try to stand I suddenly remember my injury, and realize that moving around so much to help Will has severely drained my energy and that I could now barely stand. and so I held my hand out to Gilan asking him to help me rise. I leaned on Gilan allowing him to support my most of my wait as I went and stood in the middle of my group of men. as soon as the prisoners were lead into the clearing I forced myself to stand tall and support my own wait, making myself look every bit the king as the prisoners were forced to their knees before me.

I look over the men, trying to decide what to do with them and only then noticing that one of the men is wearing a hooded cloak that hid his face. from the corner of my eye I see Halt make a gesture and one of my men move forward and yank back the hood of the man. I get only a second to look at the man before my head snaps towards Halt upon hearing his Gasp. Halt moves forward and a look of pure loathing and suppressed rage moves across his face before he can hide him emotions.

"do you recognize this man Halt?" I demand, somehow already knowing that this man was would be entering hell the minute Halts words were spoken.

"Yes Sire, this is Daniel Thorn (A/N I couldn't find his actual last name)...Will's father."

... and it looks like I was right.

so there's the update. sorry it's late, but thanks for being patient. I'll have the next chapter up next weekend, and since it's a long weekend I might even manage to get two up next week, but it's no guaranty.