No Way Out

The party

Taylen knew that his family was struggling. His father was having a harder time keeping up with everything. He hadn’t though much of it and he had eaten dinner and gone off to attend his duties.  He had grown rather tired quite early that night and he had gone to bed long before he normally would. He had had no idea that he had been drugged. His mother hadn’t even come to dinner, so he didn’t know that she was preparing herself for what his father was about to do. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Taylen was a desperate measure and he'd had no idea what his father had in mind. He had thought that his family loved him, but it seemed that fortune and fame were more important that his own life was.

He was woken by the cold water thrown into his face, but it was hard to force his eyes open. Someone held him upright, and he had the feeling that if they didn’t, he would fall over. He felt incredibly weak and drowsy. The cold water dripped from his hair into his face and down his neck as he tried to figure out what was going on. His arms and legs were tightly bound and he was completely helpless. The cloth that had been forced into his mouth was dry and foul and he forced his eyes to open a bit. Hands touched him and he wanted to pull away. Someone said something about him being good quality. And then someone was talking about taking him. His mind was too foggy to pull his thoughts together. What was going on? His gaze found a taller man with long hair. Details were hard to pick out, but those dark eyes stared straight through him it seemed.

It was that look that brought him closer to consciousness and understanding. He didn’t get past it though before he was jerked forward. The only noise that he could even make left him and the ropes binding him dug into his skin. An understanding slowly began to wash over him in his drug hazed mind. Paying for him. Drugged and bound. This man was buying him as a slave. He didn’t have any sort of choice in the matter either as he was picked up and carried away.

It was after that that the hell started. He was introduced to his new master. One who had no desire to be gentle with him. He had made that clear the very first night when he had had Taylen stripped of clothing and tied down. That very first night, the duke had made his point very clear. Taylen was to be his pet. He would do what he was told when he was told without so much as a word against it. Simply stating the rules wasn’t enough, of course. No, the duke had beaten them into him with whips and canes. Anything that the duke could use to cause him some form of pain. Each time the duke came to him, pain was sure to follow. He was used and beaten and violated over and over again. Tied into uncomfortable or painful positions. Beaten black and blue, even to points in which the whip that the duke held cut into his skin. Those marks would heal, but they would leave scars. He was never given clothing, he was only fed when the duke permitted it. Aftercare for the wounds was minimal and done only to keep him from getting ill or dying.

Each night, the tears came long before the pain was enough to make him pass out. The collar locked tightly around his neck showed that he was indeed the duke’s property and that he was not to be messed with. Any time the duke had duties to attend, Taylen was left tightly bound and gagged to await his master’s return. The days passed slowly and painfully, and in just those few weeks, Taylen had gone from being a happy kid in a loving home to an extremely quiet and subdued pet. He didn’t speak unless given permission and he certainly didn’t do anything to incur the wrath of the duke any more than he already received.

The night of the dinner party came. It was the first one since his enslavement that he was allowed to attend. Perhaps the duke finally felt that he was ready to attend as an obedient pet. He wasn’t wrong. Taylen listened to the rules and gave the male a nod of confirmation. He wouldn’t do anything to make the male angry with him. He was given actual clothes rather than the nothing that he had become used to. The clothes were carefully put on to cover the bruises and the scars. They were thick and uncomfortable, but he wore them anyway. The sleeves were long and covered his arms and down to his wrists. It covered the rope burns that covered his arms and the cuts around his wrists from the tight ropes that he pulled against with every strike. Fully clothed for the first time in weeks, were anyone to look at him, he would look almost normal. The clothes had a collar that rose up to cover a good portion of his neck, leaving only his collar exposed. No one would be able to tell what horrors hid beneath the clothing or what the duke enjoyed doing to his helpless slave.

He did everything that he was told throughout the night and dinner. He followed every instruction given to him and spoke only to respond to his master. In fact, the only two words to leave his mouth the entire night were ‘yes master’ and then he was silent again. Eventually, the duke had business to attend to and he was left tied to a table leg, on the floor like the pet he was. He knelt there silently and still. His back straight, his feet folded under him and his hands resting in his lap, like he had been taught. The proper posture and place for a slave when he was to be left by himself or alone for any reason during such a party. His gaze was kept on the ground and he listened only for the call of his master. That was it. That was all he was allowed to do. He knew the duke would be watching him, waiting for him to mess something up. Any reason to punish him later for it, and Taylen knew that even if he did everything perfectly, he would still be beaten and violated later. It was what his master liked.
A pair of shoes stepped into his view. Robes trimmed with gold bunched around them. He didn’t dare look at the person or speak to them though. It was a noble. The gold rimmed cape told him that much. He wasn’t allowed to speak beyond acknowledging the duke’s orders. The figure knelt in front of him and startled gray eyes blinked up at the noble. He didn’t know what to do in this situation. The duke hadn’t told him whether he was to listen to another noble. The man was of a much greater social status than he was. To be ignored or denied by a mere slave surely would not be tolerated. He didn’t know if the duke would want him to respond or not.
The cool glass was pressed to his lips and he found solace in the warm gaze of the stranger as he hadn’t since he had been sold to the duke. The kind smile and soft warm gaze made him feel more at ease than he had in weeks. Still, his gaze darted in the direction he had last seen the duke, but the male wasn’t there anymore. Was he watching? Would he be mad if his slave accepted the offer? Would he be mad if he didn’t? The duke would likely punish him either way. It was an excuse to have his fun torturing his slave. This noble had put him in an incredibly tough position likely without even realizing it. His gaze returned to the stranger as he spoke again. Of course they were to pay him no mind. He was but a slave. Nobles normally wouldn’t lower themselves to helping a slave. He felt comfort and a touch of affection as he hadn’t in weeks and it made his heart long for the days before his enslavement.

Without much of a choice, he hesitated only a moment longer before his lips parted just enough to take a small drink of the cool water. It wasn’t much, but it was a little bit and he was grateful for it. As soon as he swallowed the water though, he reminded himself of his place and his gaze dropped back to the ground. Not a single noise left him though. He didn’t know about accepting water or if that was forbidden too, but he did know that he wasn’t allowed to speak at all. Speaking was sure to get him in trouble.