Celian

Patricia looked at me questioningly when I turned up at the store much earlier than expected. But she didn't say anything and I didn't say anything either, but turned to my tasks. I had called Tony to tell him what had happened and to ask him to let me know when Emmett arrived home. Or at least that had been my plan. Because first of all, Tony's phone was off and secondly, I wasn't even sure what had actually happened. It had been nice strolling through the greenhouses with Emmett,

@drsawzall It doesn't matter how much Mistress Alice heard cause Dante will tell her/talk with her either way. Apart from that: you mentioned some nice key-words. Keep them in mind

He was still cowering in the corner he had fled to when Mistress Amaya's seizure had begun, when the paramedics lifted her body onto a stretcher and carried her out of the room. A woman with a slightly different rank insignia on her red and white paramedic jacket returned and gave him an appraising look before addressing Mistress Amaya's guests: "What about the two slaves? That one over there is probably in shock." "They are not our slaves to care for." The woman with the sapphire jewe

"Welcome to Harlaney House." Nothing about Mistress Therese's demeanor indicated this was a warm welcome. She wore her usual blue-gray business dress, her mousy brown hair pinned up, and her typical stern expression was on her face. The only spot of color on her was the orange and red frame of her glasses. One of the two students looked like she was about to return the greeting, but Mistress Therese was already continuing to speak. "The house and its rules have a long tradition, and I'

Remy, slave of the strict professor Therese and her wife Ellen, a colorful artist, takes devotionally care of the household and the students Therese lets live in her villa. But the peacefulness is severely disturbed when Therese's niece Claire moves in, who soon fills the villa with parties and dubious activities. But what puts Remy personally in much greater turmoil is Claire's slave, Anduin. For the appearance of Remy's older brother seems to push open a portal to his past which he would have preferred to keep firmly closed...

Valid point of consideration. Let's hope we don't have to find out. That leads to the question of why Tom did all this. Maybe the beginning of this feud was just a joke getting out of hand, but the rest? Is it just scratched pride or does he have reasons/higher motives? If so, is his "brotherly love" for Frank stronger than those? 🤔

I like your way of punishing I honestly think Dante has actually no clue what he's doing. Not to mention an idea about the consequences. He never before had the real possibility of making his own choices, or at least choices that big. Might be a painful path or learning he's walking on... I don't think Dante (and we) shouldn't trust Tom further than he (we) can throw him. In his own mind, Frank was most likely just continuing the joke "not made of sugar" with the intention of lightening Dante's mood. He must have been pretty surprised by how that suddenly felt. That said: I support your idea of puberty kicking in. Apart from that: You might be right about Alice. And who is to say she's not in need of love and attention too, and therefore holding on to Valentine? She said she can't leave, so maybe Valentine is her escape plan? Maybe this whole love-thing is just fake? Moving out but staying close enough to keep an eye on Frank if he's not allowed to leave?

"Enough!" Miss Carolyn's voice turned to a screech and Dante raised his head in time to see her slap her daughter. Mistress Alice took a step back and touched her cheek with her fingertips, her face reddening and her lower lip trembling. Was it anger? Or shame? Humiliation? Dante wasn't sure, but after he had explained his point of view, the rest hadn't mattered. Punishments were decided by the women. He now understood why Tom had seemed so absent at his sentencing. Miss Carolyn had listene

Valentine would still need a kid, preferebly a daughter, to keep the status as heir; he has a female cousin, the farm could and most likely would fall to her later. With a child, with his mother and wife out of the way- then yes, he could reign there as he pleases. About Frank you're right. He might mentally be a 10-year-old, but kids are not dumb. They are smart, way smarter than most people give them credit for. My niece is 7 and holy hell, what she percieves and the kind of questions she asks... If Dante takes the time, with some patience and gentleness he would come far. And well, that family 😅 How far Britney's reaching into the cookie jar we will see later, for now: maybe she's just bored? Or jealous cause her sister got a pretty "plaything"? Some people use their powers just because they can 🤷🏻‍♂️ And following that: why shouldn't Carolyn believe her daughter? Dante got already in trouble before, Frank's word has probably not much weight and Tom just needs to keep silent and that's it. Though, honestly, of course this is bullshit. Why stealing something that's already available and free to use ?

"Now you are one race, one community. Women and men." spoke the Great Mother as she presented the women with the first group of freshly created men. "You carry the divine fire within you, but they are the spark igniting it. But do not forget, my daughters: men are weak and need your guidance. Lead them! Teach them faith, obedience and loyalty! And punish them when necessary." The women received the men and thanked the Great Mother before declaring their claims. With colorful ribbons they m

Slaves do have by law the right to attend the service, but of course their mistress can just do like Cinderella's stepmother "you can go when you did XYZ". They can choose which temple they go, which devine Child they prey to. All the temples are for the Great Mother, they can only be dedicated to one of the daughters. Sometimes it's a pair of daughter and son in the dedication, but never a half-god alone. In Denser's Port stands the famous "Temple of the Sons" but it's the only one. Men are not allowed to be monks or even priests (in the past there were periods with monasteries for men but always short), they can only be temple slaves--> castrated. And guess what, most times the clergy are the fiercest defenders of "men serve only women, not their own lust". Female theocraty roots, yay. For Ares, Dante and Deimos it's important to see that they are warriors. Warriors always were and still are held in high esteem. Sure, Ares and Deimos are in their legends rapists par excellence, but you know. Alpha males. Warriors. The strong ones. Leander? No that dude was catering with his slave school only to lust and pleasure and therefore got punished with a collar. Yupp. Dante is named after the demi-god. The sapphire in his collar is meant to represent his family name, which he is unusually allowed to wear, but of course it could also symbolically represent the gem of demi-god-Dante's shield. Yes, Tom lied to Blaise and Blaise is disappointed of that. Rape amongst slave doesn't happen that often but the opinions on the problem and the consequences vary a lot. Ask 10 women and get 15 answers. What comes out of it in this case we will see, I guess. (And I can promise already it's not the last time we hear about this topic, though in a completely different constellation.) Nice image Feels a bit, as if Frank is getting aware of this "cage" only now...

Ah, I interpreted it like that. Still. Seeing/hearing how your loved ones are getting picked at... ugh. Oh I did intend to show some of the basic skills lesson. It's not supposed to be a cooking show but I guess we can play with this scenes a bit.

You have my sympathy. And I'm sending a hug over. When I see my stepbrothers go at each other I'm sometimes wondering how they all arrived at their 30s without losing limbs but this behaviour going down the generational line is so much worse... Here's to hope of better times. And maybe Riley can start right away, Nate already asked for some cooking lessons...

Apart the coma, the relearning all the basics- what shock it must have been to learn your brother is dead? Already since a year. Then the rest of the family- how do they deal/cope with it? The grieve? The surviving but struggling boy? Who was there for Frank? And given the fact they live on a farm it's not like he simply could go over to the neighbours and play with other kids his age. Was there someone (Blaise) trying to talk with him about his body changes and how did that go? And I mean he has nieces and a nephew, surely the question came up where they come from and how that works, if not from him, than now, that Sarah is pregnant, from the kids themselves. And he's not blind, he must have seen some affectionate acting between others. Well. We will see. Sexuality is in this society not exactly a hot topic. Women and men belong together, to have children, as is said by the Great Mother. That's it. Two women together are often seen as something sacred, but two men? Heaven forbid! A mans' purpose is to serve women, to work, to father children. Him having fun with another man without doing anything from that list? Great Mother save us! Sure, many women like to watch m/m-shows but would never want a man who likes men for themselves. Depending on the social circle those views are stronger or softer, of course, but there are many (even men) who have mostly disdain for openly gay men. (Hi TJ, you brought that up.) That being said: I hope the same. But from experience I know that pride is often stronger than common sense

~Riley~ He was dreading the conversation with his family. It was just a matter of informing them - the days of asking permission or asking for the bride's hand were long gone - but he could imagine the reactions. A family of moths flew past him. While the father lamented being late again, a child complained about Grandma's food, and a teenager whined that she was wasting too much time on these silly family matters. Riley only half heard the mother's annoyed reply, bu

Sure, Tom's words should be taken with a grain of salt, but I don't see a reason why he should lie when he says Frank is for him like a little brother. Given the temperament of Miss Carolyn and the already existing worry he might mess with Frank, it would probably be suicide by execution if he really went after him. Next chapter Alice has to say something about the matter. And let me tell you furthermore: it's a very valid worry.

Dante had to wait a surprisingly long time for his mistress to return to her room. He was still standing there in just his boxer briefs, freezing, when she finally entered. At the sight of him, she sighed. "Undress. I'll apply disinfectant and then some wound cream." "Yes, Mistress. Thank you, Mistress." It wasn't that bad, but Dante half bowed and took off his underpants. Mistress Alice's attention towards him was strange- a confusing emotionless caring- but he was grateful for it non

Maybe we hear more about Bryce, maybe not. Though I can say that his cousin Sarah is part of the (second row) main cast in another story and dancer Niall will have five minutes in Dante's story.

Hawk's Roost's port quarter wasn't bad all over. Compared to most other neighborhoods, it was a disaster, but even here there were better and worse corners. And besides, as is so often the case, it came down to what was on the inside. The building Bryce headed for looked like any other from the outside. A run-down brick building, full of graffiti and boarded-up windows on the ground floor. The main entrance was barred, remnants of police tape still stuck in one corner, and with the stains,

@Danners We're just looking over Dante's shoulder and getting to know the dynamics here with him, so Alice is the key point at this moment. Dante and Alice haven't spoken about Frank, but it's safe to assume that she knows her brother well enough to know how much he understands. And of course she'll know that he's striving for harmony. Alice knows Tom, can judge him after his ten years on the farm, and will therefore not have given Dante the hint that he can ask her for mercy without good reason. In any case: she didn't want Dante and isn't a fan of slavery, and yet she takes care of the matter instead of saying “sort it out between yourselves”. In doing so, she protects her property (Dante), but doesn't provoke Tom further because she offers Dante the opportunity to ask for mercy - and grants it. The two could theoretically make peace after Tom's “welcome newcomer” joke got out of hand. So is Alice simply being fair and just, even if she doesn't really care about Tom and Dante? Is she doing it - a big mental arc - for Frank's sake? And then there's Blaise. How much does Tom really worry about his position as Blaise's favorite? After all, Blaise bought Dante instead of leaving it to his wife. (And honestly, who buys a super-expensive slave on a business trip just like that?) How much will Blaise blame Dante in the matter now that his favorite is out of commission? For now, we can only hope that Tom is smarter than proud.

It's from the chapter before his embarassing military academy story.

The problem resulting from Mistress Alice's gentleman visitor, however, Dante didn't realize until he was standing in front of her door. He could hear a muffled moan and to barge in now because he wanted to go to bed... uh, no, rather not. He turned around, hurried back down the stairs, and caught Seth still in the kitchen, his hand on the light switch. "What is it?" he asked in surprise, and Dante pointed upstairs. "I don't think it's a good idea to disturb my mistress right now..."

Emmett seems hard on the verge to slip into exactly that dynamic... You made me doubt myself so I read up on it (you mean chapter 14 I think) but no, it's never mentioned. It's always "Bomb" or "twin" and never any pronouns. I have to see where to find a nice spot to insert a clarification on that point But overall and to everyone: since I'm a "posting while writing" and "develop while writing" guy and this community here is amazing in their feedback, this gives some extra spin to the story ❤️ What about a very possessive Finley and a very pissed off Emmett?

Do you refer to the situation as such? If so: not much. Each move could make Emmett run again.

Well sparrows can go a lot of places and hear and see a lot of things they are probably more perceptive and intelligent than we know. @Danners Finley doesn't understand the sparrows, so he doesn't even get what's happening. For the rest: Emmett is quite closed off, not giving us much of his thoughts or feelings, we get way more from Finley on that front. He's psychologically in a bad shape, he had bad experiences, trying to protect himself... Let's hope it's not getting worse.