Tears Of The Neko - 15. Chapter 15

The next day, Kayden continued to sulk.

Kayden still was trying to insist that it was pointless to look for the mysterious man who'd he'd supposedly mistaken for Roman. Damien couldn't figure out why the boy was so adamant to accuse Roman. Kayden had been so disoriented when Harrison carried him in, he easily could have been mistaken. Unless, Damien pondered, Kayden was truly trying to make Damien upset with Roman, to drive a wedge between the brothers. Maybe it was like Roman said and Kayden had made up the story to get Roman in trouble. But why would Kayden do such a thing?

"Kayden," Damien tried again to soothe the boy. The thin neko's tail swished irritatedly at him as the boy continued to stare out the window, ignoring him.

"Kayden, I thought we settled this last night," Damien stated.

In a rare moment of bravado, Kayden snapped his eyes furiously at Damien. "Nothing was settled."

Stunned by the boy's look of fury, Damien took a step back and leaned against his desk, crossing his arms. "Look, I know you are upset. You were hurt--"

"You have no idea," Kayden mumbled, remembering the pain in his spine from the Marquis's first assault as well as the back of his neck in the most recent one.

"But it was an accident. You were disoriented," Damien continued, "Roman wasn't even in the house when it happened. We established that yesterday."

Kayden's cool green eyes settled on his master. "He was there," the boy said softly. "I'm not lying."

"You know what," Damien snapped, tired of arguing with the boy, and a little surprised that Kayden was continuing to insist that his brother was at fault after he'd admitted he was mistaken last night. "I don't have time for this. You're being childish and petty--"

Kayden looked at his master, stunned by the accusation.

"If you're going to be this way today, I don't need your attitude while I'm trying to work. Why don't you go on back up to your room?" Damien waved irritatedly at the door.

Kayden's jaw dropped slightly, a moment of fear crossing his eyes that Damien was truly angry with him and might punish him for telling the truth. Then he unfolded himself from the window sill, slinking past his master, far enough away to avoid being hit.

"Yes, sir."

Damien sighed in exasperation as the boy seemed to shrink. He hadn't meant to be that angry, but the boy's attitude was irritating.

"I expect you to be in a better mood for dinner," Damien stated.

Kayden nodded from the door, casting one last glance at Damien standing at his desk. His master didn't even look at him.

 

--Neko--

 

Ysmenia caught Kayden in the hallway as he was heading to the stairs. She couldn't help but notice how the boy looked so sad and terrified. He even jumped as she approached, and he hadn't done that in a couple weeks. She wondered what had happened that caused such a dramatic change in the boy's demeanor.

"Kayden, sweetie, come on into the kitchen," she urged. "I'm sure Garin has a nice cut of beef or chicken for you."

The boy glanced back at his master's study before nodding and following her to the busy kitchen. He wouldn't be alone there.

As she settled him on the bench at the kitchen table, she didn't bother to ask what was wrong, knowing the boy wouldn't answer. Instead, she tried to distract him. After setting a bowl of fruit in front of him, she played with the long length of hair sliding across his shoulders.

"You know, we probably need to trim this up," she said. "Do you care if we cut it? Do you want it long or short?"

He shook his head and shrugged, refusing to speak. He'd already gotten into enough trouble by saying a few words in front of others when his master had demanded it; he wasn't about to risk anymore.

He felt her sweep his hair up, trying to see what it would be like short, and she gasped. "Garin! Look!"

Kayden startled at her abrupt change in tone, glancing anxiously between the woman and the chef, but she still had his hair clutched in her hand and he couldn't move much. He noticed the chef's brows darken furiously as he slammed down his cutting knife, causing Kayden to flinch.

The man suddenly appeared behind him with a long, wet rag. Kayden felt Garin's fingers stroke across his neck, under the collar, and he knew they'd seen the bruises caused by Roman's tight hold yesterday. Between his thick hair and shadows created by the collar, no one had noticed them yet, since they were hidden on the back of his neck.

He tried to pull away.

"When did this happen?" Ysmenia asked. "Today?"

When he didn't respond, she tried again.

"Yesterday?"

Both Ysmenia and the chef noticed the stiffening of his shoulders that told them the truth.

"Who did this to you?" Garin demanded, anger flaring in his eyes. "Did Master Damien do this?"

Kayden shook his head furiously.

Garin wrapped the cool cloth around the boy's neck, tempted to just cut the damn collar off altogether. "Then who?"

Ysmenia suddenly sucked in her breath in realization. "Oh! Yesterday, when you fell.... John said--" She looked at Kayden sadly. "It was Master Roman, wasn't it?"

Refusing to answer, Kayden just cast his gaze down to the floor.

"That bastard," Garin growled, as he stomped back over to his chopping block. "He's a meddlesome pain in the ass." He flung his hand, gesturing at the kitchen. "Constantly throwing his weight around. Today, he even came in bringing a whole cartload of extra servants to help prepare and serve dinner for tonight's party, as if we don't already have enough servants around the place. I'm tripping over them all!"

Kayden smiled slightly at the garrulous chef, watching from his corner as they all bustled back to work for the night's dinner party. He felt slightly less panicky as he was settled by the familiar harmony of the kitchen noise.

It was several hours later when Kayden finally made his way to his room to dress for the dinner party. He felt his trepidation returning as he thought about spending the evening at his master's side in front of a mass of people.

Kayden couldn't help but feel a little resentment at the way his master had treated him earlier. But he sighed as he dressed in his black silk dress pants and a nice cotton shirt for dinner. Maybe he had allowed himself to feel too comfortable around his master to expect him to listen. He was still a slave, maybe that's all he would ever truly be to Damien.

Kayden felt tears slip down his face as he remembered the feverish kisses of his master's lips and the gentle caresses of his master's hands. He'd truly believed that his master had loved him.

Now Kayden's heart ached, because he knew he loved his master with everything he had.

 

--Neko--

 

As he met his master in the dining room, he couldn't bear to look at the face of the man he loved. Damien seemed relaxed amongst his friends, seeming to have forgotten their argument earlier.

Kayden hovered in the corner as Damien approached the head of the table and then followed the man to his chair. The scents in the room overwhelmed him, and he wrinkled his nose as he gracefully sank to his knees next to his master's chair.

There was so much noise and chatter amongst the guests that Kayden didn't even try to listen to any of it. He focused on staring at a spot on the floor in front of him.

Then he felt the firm hand against his head. A soothing pet, caressing. He glanced up at his master and was met with a warm, loving smile.

"Feeling better?"

Kayden felt himself melt under the warmth of his master's gaze. Maybe it didn't matter if Damien believed him about his brother. It made sense that Damien would feel some brotherly love towards the Marquis; after all, he had known Roman all his life and Kayden only for a few weeks.

Kayden nodded with a slight smile, silently forgiving his master for not believing him, vowing to leave his anger and simply avoid Roman as much as he could. Surely, now the Marquis would be less likely to bother him.

"Good," Damien smiled back, rubbing behind his ears. "I'm glad." He turned to the table and his guests. "Let's eat then."

Kayden watched Damien nod to the human servants in the room, who stepped forward to remove the domes over the plates that were keeping the food warm.

"Ahh, my favorite," Damien sighed.

Kayden briefly heard Harrison joke with Damien and Oliver, before his senses were assaulted with the odd smell of bitter almonds.

His nose twitched, his ears pricking forward. Something was off. He sniffed the air again. That smell. He'd smelled it before. When Theo had put down that human slave. Poison.

His eyes darted to Damien's plate, widening in fear as his master lifted a fork full of veal towards his mouth.

Instinctively, Kayden hissed, launching himself onto the table without regard as to what might happen. He had to keep Damien from eating that food. Rage at the thought of someone trying to kill his master boiled through him as he swept Damien's plate off the table, causing it to crash on the floor.

In the next second, he instinctively swiped at the forkful of food hovering near his master's mouth.

"Fuck!" his master cursed in shock and pain, pushing backwards.

Kayden saw blood on his master's cheek and realized he'd caught Damien with his claws.

"Get him!" a voice roared amongst the panicked guests.

"Oh, my god!" screams echoed around the room, overlapping in a cry of panic "He's trying to kill the duke!"

"He's crazed!"

"The vicious thing just attacked his grace!"

And Kayden abruptly saw the guard captain grabbing his master and pulling him away from the dining room, issuing orders to his subordinates.

 

--Neko--

 

Damien stared in shocked horror at Kayden perched on the table, as he grasped at his bloody cheek. The boy looked feral, wild.

"My Lord!" he heard Geoff yell, but Damien felt like he was in a daze, as the captain ordered one of his guards to subdue the boy with one word. "Nash!"

"Get him," Roman roared, and Damien couldn't do anything more than gape as the large guard rushed in, wrapping his thick arms around the chest of the small boy, pinning his arms. "He attacked his Grace!"

For a brief moment, he met Kayden's eyes before the boy struggled against the strong grasp of Nash dragging him quickly from the room.

"Take him to a cell. I'll be there shortly," Captain Brenner snapped to his guard.

Damien couldn't move on his own, but felt Captain Brenner pulling him by the arm out of the room, out of harm's way. He was still in shock that his loving neko had attacked him so ruthlessly and publicly. Screams and panic ensued around him, but he couldn't focus past the fact that Kayden had deliberately attacked him.

"I think we all can agree that maybe we adjourn for the evening," Harrison stated loudly over the chaos as the captain guided the duke easily away from the panicked crowd.

"Don't worry," Roman patted Damien on the back, "I'll see the boy is taken care of."

Damien just nodded numbly as Roman followed the guard that had taken the boy from the room, and Captain Brenner guided him in a daze towards his study. He gazed at his bloody hand in shock, vaguely aware that the servants were efficiently ushering his guests towards the parlor to retrieve their coats.

"Here, sit down," his youngest brother urged.

Damien dropped into his large wing-backed chair. "What the hell happened?" he snapped suddenly as John appeared with a wet rag. Geoff slammed the door shut behind them, angry at himself for letting his lord get hurt.

He absently wiped at his cheek, hissing at the sting of the scratch marks, then cleaned his hands.

Had Kayden been that upset and angry from this afternoon's fight that he'd finally snapped? Roman had warned him from the beginning that the boy was dangerous, but he would never have believed that Kayden would turn on him so viciously.

"I don't know," Harrison sighed, eyeing the scratch marks.

Suddenly, Damien shot back out of the seat, heading to the door. "I'm going to talk to him," he said abruptly. "None of this makes sense."

But Geoff grabbed his arm, stopping his progress to the door. "Sir, I don't think that is a good idea right now."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because he just tried to attack you. Let me make sure he's... well, calmer--"

"Shit," Damien cursed, flopping back in his seat. He tried to remember what had happened, what could have caused his little neko to snap like that.

"I've got Nash taking him to a cell," Geoff stated. "We'll go in a bit, after the boy has calmed down."

Even with the argument earlier, Damien thought he'd seen forgiveness and softness in the boy's eyes as he'd sat beside him at dinner. Then suddenly the boy was on the table, thin limbs swiping angrily at his dishes and then his face. The look he'd seen was wild, maybe even a little fearful.

He felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes and hastily wiped them away. No, he couldn't be weak. As much as he wanted to forgive the boy, it didn't matter why he'd done it. Half the nobles in the regency had seen the boy attack him; if he ignored the boy's attack, he would be seen as weak.

But his heart still ached at the loss. He loved the boy, and it hurt to know that his love could attack him so.

Harrison handed him a glass of bourbon to calm his nerves.

"It'll be okay, Damien," Harrison began.

Damien suddenly slung the glass across the room, shattering it on the wall. "The fuck it will be okay!"

John and Harrison froze in shock. Geoff narrowed his eyes at his lord, shifting his stance.

"Jesus Christ, Harrison," Damien ranted. "I fucking love that kid. And he just attacked me! What the hell happened? It doesn't make any sense!"

Harrison exchanged a worried glance with Geoff. He'd never seen his brother so emotional before. He'd known his brother cared for the little neko, but hadn't realized just how much.

"Sir?" came a hesitant voice from the door, interrupting the thick silence.

Damien glanced up to see the large brown-haired neko that worked in the house standing at the door. The hybrid looked anxious, nervous. Damien noticed that his arm was wrapped thickly in a linen bandage. Shit, had Kayden hurt him too?

"Ellis," Damien acknowledged the slave's presence, then nodded towards his arm. "What happened to your arm?"

The neko glanced at his arm in surprise, seeming to have forgotten the injury. "Oh, nothing, sir. Master Roman's horse bit me yesterday while I was training it."

"What?" Damien snapped his gaze back to the hybrid, before turning a quick frown at Geoff who also looked startled.

The neko seemed surprised by their sudden interest in his injury.

"When did that happen?" Captain Brenner asked.

"Um, after lunch, sir. I spent several hours with the horse working--"

"Was Roman with you?" Damien demanded.

"N-no, sir. He left me to do the training shortly after we got to the pasture. Told me to leave the horse grazing after I was done, that he'd tell the stable master. W-why, sir? Should I not have done so?"

"Fuck," Damien cursed under his breath as Harrison rose to his feet, pacing.

"Roman lied," Harrison stated what both the duke and captain were thinking.

"And Kayden was probably telling the truth."

Harrison froze. "Why would Roman want to hurt Kayden like that?"

"Because he fucking can," Damien growled, angry at himself. "Because even if he did it, there's no proof except Kayden's word against his," Damien sighed. "And Kayden is just a slave."

Harrison glared at his brother. "You really feel that way?"

"No," Damien admitted, "but that's how the law would see it."

Harrison nodded in agreement, knowing there wasn't anything Damien could do officially to his brother, even if he had hit Kayden.

"But that still doesn't excuse the kit's behavior at dinner," the captain stated. "I don't care how upset Kayden was with you for not believing him, he can't possibly think attacking you would be acceptable--"

"Sir," Ellis interrupted.

"What?" Damien turned to the servant.

"I don't believe the boy meant to hurt you," Ellis said cautiously.

Captain Brenner narrowed his eyes. "Why? Everyone there saw the boy attack the Duke, scratched his face."

"But, sir, I think maybe he was swiping at the fork in your hand, to keep you from eating. And he accidently scratched you in his fervor."

"What? Why the hell would he want to keep me from eating?"

"Your food was poisoned, sir. As I was cleaning it up, I smelled the scent of the poison that some masters use to put down sick slaves."

"What?!" Damien and Geoff exclaimed together. Harrison stared in stunned silence at the words.

"I suspect the little kit smelled it when the cover was removed and acted to keep you from partaking of the tainted food," Ellis explained. "It's a subtle smell, I'm sure only a neko would have picked it out."

"The boy saved your life," Harrison gaped in awe.

"Shit," Damien cursed in sudden understanding. Kayden hadn't been angry with Damien; he'd been protecting him.

Geoff was already heading to the door.

"Where is he?"

"Nash should have taken him to the holding cells," the captain stated.

Damien shot to his feet, striding to the door behind the captain, Harrison falling in behind him. "Let's go."

 

--Neko--

 

Kayden hissed again, showing his fangs angrily, as he was easily carried through the kitchen, to the shock and surprise of Garin, Ysmenia, and the other servants. He was taken out the back door into the cool evening air. The Marquis pushed past the guard holding him.

"Follow me," Roman ordered the young guard who was carrying the boy.

"But sir," Nash hesitated, "Captain Brenner told me to take him to the cells."

"And I'm telling you to come with me," Roman snapped. "I'm taking care of this brat's punishment myself!"

Kayden felt the man hesitate only a second longer before the man followed the marquis toward the slave yard. Kayden felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest at the thought of Roman doing something to him again. The man would probably kill him this time.

Kayden's only thought as he had caught the surprised eye of his master before he was yanked out of the dining room was that at least Damien was safe. He hadn't eaten any of the poison. Even if it cost Kayden his life, he knew it was worth the accidental scratch he'd caused his master to keep Damien alive.

They made their way to the slave yard.

The guard holding him seemed even more nervous. "Sir, I believe Captain Brenner would want me to take the boy to--"

"I'm in charge here!" Roman snapped. "This brat just attacked my brother, and he's going to pay for it."

Nash froze in shock at the Marquis's vehemence. The young lord was obviously very protective of his brother.

As Arnett came out of the slave den to see what the commotion was all about, Roman snapped at him. "String him up and get me a whip."

Arnett looked at the young hybrid in shock, exchanging a questioning look with the young guard, who looked absolutely panicked.

"He attacked the Duke," Roman said in way of explanation, and when Arnett looked to the guard for verification, the guard nodded hesitantly. Arnett nodded dumbly as he turned to get his discipline whip from its hook.

Kayden felt his wrists tied together and fear pulsed through him. "No!" he screamed, finding his voice.

"And gag him," Roman commanded.

Kayden tried to wrench free, but he was much too little to do anything against the much bigger men. He felt a cloth pressed in his mouth and tied around the back of his head. As his arms were lifted above his head, he felt the joints in his shoulders strain unbearably as he was hitched to the hook on the discipline pole. Tears streamed down his face as he shook in panic.

He felt his shirt ripped from his back and the shiver of the cool evening air was nothing compared to his fear.

From the corner of his eye, he could see a small crowd of slaves and servants gathering to watch his disgrace. Suddenly the acrid smell of tobacco and lemons was right next to him, the foul scent right next to his ear.

"You ruined my plans, you little shit," Roman hissed in his ear.

Kayden whined in fear as he pressed his head against the post.

Arnett arrived with the whip, and Roman snatched it from him.

"Sir," Arnett began to protest, "Disciplining the slaves is my job. You shouldn't have to--"

"I'm taking care of this one," Roman snarled. "He attacked my brother!"

The sandy haired slave master backed away, fearing slightly for the young neko in the face of the Marquis's anger. The boy looked so little trembling against the post, and Master Roman looked fit to kill.

"Sir, perhaps, right now you are too angry to--"

"Get back!" Roman snapped.

And Arnett flinched himself when he heard the snap of the whip searing across the boy's thin back. Kayden screamed against the gag as the second lash cut across his back. When Arnett saw the blood trickling from the wounds, he knew Master Roman was wielding the whip too harshly.

"Fuck," he grumbled, unsure of what to do.

 

--Neko--

 

Damien stormed through the kitchen out the back door into the fading evening light, racing past his captain in his haste. The sun was setting and any other time he would have admired the beauty the rosy hues cast across the land. But he was nearly running across the yard toward the guard barracks, with his guard and youngest brother on his heels. When they heard a snapping sound, they whipped around toward the slave den.

"Oh, god," he gasped as he froze at the sight that met him in the slave yard.

Several slaves and servants had gathered around the scene, shifting nervously on their feet. They all seemed to be worried and upset by the harsh display of discipline.

"Shit," he heard Geoff curse next to him. "What the hell? Nash!" he yelled wondering where the hell his guard had gone and why he had handed the boy over to the slave master.

"Sir!" Nash ran up to him, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"What the hell is going on?" Brenner demanded.

"I was told to by Master Roman to bring him to the slave yard for discipline--" Damien vaguely heard the young guard stammer.

Damien could barely make out the sandy hair and strong form of the slave master, shocked at how harshly he was wielding his whip. He'd never seen Arnett be so rough, normally the man was a master with the whip--delivering careful strokes that were strong enough to make an impression but never breaking the skin.

But Damien's heart wrenched at the sight of his beloved boy hanging on the post, barely able to reach the ground with his toes. The boy's thin back was bloody from a half dozen whipmarks already.

"Arnett!" Damien called out to stop the punishment, pushing forward with Geoff behind him.

"Yes, sir!"

Damien and Brenner startled at the appearance of the slave master from off to their side. Damien glanced back at the man ready to strike again. "Who--?"

It didn't matter. They both raced forward, and the captain grabbed the wrist of the man before he could swing. He wrenched the whip away, throwing it across the yard.

"What the hell?!" Roman snapped in surprise.

"Roman!" Damien exclaimed, shocked to see that it was his brother flaying his boy's back. "What the hell are you doing?" He glanced at the bloody back of the thin neko. "You're killing him."

"He tried to kill you, Damien!" Roman defended. "He could have ripped out your throat."

Damien shoved his brother back away from Kayden and himself before he laid into his brother and left him bloody on the ground in his anger.

Roman was only defending him, he tried to reason, to forgive his brother for what he'd done, thinking the boy had tried to kill him. He turned hesitantly to Kayden, unsure if he should even touch him, not wanting to hurt him anymore than he already was. He lifted the boy's chin carefully.

"Oh, kitten," he breathed as he looked down at the tear-streaked face and pain filled eyes. Damien quickly untied the gag, eliciting a whimper from the boy. Geoff helped him to quickly lift the trembling body up to release it from the hook on the post. The agonized cry that ripped from the boy's throat at the movement tore at his heart.

"You knew, didn't you?" Damien whispered against the boy's sweaty hair. "You knew my food was poisoned and you reacted to keep me from eating it."

Kayden's green eyes glistened up at him, full of love and worry. He lifted a weak arm up to touch the scratches on Damien's cheek. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, kitten, no," Damien breathed harshly, "I'm the one who's sorry." He gently kissed the boy's forehead.

He cradled the boy in his arms, heedless of the blood staining his clothes. Kayden whimpered as he curled into his master.

Geoff whipped out his dagger causing Kayden to flinch violently when the boy saw it coming towards him. Damien's hands tightened his hold, pressing his lips against the sweaty forehead.

"Shh, it's okay," he soothed.

Although his captain's face was set in an angry grimance, his brown eyes glistened as he slowly picked up the boy's bound hands and sliced through the rope. The tiny wrists were raw and bruised from his struggles during the lashings. Brenner swallowed furiously, trying to temper is fury.

Damien could see the man trying to work out what to say, what to do. He nodded to the captain, sending his silent order for the man to find who had tried to poison him, who had caused this to happen because his boy tried to save him.

He then cast a narrowed glance at his brother, not sure what he could say at the moment, unable to focus on anything but the whimpers of pain coming from the lithe figure in his arms.

"Damien, what--" Roman protested.

But Damien resolutely turned away from his brother. "Don't," he warned his brother away, not wanting to deal with Roman at the moment.

And Damien turned from his stunned brother, leaving Roman in shock at the bitter and caustic tone. Damien rarely spoke to him like that.

"He didn't attack Damien," Harrison hissed, angry at what his brother had done to the boy. "He saved Damien. Damien's food was poisoned."

"How do you know that--?" Roman stammered.

"Another neko smelt the poison when cleaning up. Kayden's quick reaction kept Damien from eating any of it."

Roman was silent for a moment as he watched Damien cradle the little neko before turning back to the captain and his younger brother. "Do you know who's responsible?"

Geoff glared at the young Marquis, his jaw working furiously, grinding his teeth together. "No, but I'm going to find out." The man stalked off toward the kitchen, intent on questioning every single person himself.

Harrison stared after his brother who was carefully carrying his little love back to the house. "Roman, I suggest you keep away from Damien for a while. And away from Kayden."