Tears Of The Neko - 16. Chapter 16

Damien stormed in through the kitchen, kicking the door angrily in his wake. He heard the gasps of horror at the sight of the bleeding boy in his arms. Damien did his best not to jostle him any more than necessary. Damien was holding the boy carefully, one arm wrapped around the highest part of his shoulders almost to his neck, the other looped under his thin legs. The boy's left arm and tail were hanging limply, drooping toward the floor. His right hand was clutched in Damien's shirt, his face buried in Damien's side.

"I need the doctor immediately," he demanded without stopping. "I want towels, bandages--"

"Yes, sir!" came several responses, and he heard several servants rushing around behind him as he stomped up the stairs.

Kicking open the door to his room, he laid Kayden on his bed. Carefully, he placed Kayden on his side and watched as the boy rolled toward his stomach, trying to escape the pain by curling in on himself. The boy tucked his torn wrists under his chest protectively. Damien sat carefully next to him, as several servants and slaves rushed in and around the room, bringing in towels and lighting as many oil lamps as possible. He heard the water rushing and towels and blankets dumped near the bed.

He leaned down, gently wiping at the boy's sweaty forehead and kissing him softly. He felt tears slipping down his face and couldn't remember that he'd ever cried before he met this boy.

"Sir?" Ysmenia interrupted, hovering next to him with a towel and bowl of water.

"Yeah?" he said wearily.

"We need to clean him up a bit," she said hesitantly. "The doctor's on his way, but it would help if--"

"Yes, yes," he waved her closer. "Hand me a rag."

"Sir, I can--" But she stopped when she saw the look on his face and handed him one of the rags.

She tucked a couple towels gently on each side of the boy to help protect the bed from being soaked by bloody water. They both worked silently to clean away as much of the blood as possible. Damien felt his stomach clench every time Kayden whimpered or gasped in pain.

Damien swiped the length of Kayden's midnight hair out of the way as he worked on the boy's shoulders. Kayden shifted, bending his head to bury his cries of pain into the mattress and exposing the long length of his neck. Damien froze.

His fingers ghosted over the purpling bruise now exposed from under the leather collar. "Fuck," he whispered to himself. "How the hell did that happen?"

He heard the sharp intake of breath beside him and looked over at Ysmenia.

"Do you know anything about this?" he demanded of her.

"Well, sir, it, uh, I believe it happened yesterday afternoon," she stammered. "I saw it earlier today."

His eyes darkened. "How did it happen?"

"Well, I don't really know, but I believe it happened during the accident in the dining room," she stated.

It took a moment before Damien realized exactly what she was implying, since she couldn't come right out and make an accusation. "Fuck!" He jumped up from the edge of the bed. "Goddamn him!"

He turned angrily to another servant. "Get Arnett up here and get that damn thing off his neck now!" he snapped. "And get Roman in here. I need a word with him. A few actually."

There were several 'yes, sirs' as he paced angrily over to the fireplace. He watched Ysmenia lay a soft towel over Kayden's mostly cleaned back to stop any more bleeding until the doctor arrived.

"Damien," Harrison started cautiously, knowing his brother's angry mood was nothing to trifle with, "Be careful. He is a Marquis--"

Damien shot him a dark look. "I am well aware of that."

It was several minutes before Roman stormed in the room ahead of the servant who'd summoned him.

"Damien, what--" Roman started, but Damien cut him off.

"YOU are banned from this house," Damien stated without preamble, eliciting a stunned look from his brother. "You will get your things and get out immediately. You may move over to the East Wing, but you are not allowed here unless specifically invited."

"What?"

"Let me make this clear. I don't know what you have against my kitten, but I will not tolerate you hurting him in my home."

Roman scowled, casting a dark look at the tiny figure curled on the bed. "I thought he tried to kill you! I was just disciplining--"

"Fuck! You know that wasn't discipline, Roman! That was torture! And it wasn't your job to do it!"

Roman glared back at his brother. "It's my right to handle the discipline if I deem it necessary! I'm your brother! And a Master of this estate!"

"Not anymore," Damien snapped back. "I won't have someone lying to me like you have. Who knows what else you've lied about."

"Lying? What--?" Roman stammered.

"I know about yesterday. You lied to me, and I'm fairly certain it was because you actually did hurt Kayden in the dining room like he said."

Roman's face flushed in fury. "You can't accuse me of--"

"I'm not making a public accusation, and I'm not going to demand a confession because we both know that would be pointless," Damien interrupted. "You are still my brother, and you are still my family. But, make no mistake, I will not have Kayden feeling threatened in my house. And he feels threatened by you. Therefore, you have the option to move out of this house to the East Wing or finding your own home off of the estate entirely, because Kayden is my family now too."

Roman eyes flashed wildly and he looked like he might argue further, but Geoff Brenner arrived at the door, frowning at him. And a glance around the room at the faces sympathetic to the little hybrid, he knew it wouldn't matter what he said now. Even Harrison looked at him like he was ready to punch him.

"Fine," Roman finally ground out. "I'll leave, but--"

"I don't want to hear any excuses anymore, Roman. You've overstepped your authority for the last time here," Damien snapped. "Just go."

Roman stormed out, brushing past the guard captain who was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. Harrison hid his smirk at Roman's banishment behind his hand, trying desperately not to look too happy.

Damien sighed in frustration. He hated having to put Roman in his place like that. But he was beginning to think that Roman was no longer the brother he remembered growing up with.

"Damien, I'm sorry about what happened to the boy--" Geoff Brenner started, glancing anxiously at the bleeding figure curled and shaking on the bed.

"It's not your fault," Damien admitted. "It's Roman's. Your guard, Nash, only did what Roman ordered."

"Yes, but if I had gone with the boy instead, or gone there sooner--"

"Geoff, enough," Damien cut him off. It didn't matter at this point what the captain could have done differently. "Just make sure Roman leaves."

"Of course, sir," Geoff looked decidedly upset still.

"And find out about that poison," Damien growled.

"I have two guards questioning everyone who was in the kitchen, but some had left already, since they were done. I'm trying to hunt them down."

"Very good," Damien nodded as his guard took one last glance at the hurt boy before disappearing out the door. Another face appeared in the doorway.

"You called for me, sir?" Jacob Arnett looked nervous as he peeked in the doorway, afraid he was in trouble for what had happened to the slave.

"Yes, get that damn collar off my boy's neck," he snapped.

The slave master frowned as collars were not usually removed unless the slave was being freed. It identified the slave's home and who was responsible for them. "Yes, sir," he quickly said, as he moved to unlock the collar on the boy's neck. He looked sick at the blood seeping through the towel draped over the little neko's back.

"And where the hell is the doctor?" Damien roared to the general room.

"I'm right here, my lord," came a voice from the hallway.

Dr. Reid was rushed in by John Drystan.

"John here told what happened on the way up," Dr. Reid said as he settled carefully next to the slight figure. He gently peeled back the towel to get a look at the shredded skin.

Kayden whimpered again as the doctor carefully touched a couple of the more severe lacerations. Damien petted his boy's head soothingly, wishing he could take away the pain.

He poked at one particularly sensitive spot on the boy's side, frowning. "Lucky this one wasn't another inch over, could have caused serious internal damage to his kidneys. But it looks like it will be okay."

Dr. Reid heard the Duke growling under his breath next to him, his face dark and furious.

"Well, it doesn't look like any of them will need stitches. The bleeding has stopped already. Let me get my salve. It'll help with the healing and prevent too much scarring. But he'll be in pain for a couple days."

"Can you give him something for the pain?"

The gentle doctor smiled. "Of course. I'll leave a small bottle with you. It will be best to keep him still and asleep as much as possible for the next couple days anyway."

The doctor saw the relief flood the young duke's face and was surprised by how much emotion he had seen in just the few minutes he'd been here. He'd been with this family for years, and he had never seen Damien so upset, except when his father had died.

He pulled a large jar of salve from his bag, hesitating.

"It might be best for you to move him to his own bed," Dr. Reid suggested. "That way he won't be jostled by you when you are sleeping, and we won't make more of a mess on the bed."

"He stays there," Damien stated. "I'll sleep on the couch or my chair if I have to, but he's staying here."

He could tell he startled the doctor as well as the servants in the room by his adamant refusal to move the boy, but he didn't care. He was keeping Kayden where he could keep an eye on him.

After applying the salve and bandages to Kayden's back, Dr. Reid added a couple drops of medicine to a small cup of water.

Kayden whined as he was shifted enough to get his head up to drink.

"Hey, kitten," Damien said softly looking down at the unfocused emerald eyes. "I need you to drink this. It'll make you feel better."

The small head nodded, forcing himself to take the sips of the slightly bitter liquid. Then he allowed his head to drop back down. He felt Damien's lips brushing across his damp forehead.

"Sleep, kitten," Damien whispered. "I love you."

--Neko--

Kayden shifted, drifting in the haze of a drug-induced sleep. He was curled on his belly, his back ached at the movement, tight with the healing skin, but it wasn't as painful as he'd expected. When he squirmed a bit, tentatively stretching out his arm, he noticed he was tucked in his master's bed, alone. The bed seemed cold and he whined at the thought of his master not being next to him.

The tightness of his back reminded him what had happened--a day ago, two days, ... or more? He vaguely remembered his master carrying him to their room after he'd been whipped by the Marquis.

Damien had fussed over him, and Kayden hazily thought he'd even heard his master crying at some point. There had been other people in the room, voices all running together. His master's voice, harsh and angry sometimes, but then soft and soothing in his ear. He'd felt someone rubbing some soothing salve on his back and remembered hissing at them in protest.

A firm hand, a hand smelling of sandalwood, had gentled him, calmed him. He'd been urged to drink a liquid that made him drowsy, and he'd felt the consoling stroke of a hand on his head.

Kayden groaned as he rolled over, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, focusing on the soft flicker of the fire across the room. It was night, late if the stillness of the manor was any indication.

As he crawled out of bed to go toward the washroom, he nearly jumped in shock when he finally noticed the figure slumped in a chair next to the bed. Damien was sound asleep. Kayden smiled at the sight of the huge man sprawled out in front of him.

When he returned from the washroom, he knelt next to his master, watching the flames play across the planes of his face. Slowly, he crept his hand across his master's thigh, stroking softly as he rested his head against the hard muscle. This was where he wanted to be.

--Neko--

Damien suddenly jerked when something startled him awake. When his eyes adjusted to the low light of the fire, his gaze immediately fell on the empty bed. He jerked upright in panic, before he realized that Kayden was sitting at his feet.

"Kayden!" he nearly shouted, causing the neko's ears to flatten.

His eyes started to tear at the sight of his little kitten sitting at his feet again, like nothing had ever happened.

He leaned forward, gently touching the boy's face, watching, looking for any sign of pain or fear. There was none. Only desire, love.

"Kitten," he sighed, brushing his thumb across the boy's cheek.

Abruptly, the sleek little body was rising towards him, his small hand brushing across Damien's cheek. Even in the dark of the fading firelight, he could see the bruises marring the boy's skin on his wrist. Damien gently laid his hand over the small one on his cheek, pulling it to his lips. He softly kissed the tender skin at the pulse point, silently saying his apologies.

Kayden leaned in for a kiss, tentative at first, but then hungry, needing. Damien was afraid, scared of hurting him, scared that Kayden would hate him.

But the boy slowly crawled up his lap, pushing Damien to relax in the chair. Damien hesitantly caressed Kayden's hip, wanting to embrace him but afraid to hurt him.

"It doesn't hurt," Kayden whispered against his throat, attempting to curl into Damien's warmth. "It's just sore. I've had worse."

Damien released a sobbing gasp, as if he'd been holding his breath for hours, waiting to know his boy was okay. Emotions ripped through him at the thought of the pain his boy had been through for him, and anger that someone had hurt Kayden even worse than this.

"Please," Kayden whispered, wrapping his slender arms around Damien's neck. "Please, hold me."

Damien gripped the boy tighter, caressing the slender planes of the slight body.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered against the boy's head, and even he could hear the ragged pain in his own voice.

Kayden suddenly shifted, turning to straddle his master's lap, his small hands rubbing up Damien's chest. Damien felt the neko's tail brushing against his thigh as the boy squirmed in his lap. Damien trailed his fingers up the boy's bare back and wondered briefly if he was cold. But Kayden caught him in a fierce kiss, and he lost all thought.

"I love you," Kayden whispered. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

"Jesus, kitten, you saved my life," Damien breathed, clutching the boy tighter. "And I believe you. I made Roman move to the East Wing that's being renovated. I promise you won't have to see him much, especially alone. I should never have doubted you."

Damien saw a flash of something in the boy's eyes, not fear but something else. As if he were hiding something. "What is it, kitten? Is there more I should know?"

The boy was silent for a long time as if he were fighting an inner turmoil. Damien wondered how bad it could be if the boy was afraid to speak to him, but after the way he'd reacted concerning the accusation about Roman, maybe the boy's worry wasn't unfounded.

"He said things," Kayden finally whispered against his chest.

"Who? Who said what?" Damien demanded.

"The stinky one, the other master," Kayden said softly.

Damien chuckled a bit. "The stinky one?"

He watched Kayden's little nose wrinkle. "Like Tobacco and... lemon."

"Hmm, Roman does like to chew tobacco and smoke with his buddies. I guess I don't really notice it," Damien murmured. "What did he say?"

"He...he said...that one day you wouldn't be around..." Kayden finally blurted out, digging his hands in Damien's soft shirt.

Kayden felt Damien become still under him. "And when did he say this? In the dining room?"

"No, in the dining room he said 'wait until I get rid of Damien'," Kayden stated.

"What?!" Damien exploded, sitting upright so fast he nearly threw the neko off his lap.

Kayden hissed, his ears flattening in fear, his pupils going wide, his body tensing.

Damien immediately recognized his mistake in scaring the boy and quickly gathered him back into his arms with a soothing pet. "It's okay, I'm not mad with you. Just--just... what are you saying?"

Kayden could see his master was having a hard time wrapping his mind around the thought that his brother might wish him harm, and Kayden wondered if Damien would dismiss his words as easily as he'd dismissed them before.

"I'm sorry," Kayden whispered quickly, not wanting to upset Damien further, thinking now that he shouldn't have said anything.

"No, no, look at me," Damien urged, and Kayden met his blue eyes. "I want you to be able to talk to me. Tell me what you've heard."

Kayden squirmed again in his lap. "He wants to be king. He said... before he whipped me... that I ruined his plans. I was scared for you."

"Oh, fuck," Damien sighed. "You think Roman was behind the poisoning?"

Kayden curled into his chest again, nodding slightly.

"Well, there were too many extra servants that night--"

"He brought them in," Kayden murmured softly.

"What?" Damien froze again.

Kayden tipped his head up to face his master. "Garin said today that t-the m-master, R-Roman, had brought in more servants for the dinner."

The duke sighed. "Crap, that explains why there were so many extras around. Geoff said that he couldn't find everyone who was there. He was unable to determine who might have done it," Damien sighed. "If Roman is responsible..."

"There's no way to prove it," Kayden finished softly.

"Yes, unfortunately," Damien stated.

"And he'll try again," Kayden surmised.

Damien smiled as he gently kissed his boy. "Don't you worry about that. Now we are aware of the threat now, whether it is actually Roman or not. Geoff has already stationed more guards at all entrances and our door."

"I can protect you too," Kayden said playfully.

"No," Damien tucked his finger under Kayden's chin and tugged gently. "No, I don't want you hurt again. You will let me and Geoff handle it."

Kayden looked a little dejected, but Damien was rubbing his hands up and down his sides and ribs, admiring the way that Kayden's thin body had begun to fill out. While he was still slender, sleek muscles were starting to form over the lithe little body. He was no longer the skittish, emaciated slave that Harrison had found in the slave market weeks ago.

But then Damien rose with Kayden wrapped around him like a limpet. He grinned down at his little neko who was smiling up at him. Laying the boy on the bed gently, Damien shed his shirt as he crawled next to the figure stretched out on the bed.

"I have other plans for you, my little kitten."

He'd talk to Geoff after Kayden was asleep about what the boy had said about Roman. And he'd send a messenger to the king. Of course, he thought, his uncle might not be all that surprised considering his and Roman's recent encounter.