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Years into the war and on the last day of the final battle, the Hale army was victorious in their assault on the last Argent stronghold; their castle and chief residence. The soldiers broke through the main doors of the inner keep to find nothing but a group of mute slaves in a panic.
The leader of the soldiers, a handsome blue-eyed man held back a soldier who was advancing on them, saying “Don’t be a fool! They are not our enemies, they are slaves and victims of the Argents, they have no reason to be loyal to them.”
The man raised his voice and addressed them all clearly in Frankish “I am Peter Hale. We have not found the Argents who enslaved you, or their soldiers. Do you know if and how they left this castle?” A slender boy with beautiful brown eyes standing at the front moved forward and beckoned him to follow to the main hall, where he moved a heavy tapestry aside to show a staircase down. He mimed walking downstairs with two fingers, and then a rowing motion.
“Downstairs and then boats out, I see. Do you know where they would come out?” The boy shook his head. “Thank you. Take your fellows to the kitchens, you are free to eat. Let them know the Hale empire does not allow slavery, so those of you who have homes or places to go are free to do so. Those of you who wish to stay on as paid servants are welcome.”
Cora and Derek were poring over a number of ledgers spread out on a large table. Peter who was fluent in Frankish had quickly noted down a translation of each description of job next to the names.
“The Argent records are good and thorough, once we know who is staying we’ll know what work they are trained for.”
“Yes, but this one puzzles me. Cleaners, maids, gardeners are all good, but what is a ‘body slave?’”
“Probably a valet?”
Body slave Stiles was one of the people who had stayed, which indicated he had nowhere he could go, so they assigned him to Derek. Part of his training as a body slave was to always take cues from his owner, and to begin there was no sign that Derek wanted anything sexual from him, so he assumed Derek’s interests lay solely with women. Stiles therefore kept Derek’s room and things such as clothing and armour in good order, would lay out his gear, help bathe and dress him, and massage him after training when he was stiff and sore.
Derek was really startled the first time Stiles helped bathe him. He was expecting to use the soap and cloth on himself, but Stiles stripped down to his drawers and joined him in the bathing pool and started scrubbing his back. Derek refused to admit that he squeaked in surprise when Stiles first washed his privates, but the oil massage afterwards was just heavenly.
One evening Cora entered Derek’s rooms and declared “I though I would find you here with your favourite boy.” Derek squawked, and said in clumsy Frankish “Don’t listen her! She is big rascal!” Stiles started laughing so hard that even though silent, he couldn’t stay standing up through it. Both Cora and Derek looked at each other and then stared at him in consternation as he lay on the floor laughing silently.
When Stiles could finally stand and be coherent, he went to the writing desk and wrote side by side the expression in Frankish that Derek had meant to say, which was “big rascal” with its Frankish expression “grand canaille” and what he had actually said “grand canard” which translated to “giant duck”
“So you can read and write in both English and Frankish.” Stiles nodded. Derek looked at Cora. “He’s better educated than either of us.” Cora added “His handwriting is better too.”
Cora came into the map room while Derek was gazing perplexed at a couple of maps that Stiles was helping hold down. She asked him why he was frowning at them, and he explained that they were maps of the castle, but one of them was incomplete, and the other didn’t seem to make any sense at all. Stiles was also studying them, when he suddenly snapped his fingers and beckoned Derek and Cora to the window, miming to them to hold the first map up against the bright glass. He then turned the second map sideways and held it as an overlay, where it became apparent that together they showed the hidden passages and entrances throughout the castle.
“He’s smarter than either of us, too” said Cora
Derek’s friend Kira visited for a couple of weeks on her way north. She was very taken with Stiles, as she said to Derek, he had such laughing eyes it was impossible not to like him.
After an especially taxing practise session fighting with Kira, Derek was lying face down and Stiles was massaging his back and legs. Stiles nudged him to roll over so Stiles could massage his front, but he said in a strangled tone “No, no, I am good!” The back of his neck was flushed and he was gripping the pillow. Stiles smiled at the realisation that Derek had an erection he was embarrassed about.
The very next time Derek was in the bath, Stiles was deliberately more slow and sensual in his washing, urging Derek to stand in the water so he could slowly and very thoroughly wash his privates. Derek definitely squeaked when Stiles dropped the cloth and took Derek’s cock into his mouth and delivered a very skilful blowjob.
That night when Stiles went to retire to his pallet on the floor, Derek asked him to join him in the bed instead.
Theo visited. He looked straight at the scar on Stiles’ throat and smirked, then asked Derek whether he could ‘borrow’ Stiles one evening sometime. Derek said “Oh, certainly,” and completely missed the appalled expression that crossed Stiles’ face. Stiles’ face was an impassive mask for the rest of the night, and when he had impersonally helped Derek into his nightwear, he went to the pallet to sleep alone. Derek felt slighted and angry.
The next day when Kira was saying farewell to Derek, and that she would miss him, she looked at Stiles and said “I will miss you too. I wish you were coming with me!”
Derek, who was still smarting over Stiles’ coldness said “You can take him with you if you like.” Kira was looking at Stiles at the time and saw the flash of hurt before his face turned to stone. Derek looked up and seeing that Stiles felt nothing at the suggestion, bit out “He’s yours now” and left the room.
Kira looked at Stiles and took his hands with gentle sympathy. “I want you to come with me as a friend and companion, not as a servant Stiles. Will you come?” Stiles nodded, eyes bright with tears. “Will it take you long to pack?” He shook his head and left, returning only a few minutes later with a small sack of clothing. They left immediately.
Once safely seated in her carriage after making sure the riding horses were secured to follow, Kira said “I wish you could talk. I wish they hadn’t taken that from you.”
Stiles took a drink from a flask, and then in a barely audible whisper said “I can talk.” He pointed to the scar across his throat that all the mute slaves bore.
“The Argents abducted me when I was a child. The only reason I can still speak was this scar. It fooled them into thinking the surgery had already happened. This scar meant I got to keep my voice.
“I was born in the Keep of Beacon Hills. My father was the Captain of the Guard and my mother was a healer. This was a fencing accident – I was training with my best friend Scott and he caught me across the throat when I tripped. It was a blunt wooden sword, so it bruised and split rather than sliced, so it wasn’t deep but it was messy, so it didn’t heal quickly or well. It was still quite fresh when my mother and I were in the village the day the Argent troops attacked. They were slaughtering the villagers and rounding up the older children before heading on their way to attack the Keep, and when they went for me, my mother fought them and they killed her. They took us back to be trained as Argent slaves. They slice through your vocal chords so you can’t plot with other slaves and possibly organise to rebel, but I scratched the scar until it bled then joined them again wearing a dressing like theirs, and I didn’t speak again until now.”
They sparred and talked daily while Stiles regained his skills and strength.
One day on their travels Kira asked Stiles whether he would like to visit Beacon, as they were very close to it. He drew a sharp breath and thought for a little while before nodding. They rode through the village of Beacon and stabled their carriage horses at the inn before proceeding to the intact Keep, where they dismounted and tied their riding horses at a trough before approaching the open gates of the Keep. Kira announced her name and purpose of visit, that her companion had lived here as a child before the Argents attacked. The guard said “Oh the Argents attacked the village, but the Keep never fell. Allison Argent had discovered their plans and came here to give warning, so we were prepared and fought them off.”
A light came into Stiles’ eyes and he said “The Captain of the Guard! Did he live?”
“Yes, he’s the sheriff now.”
“Where is he? Is he here? Can I see him?”
“Yeah, he’s in the main hall, you just...”
But Stiles was already running full pelt into the hall, where he skidded to a halt in front of a middle aged, sandy haired man while shouting “Dad! Dad!”
Pale green eyes widened in shock “Stiles? They said you were dead! I got hit on the head in the battle, and when I woke up they said you and your mother were killed in the attack on the village!”
“Mom died, but the Argents took me as a slave. The only reason I can still speak is because of this scar. I fooled them that it had already happened, Scott’s scar meant I kept my voice.”
Stiles threw himself into his father’s embrace. They hugged for a while before they could speak again.
Theo came back to the Hale castle and told Derek he was disappointed that Stiles had left. “That is such a shame. The things I wanted to do to that boy… an Argent trained body slave. I couldn’t make my mind up where to start, his mouth or his ass. Though him not being able to make sounds would have been weird. I like it when they make noise.”
Derek was so horrified that he punched Theo in the face and frogmarched him out of the castle. He then replayed in his head the last few times he had seen Stiles with a feeling of sick shame. Stiles thought Derek was handing him over without hesitation to have forced sex with Theo, that Derek thought nothing of him as a person. Determined to make amends, he packed a bag, chose a horse and followed Kira’s trail. When he caught up with her, she told him she had left Stiles in Beacon and Derek nearly cried. “If you didn’t want him any more you should have given him back to me.”
Kira sent him to Beacon, saying it was Stiles’ home, that he was from the Keep, and he would still be there.
When Derek arrived at the Keep gates, he told them who he was and that he was looking for Stiles. He was escorted to the training grounds and told that Stiles would be in there. He walked to the edge of the small arena where he saw a lithe young man sparring with a lightning fast woman. When the bout was over, they took their headgear off, and Derek was astounded to recognise Stiles’ face. He rushed over, calling to Stiles.
“I am so sorry, I didn’t understand what Theo wanted – I thought he wanted your help getting dressed as he didn’t have his own valet with him. Hales don’t have bed slaves, I thought you had sex with me because you liked me, not because it was your obligation. I didn’t understand why you went cold on me and I was hurt and angry and I behaved really badly. Please come back to me, not as a slave but as my friend. My hope is that over time you will come to love me as I love you, I know it may never happen, but I just want you back in my life, if you can forgive me.”
A smile like sunshine broke across Stiles’ face. He dropped his headgear and sword on the ground, grabbed Derek’s face and kissed him. “I can and do forgive you, my giant duck.”