So Theos ignored the boy and shoved open the door to Andros’s room. He and Xeno were in bed, wrapped around each other, dozing with such contentment on their faces that Theos knew what he would have seen if he’d come through the door just a little earlier. It was good to know Andros was feeling better.
“Wake up, lazies,” Theos said, jarring the bed with his foot.
Xeno opened his eyes with a growl, then sighed and nudged Andros awake. “Your master is here,” he whispered, and grinned wickedly at Theos. “I mean,Finnvid’smaster. I knew you couldn’t resist that boy! It might have been Androscallinghim pretty, but—”
“I kept him because he’s needed,” Theos snapped. He might not have been thinking in those terms at the time he’d made the decision, but he’d been acting on instinct. Clearly his instinct had been a little ahead of his brain. “Andros, did you get anything out of him?”
“I learned quite a few Elkati curse words,” Andros mumbled. “Some of them are pretty good.”
“Did you learn anything more useful? Like what he was doing in our territory?”
“No.” Andros sat up. “I repeated everything you said. I made it clear that everyone breaks if they’re tortured long enough.Everyone.” He shrugged. “I think he believed me. He seemed . . . you know. Worried. Upset. Still, he wouldn’t talk.”
Theos shook his head in disgust. “I didn’t find the captain,” he said. “Got sidelined by some training. But I talked to Galen. He made it clear there’s a problem ofsomesort.” He turned his attention to Xeno. “What have you been up to? You weren’t at training.”
“Doing my own investigations. I know a boy who works in the warlord’s office, so I talked to him.”
“And?”
“Nothing too specific. He confirmed that there’s something going on. Between the captain and the warlord, at least, but he seemed to think maybe there was more? He couldn’t say what, though. He just said everything’s tense.”
Theos thought back wistfully to the battle on the mud hill. Problems were so much simpler when they could be solved with strength and cunning instead of investigation and planning. “I’ll talk to Galen. Try to get hold of the captain. I can’t think of anything else to do.”
“And Finnvid?” Andros asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to turn him over for questioning, I suppose, if I can get anyone to agree that it needs to be done.” Theos hated the idea. He wanted the boy to justtalk, without having to go through all the things he’d threatened. “In the meantime . . . I don’t know.”
“Treat him like a bedwarmer,” Andros said firmly. “You told the warlord you wanted him for that, so you’d better follow through.”
“How’s a bedwarmer supposed to be treated? What am I supposed to do with him?”
Xeno snorted. “You really need lessons?”
Andros was grinning, too, but he was a little more useful. “Get him cleaned up. Get him something to wear. Not a warrior’s tunic, something softer. And then look after him in public. Men with bedwarmers are protective of them. They don’t want other men poaching, not once they’ve paid for exclusive access. So leave him in your room when you don’t need him, and if you take him out, stay close.”
Theos couldn’t see why anyone would ever bother with it all, not when other options were so much less trouble. But Finnvid had saved Andros’s life. Andros wanted him taken care of, and Theos was still grateful enough to have his friend alive to feel soft. “Fine. I’m going to go bathe, and I’ll take him with me.” He pointed sternly at the bed. “You, Andros, continue healing. And Xeno—I’d better see you at training tomorrow. There’s a patch of mud waiting for your attention.”
“I wouldn’t have thought there’d be any mud left, after you’ve tracked so much of it over my floor,” Andros shot back.
Theos had the door open by then and he said, “If you like, I’ll send my slave to clean for you later. He’s not good for too much else.” He scowled down at Finnvid, daring him to disagree, but Finnvid just stared at him defiantly.
Theos shut the door. “Get up. We’re going to the baths.”
Finnvid stood, and Theos started walking before the boy could ask too many questions. He stopped by his room for another set of clean clothes, then looked at the boy. After days of hiking, the rags Finnvid was wearing would probably dissolve as soon as they were removed. Theos might be able to find something of the sort Andros had described—somethingsoft—at the next market. But the Elkati couldn’t walk around naked until then, so Theos pulled out another one of his own tunics and an extra pair of trousers. He didn’t have an extensive wardrobe, and if he was going to be getting this muddyandsharing his clothes with someone else, there would be a problem.
But maybe there was also a solution. “I’ll show you where the laundry is when we’re down there,” he said, heading out the door. “New recruits are in charge of doing the work, usually, but they’re slow. It can take several days for clothes to be returned. You can do it faster.”
“So I’m to do your laundry?” Finnvid sounded insulted.
Theos stopped walking. He turned to face the boy. “Are you living in a different world? Do you not understand what’s happening in this one? You’re a prisoner. A slave.Myslave. You’ll do whatever I tell you to do.” Theos eased in, close enough that he could feel Finnvid having to fight to keep himself from backing away. “EveryonethinksI’ve bought you as a bedwarmer. Do you know what that is?”
“I can imagine,” the boy said stiffly.
“So, if I want to, I’ll fuck you. I’ll make you suck me. I’ll do whatever the hell I choose with this body that I have earned and that Iown.”
“Andwillyou do that? Those things? To me?” There was still insolence in his voice, but there was also a tightness that betrayed his fear.
Theos stepped back, just a little. “I have no interest in fucking a resisting virgin when there’s no shortage ofenthusiasticpartners waiting for me. But I make no promises. I own you, and I’ll do what I want with you.” And then, back to the main point. “So if I ask . . . no, wait. If Itellyou to do some laundry? I suggest you justdo it, without acting as if it’s an affront to your precious dignity. Understood?”
