I’m playing plot bunny musical chairs. One bunny gets worked on, then the next, then the next, and then the next. It’s making my head spin in a good way. XD In this one we get more about Lin and Lor’s thoroughly unorthodox families, Kio gets a proper healing for the first time in his life and Lor is more of a love-sick puppy than he was before.

Author: me_ya_ri
Story: Kio’s Dance: Part 7
Rating: PG-17
Warning—Please Note: The age of consent in this world varies from country to country but is well under the age of consent in our world. In Lynnsent and Gaitrinn (where this is set) the age of consent is 16. In Kaintrude where our hero is from, it’s 12 for boys and 14 for girls. It also has copious quantities of male-male sex, with older and young male couples. So, if this bothers you, this story is not for you! It also includes explicit slavery, with the sale, training, mistreatment and salvation of said slaves being a key part of the story. Once again, if that isn’t your thing, please don’t read this story!
Word Count: Approx 4100 words
Summary: Set in my original world, a young man is betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, and must either escape to find his way home, or accept his new role in the world. The only thing he has to ground himself is the memories of his lover Kio and his skill at dancing.
Feedback: Comments (even if it’s just that you read) are much loved and concrit is much appreciated!
Previous Parts: Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Ren hummed dance tunes as he led Kio through his Master’s house. Master Lin’s healer hadn’t been able to do a thing for the poor boy’s nerve damage, but Ren knew that Thorrin would be able to take care of it. The man was so strongly empathic that he was virtually non-functional most of the time, but you gave him someone who needed healing, and suddenly he came alive. It was wonderful to get to see the intelligent and capable man emerge from the shambling wreck.

“Now,” Ren said briskly to Kio, “don’t let Thorrin’s appearance put you off, Bounce. He’s a really powerful Healer. He’s just so strong that he has to shield himself almost completely against the world, which makes it seem like he’s a drooling idiot without the drool. He’s not an idiot at all. He’s very bright, very nice, and very good at his job.”

“Yes, sir,” Kio said deferentially.

Master Lor’s house was the Clan House in town. It had something like two hundred suites of at least three rooms each. It covered over two full city blocks when you included the gardens that Master Lor’s grandmother had created. It was always bustling, no matter the time of day or night, with caravans coming in, buyers and sellers, slaves, masters, nobles, peasants, and people of all races. Ren loved it. He loved the hustle and bustle. He loved the noise. He loved the people, the action, and the excitement. Ren glanced over at Kio and nearly stumbled.

The poor kid was so white that he looked like was about to pass out. This was way too much for him, Ren realized, taking Kio’s elbow. Kio started, staring at Ren unseeingly. His eyes were so dilated that Ren would be surprised if he could see anything at all.

“Come on, Bounce,” Ren said, pulling him over into a window seat alcove.

He made Kio sit, and then sat next to him, wrapping his arms around the boy. Kio wasn’t big, being a skinny teenager, but he was still taller than Ren. Ren’s only claim to attractiveness was his ability to move. He had a plain face, a wiry dancer’s body, and was all muscle and sinew from his training. As much as Master Lor claimed to love him, Ren knew that it wasn’t his appearance that he cared about. He loved Ren’s Dance, not his body. Ren was fine with that, because Master Lor treated him better than the other slaves. Just as Barry was First for Master Lin, Ren was First for Master Lor. If only Master Lor would let him clean house in the same way, though!

Kio slowly relaxed in the protection of Ren’s arms, the heartbeat under Ren’s apparently casually placed fingers slowing, the clamminess of his skin abating, and his body slowly relaxing. Ren waiting until Kio’s breathing eased up, evened out, and his body had that faint Dancer’s twitch of ‘why aren’t I moving’ before he looked down at Kio’s face.

“Better?” Ren asked, grinning at him.

“Yes, sir,” Kio said, gradually straightening up once Ren let him go.

“It’s a pretty intimidating place, isn’t it Bounce?” Ren said philosophically. “I was shocked when Master Lor first brought me home. So many people, so much happening, and none of it made sense to me.”

Kio nodded, that faint frown on his face making Ren grin.

“Sir?” Kio asked tentatively. “Why do you call me ‘bounce’?”

Ren laughed out loud, throwing his head back and letting his mirth roll out. Kio was just as startled by the mirth as he was by everything else. Gods, what a mess the kid was. His former masters did a number on him, as had his Dance Masters. Ren would have to make sure that Masters Lin and Lor understood a traditional Dance Master couldn’t train him, not after what had happened to him.

“Because you’re cute and young and bouncy, Bounce,” Ren said with a big grin. “I figured you needed a pet name, and that’s it.”

Kio blushed and smiled shyly at Ren, looking flattered and embarrassed.

“Now, let me tell you a bit more about what you’re seeing,” Ren said, “so that you’re not quite so overwhelmed by it all. Should have done that when we first came in, but with Master Lin and Master Lor arguing over you, I figured it was better just to get you off to see Thorrin and all healed up. Didn’t mean to make your head spin so badly.”

They hadn’t been arguing so much as Master Lor had been quietly pleading and Master Lin had been refusing politely, but Kio obviously had reacted to it like an argument, leading to Master Lin’s discrete gesture for Ren to take Kio off for healing.

“Master Lin and Master Lor are fraternal twins born of their father’s First Wife,” Ren said, grinning at the surprised look from Kio. “Doesn’t seem like it, does it? But they are. Lin seems a lot older than he is and Lor seems a lot younger than he is. But they’re twins. Their father was…well, he was a bit of tool.”

Kio laughed out loud at that, giving Ren a look of total admiration that he’d say something like that out loud.

“Hey, you should hear some of the things that Master Lor says about his dad sometime,” Ren said, rolling his eyes. “I’m being really polite compared to the Master. The Master’s father had three wives, and four kids from those three wives. He set them against each other, set his slaves against each other, set his wives against each other, and generally screwed with everyone around him. The more upset and off balance everyone else was, the more power he had and the better he felt about himself, apparently. I never met him, thank all the Gods. He died a few years before Master Lor bought me.”

Ren nodded as the youngest of Master Lor’s wives walked by, looking at them curiously but not stopping.

“So,” Ren continued, “Masters Lin and Lor were both obviously intended for specific sorts of jobs by the Gods. Master Lin’s the perfect Slave Trainer. Master Lor’s the perfect Caravaner. Their dad made them do the opposite jobs, just to make them miserable. Mistress Lira, his Second Wife’s daughter, was as unwanted as a girl can be. She reacted to it by crusading against everything their father did, slavery, caravans, multiple marriages, treaties, whatever would set him off. She even changed churches, which is how she met her husband and escaped her father’s control. I try to avoid her whenever possible because she’s such a pushy abolitionist that she yells at me for calling Master Lor ‘master’ and wants me to act like a free man. Stupid as hell, honestly, and I don’t have the patience that Barry does. He lets her yell and then cuts her off at the knees so she’ll do what she should. She’s a hell of a mage, but a major pain to deal with.”

“She…refused to meet me when Doma Lin bought me,” Kio offered quietly, nodding slowly. “I guess that explains why.”

“Be glad, Bounce,” Ren said, snorting. “So anyway, the Third Wife was the favorite, though she couldn’t have kids. Kept by his side, pampered, loved, everything that the first two wives weren’t. Pissed them off to no end. When she was like thirty, though, she got pregnant. Really bad. Almost lost the baby multiple times, almost died multiple times, but she managed to carry the baby to term, only to nearly die at the birthing. Little girl who was born was deformed, poor thing. That’s Lara, the youngest of the family. Sweet as can be, born with deformed legs, hands, deaf as a post, barely able to see even now. Her mom died about a month later, and the Master’s father doted on her, protected the kid so bad she barely was allowed to move, despite having had her legs and hands healed so that she’s mostly normal. Still deaf, still can’t see well, but she’s basically a normal seventeen year old girl.”

Ren sighed, leaning on his knees. He liked Lara, but found her tiring. It was like her deformities made her ten times as energetic as a normal person and it wore on him.

“So, the Master’s father wanted Lara to wear the pretty little dresses, and be like a doll,” Ren said, shrugging. “She wouldn’t do it. She rides like she was born for it, can handle caravans as well as Master Lor despite being deaf, and works well with slaves. If she’d been born male, she’d have been the heir, not the twins. Anyway, the Master’s father finally dies, and all the shit he’s done finally gets undone. Master Lin takes the slaves, Master Lor takes the caravans, and Miss Lara gets to go off and travel all the time. Everything’s lovely for three years.”

Ren sighed and Kio unconsciously tensed. Ren had only just arrived in the household at that time, and the change from the relative calm to the chaos that followed had been shocking.

“The Master’s father had three wives because of alliances he’d made with three other big families,” Ren said sadly. “It wasn’t that he wanted three wives. He didn’t. Frankly, I think he would have preferred never to have any wives at all, and just used his slaves to deal with his sexual urges. But he had to take the wives to keep the alliances, so he did it and did what he had to with them. Well, those families all had daughters that they wanted married off to Master Lin in the same way.”

“Master Lin has wives?” Kio asked, surprised.

“Not a one,” Ren said with a chuckle. “He flatly refused to marry anyone. Said that Barry was his mate, he’d never take anyone else, and he made it stick. Not sure Barry realizes this, but I was there for the arguments and Barry wasn’t. So Master Lor married them in his brother’s place. No problem, they’re twins, sharing the business. Worked for the families politically. Problem is, Master Lor quite literally does not react sexually to women. At all. Even a little bit. So the wives were um, not pleased?”

“I should say so,” Kio murmured, blushing that he’d said anything.

“I do like you, Bounce!” Ren laughed, ruffling the boy’s hair. “Master Lin and Master Lor had a big old argument that resulted in Master Lin bedding Master Lor’s wives and giving them kids. Master Lor’s raising them like they were his own, Master Lin’s like their uncle, and everyone seems relatively happy about it. Kids are happy. Wives are happy. Masters seem to be happy overall.”

Kio’s face was a study in complete astonishment when Ren glanced at him, setting off gales of laughter for Ren. It took a good while for Ren to get his laughter under control, by which time Kio was smiling reluctantly, and blushing so cutely that Ren was tempted to kiss him and generally he didn’t react to guys at all. Master Lor would have been a puddle at the boy’s feet.

“How many…? How could that…? Wow,” Kio breathed, shaking his head.

“First Wife Shenna has a son and a daughter,” Ren said, counting on his fingers. “Second Wife Ana has two daughters and is pregnant again. Third wife Fara has six sons, all twins, and has sworn off sex with Master Lin as being too hard on her body and everyone’s fine with that. So there are ten kids all told with one or two more on the way, most likely. Different from what you’re used to?”

“Very,” Kio said, huffing a little. “Wow.”

“So, if you look at the people that pass by,” Ren said, getting back to the point of his little story, “you’ll see that people are dressed in distinct colors. Some of them are dressed in black and gold like me. Those are Master Lor’s people, either families that work for him, or cousins, or workers, or his slaves. There are a few people dressed in forest green and gold, just like you. Those are Master Lin’s people. The red and blue belong to Mistress Shenna’s family, and most of them work at administering the paperwork and legal side of the business. The white and purple people belong to Mistress Ana, and they’re the ones that handle Court, the nobility, and all that nonsense.”

Ren flipped a hand, indicating just what he thought of Court. He’d dance for them but damned if he’d associate with them without being ordered to by the Master. Bunch of worthless posers as far as Ren was concerned.

“Last group is the people in grey and green,” Ren said. “They’re Mistress Fara’s. They’re the ones who do the protection during caravans and around both houses. If you’re ever in danger, run to the guys in grey and green. They’ll protect you and be damn good at it.”

Kio looked at the people passing by, studying the crowds of people in the lobby they’d just left. Ren could see him picking out the interactions, making sense of it finally. He smiled. The kid might be abused and severely traumatized, but he was no idiot.

“Make it easier to deal with?” Ren asked.

“Yes,” Kio said softly. He said everything softly. “Thank you, Sir.”

“No problem, Bounce,” Ren said, jumping to his feet. “Let’s go get that back of yours healed.”

Thorrin was his normal vacant self when they arrived at the Healer’s rooms. It was more like a private hospital, with beds, and stuff for people to be taken care of, but Ren had never seen the beds occupied for more than a few minutes at a time. Thorrin was too strong. He healed people and sent them on their way, rarely ever having to heal someone partway and then finish after resting. Thorrin’s slave attendant Ria smiled at Ren and looked at Kio intently when they came in.

“Come on over,” Ria said. “Thorrin will be right with you.”

Ren caught Kio’s hand and pulled him over when the boy froze up. As soon as Kio was within five paces, Thorrin ‘woke up’, loosing the motionlessness, and the blank stare. His head lifted, his shoulders straightened and he looked right at Kio, smiling brightly.

“Good afternoon,” Thorrin said, standing and gesturing for Kio to come sit on the examination table. “Looks like you need a bit of nerve work. Don’t be nervous, child. I won’t hurt you at all.”

“Yes, Sir,” Kio whispered, white as a ghost and obviously terrified. He sat on the table, flinching at Thorrin’s hands touching his head.

“Let’s see here,” Thorrin said, nodding to Ria to take notes. “We have a severe skull fracture, healed by potion, with contusions and brain scarring in the frontal and anterior lobes. Scarring has been repaired. Broken jaw, cheekbone, nose, and fracture to the right shoulder blade, nerve impingement on that shoulder. All repaired.”

Thorrin worked his way down Kio’s body, removing the scars and nerve damage the boy had endured. Ren listened, sitting on the end of one of the beds when his nausea at the damage got too much. Gods but the kid was abused. No wonder he was such a mess emotionally. Ren growled a little at the nerve damage from the pain-givers that Thorrin found covering Kio’s legs. No wonder the kid flinched at every touch to his legs. Kio’s expression of shock when Thorrin made the lingering pain go away was almost laughable if it hadn’t been so sad. There wasn’t one part of Kio that hadn’t been abused in some form or another. Healing his spinal damage took a good four minutes, which was a long time for Thorrin. Healing his anal scarring made Ren have to go to the bathroom and splash water on his face so that he wouldn’t throw up everything he’d eaten. He hated listening to Thorrin describing that sort of injury—brought back too many memories of his previous masters. But Gods, who had owned Bounce before? They ought to be executed for this sort of treatment!

“Better now?” Master Lin was saying to Kio when Ren left the bathroom.

“Yes, Doma,” Kio said, wavering somewhere between the adoring-saved-by-a-nice-master face and the same terrified-to-breath-lest-he-get-in-trouble face he’d been wearing all along.

“Good,” Master Lin said, smiling at Ren wryly. “You?”

“I’m fine, Master Lin,” Ren said, “just needed to hit the bathroom. Master Lor, do pick your eyeballs up off of the floor, will you? They’re going to get dirty if you leave them there.”

Master Lor burst into laughter, mock swiping at Ren’s head. Thorrin had already retreated behind his shields, overwhelmed by so many people in the room. Ria shooed them all out, politely of course, but in the no-nonsense way that made her seem more like a free person instead of a slave. She needed that independence to be able to help and protect Thorrin. It always pleased him that Master Lor allowed her that freedom.

“We should be heading back to—”

“No, you shouldn’t,” Master Lor interrupted before Lin could escape. “You should be seeing the kids. You haven’t seen them in over a week, Lin. Come on. Come see them, get hugged to bits, and then you can go home.”

Master Lin groaned, glaring at his brother. Ren grinned, especially at Kio’s well-hidden look of intense curiosity. He didn’t blame Kio for being curious. He’d have been curious too. Lin sighed, nodded, and they headed to the personal quarters, up three floors, across half the length of the house, through the big foyer with the bodyguards, and then into small child chaos.

“Daddy! Uncle Lin!”

The shouts preceded the avalanche of kids that hurtled at Masters Lin and Lor. Master Lor laughed and knelt to be hugged and kissed and be told everything that had happened since he’d left that morning by a dozen little voices. Master Lin stayed standing, smiling indulgently, but only submitting to the hugs reluctantly. Ren shooed the kids away from himself and Kio, pulling Kio off to the side and settling on a kid-sized couch. Kio watched, eyes so wide that Ren wondered if he’d ever seen loving parents before.

“They…love Doma Lor, don’t they?” Kio whispered to Ren.

“Very much so,” Ren said quietly. “He’s their Daddy, who loves them, teaches them, hugs them, disciplines them, and would do anything for them. Master Lin may have had sex with their mothers, but Master Lor’s the one who’s their parent.”

“I wish my father had loved me like that,” Kio whispered even more quietly, hands in fists on his thighs.

“Oh Bounce,” Ren said, wrapping an around the boy’s shoulders. “Your family may not have loved you, but you’ll have a master who loves you, I swear. Master Lin’s famous for that. He’ll find you a place where you’ll always be loved, always be safe, and always be free to Dance.”

Kio’s tears tore at Ren’s heart so bad that he didn’t notice when Master Lin showed up. He was just suddenly there, pulling Kio into his lap and holding the sobbing boy tight. The kids noticed Kio’s tears, as did Master Lin and Mistress Shenna, who was tending the flock today. None of them did anything, not after Master Lor explained quietly that Kio was a new slave Master Lin had rescued, but they all had the same expression as Master Lor.

They wanted to make it better. They wanted to make Kio happy. Ren smiled. Master Lin might not want Kio to come to the household, but he wasn’t going to win the battle for long if the kids and the Wives got behind Lor. Ren would just have to make sure they understood how much attention Kio needed, so that the slaves quarters would get cleaned out at last. And Gods knew he’d been wanting that to happen for years!

Kio stopped crying after a while, and immediately got sucked into playing with the littlest girl who was just barely old enough to walk around if someone held her hands for her. Lin talked with the wives, checking on each of them. All the while he was watching Kio, which always made Ren smile. Gods but the guy was good at taking care of the wounded slaves.

“I wish I knew what I needed to do to get him,” Master Lor said mournfully as Kio and Master Lin left a couple of hours later.

“I can tell you that, Master,” Ren said confidently.

“Really?” Master Lor said, grinning at him. “Well, obviously I should have come to you first.”

“Well, you should have, Master,” Ren replied, grinning back. “I mean, it’s not like I fuck you or anything, but I do have a pretty good idea of what you need in life. Better than your wives.”

“True,” Master Lor said, curiosity showing in his eyes now. “So what does my favorite slave recommend?”

Ren made a beckoning gesture, leading his Master to the slave’s quarters. He stood outside of the doors, listening. Master Lor flinched. The boys were fighting over something, and the sounds were half whining pleas for people to be fair, and half bullying shouts. This was normal, actually a little better than normal. Sometimes Ren would come back from escorting Master Lor and find that there were holes in the walls or door and Thorrin was there treating someone who’d gotten hurt. It drove Ren nuts, but he’d never been granted the right to fix it.

“Do I need to open the door?” Ren said, raising an eyebrow at his Master. “What would Kio do if he was subjected to that?”

“Ow,” Master Lor said, rubbing his face. “Ren, you know perfectly well that I have a horrible time letting slaves go.”

“I know that, Master,” Ren said sympathetically. “It’s one of the things I love about you. Have you considered trading them with Master Lin for Kio? Throw in money and you might be close. He’d find them homes where they’d be happy. They’re not happy here, Master Lor. None of them are happy. I’m happy. I love your house. I adore your kids, even when they swarm me. I like your wives. This is a great place and I like it here. But they’re desperately unhappy and you don’t have time for six sex slaves. Not with your job, not with your wives, not with your kids. You need one slave to love. We both know I’m not him, but Kio could be. You just need to clean this mess up.”

“I could have you fix it,” Master Lor said thoughtfully. “Like Barry does for Lin.”

Ren chuckled. He hauled off and whacked Master Lor on the shoulder, making him start. Ren had never smacked his master in a public hallway before, but he’d certainly smacked him. He needed it on a regular basis and had granted Ren the right to do so in the first days after he’d been purchased. They were nowhere near a normal Master and slave, which still made Ren feel highly honored. Master Lor was the first Master he’d had since he was ten that actually saw that he had a brain, and let him use the brains he’d been born with.

“Master,” Ren said, “you’re being a wuss. It’s your mess. You can’t have me fix it because I don’t have authority to sell them. If you give me the authority to sell them, fine. I’ll do it, but you can’t do any take-backs. I have the authority, or I don’t. In writing, told to your staff and wives publicly. Think about it, sleep on it, preferably with Davie, and then let me know in the morning.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Ren,” Master Lor said, grinning.

“You’d spend a lot more time cleaning up messes,” Ren said as he opened the door, cutting off the shouting and revealing the chaos of clothes, boys and half-eaten food that was Ren’s home, “a lot more time being smacked by your wives, and Master Lin would beat you about the head and shoulders at least weekly. Not to mention what Miss Lara would do to you.”

“Master!”

Master Lor laughed and started working his way through the boys, comforting, chiding, punishing and doing his awkward best to set things right. He’d get there eventually, Ren knew. It might take a few days or weeks, but he’d get there. The more he watched Kio dance, the more obvious it would be to him what he really needed, Ren knew. His pampered little pets weren’t it. Ren shut the door to the quarters, settled onto a cushion and munched on some of the leftover dinner. It would be so nice when things got straightened out. He hummed dance tunes as he rested. Now if only Master Lor would bring in a few dancing girls, then things would really be looking up!

Part 8