Trigger warnings & Author's notes
May contain: violence, domination, degradation, sadism, non-consent/coercion, slavery.
Sorry, much is going on in life and progress is slower than I'd like.
Chapter Seven: kiran
(present timeline)
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Kiran approached the general's villa in a city cab. He sat in the back seat, idly watching the fancy houses as they drove through the noble neighborhood. A young man of 24, he came from an upper middle-class family of royalists -- that is, citizens within the Domarcan kingdom who remained faithful to the crown despite the amount of support the rebellion had garnered over the past eight years. Kiran's parents prided him on his blossoming career as a member of the royal guard and of his being stationed at the personal residence of the general of the royal army. As far as they were concerned, their son was on the fast track to success.
Kiran had initially spoken openly to his parents about his job and about the fate of Mile Domarc.
"Such is the price of treachery," his father had commented. "It is truly a shock that king Allius Domarc didn't call for his execution. If you ask me, his brother let him off easy."
Kiran, having spent nearly every waking hour with Mile over the past few months and having witnessed his depression firsthand, wasn't so sure he agreed. Death almost seemed more merciful, and Mile himself had voiced on numerous occasions that it would be preferable. Eventually Kiran stopped talking to his parents about the situation entirely. He was sympathetic to Mile and couldn't bear to hear the contempt that his parents and other royalists had for the man when he himself did not share it. He didn't dare express these feelings to his family. They would never understand. The cab stopped in front of the villa and Kiran paid the driver and stepped out into the warm sun. He sighed and stretched before heading down the path to the front doors to begin his shift.
The doorman greeted him as he approached and they exchanged brief pleasantries before he entered. Once inside, he surveyed the building, locating Oron sitting at the dining room table. The gruff man was slumped over, cheek resting against his palm, dozing off.
"Oi, Oron," Kiran called to him, the older man startling awake.
"Hey, Kiran. That time again?" Oron asked once he had recovered from the jolt of being woken abruptly.
Kiran nodded and sat across from him. "Where's Mile?"
Oron yawned and looked at his watch. "Outside with Welles. Doing their weird thing again."
Kiran laughed and stood, patting the other man on the back in a friendly gesture as he walked behind him to the back door.
"I'm off, then," Oron called to him, getting a casual wave from Kiran, who then walked out into the back garden.
Kiran heard the clink of steel before he saw them -- he realized pretty quickly that today they were actually dueling with swords. "Fancy," he thought to himself. He raised his hand in greeting to the general as he approached, and the man gave him a nod. Kiran settled himself on a bench, intrigued by the swordsmanship of the two men. It was a bit of a lost art; typically only practiced by a handful of nobles -- the type that was hung up on tradition and thus insisted their children learn and practice the archaic skill that would likely never serve them in their lives.
Kiran found it interesting watching the interactions between the two men. Mile seemed to dislike and resent the general, and yet Kiran couldn't help but notice the way he subtly came alive in the man's presence -- the way his eyes would light up and he would observe him overtly whenever he was near. They could be in the middle of a conversation and if Welles walked in, Mile's focus would shift entirely to the other man even if they didn't interact directly. It was a drastic change from Mile's initial attitude toward him. Kiran suspected that the way in which Mile looked at him had quite a bit to do with why the general had brought him here in the first place. He had come to understand that the two had something of a history that he wasn't privy to.
Mile especially seemed to come alive during their sparring, giving it his all. He couldn't say for sure whether it was the fighting Mile enjoyed or simply the company of the general, but Kiran was inclined to think that Mile actually quite liked the man, even despite the position the general had put him in. Though amused, he wasn't the least bit surprised when their matches would often times progress into them passionately fucking on the garden floor. In such instances Kiran would just laugh and relocate himself to give them privacy, though they hardly seemed to notice him at that point. The two definitely had a "weird" love-hate relationship, as Oron referred to it.
Kiran gazed at the men as they continued their sword fighting. He noted that Mile was quite good, no doubt having had the best trainers in the land growing up. He was able to get the upper hand on the general on multiple occasions. Kiran wondered why Symond allowed Mile this opportunity; when armed with a sword, Mile could surely kill him if he wanted to. After another fifteen minutes or so, Symond raised his hand to indicate to Mile that it was over.
"I'm afraid I must cut this short -- I've got a meeting to attend." Mile said nothing. "Kiran, take this," he called, raising the sword slightly. Kiran jumped to his feet and took the sword from the general. "Mile knows where they go. Make sure it's locked. I'll see you both later." Kiran nodded and Mile turned away with no acknowledgment of Symond's words. Kiran fell into step behind him. They walked into the storage closet that Symond used exclusively for weapons, and Mile placed his sword on an empty wall mount. Kiran did the same with his.
Kiran looked around the closet at all the various weapons. "Jesus," he said under his breath. Mile looked at him. "So many guns. You could seriously just ... take one and he'd never know. I can't believe he lets you in here."
Mile shrugged. "They are not loaded. And he would know." He walked out of the closet, waiting for Kiran to join him. Kiran eventually got his fill of admiring the weapons and stepped out as well. Mile turned the lock and pushed the door shut. Kiran was looking at him like he wanted to say something.
