The breeze blew warm as Prince Milliardo Peacecraft rode through the town of his best friend's
kingdom. He had been informed a fortnight previous to his journey that he was of an age to take
on a bedmate. That was a nice way of saying that it was time for him to choose a pleasure slave.
His reason for travelling so far for a slave was simple. Treize had sent word to him that the
slaves trained for him were ready, and that he would be choosing one. Milliardo would have
gone to the royal slaver in his own palace ... if the man in charge knew how to train slaves.
In Treize's Kingdom, only a maximum of five slaves were ever trained for each royal family
member. This ensured that each slave was taught in ways that focused on his or her natural
abilities. Royal bedslaves of Treize's kingdom were also raised without violence. None of the
slaves trained there had ever seen a whip ... much less felt its sting.
The slaves were renouned for their grace, beauty, intelligence and loyalty. Once one of the
slaves were chosen, the rest were given away as prizes to a grand competition that tested
prospective masters in strength, compassion, intelligence, and values.
Milliardo scowled as he recalled visiting the royal slaver as a child. There were far too many
slaves there ... more than twenty. The slaves not chosen were sent off to work in the mines or
brothels. It was one thing Milliardo was going to change once he became king. Before he could
dwell too much on how poorly the pleasure slaves in his own kingdom were treated in training, a
fanfare went up announcing his arrival. There were many others present, but Milliardo knew
many of them would be turned away.
As he dismounted, Milliardo heard a commotion and turned to smile at his approaching friend.
Treize was smiling ... joy was evident in his blue eyes. "Milliardo, my friend and future brother!
What brings you here?"
Milliardo accepted the brotherly embrace and clapped Treize on the back. "It is time for me to
take on a bedmate. The timing of your contest is impeccable."
Treize looked taken aback. "Surely you don't think I'd TEST you, do you? Milliardo ... I have
known you for years. I once watched as you bandaged a little boy's knee and wrapped your
cloak around a little girl who had gotten lost." He shook his head. "No, my friend ... you should
stay and watch the proceedings to see how it is done, but I do not have to test you." He
motioned with his hand. "Come ... you should choose. As you will be my brother, you have that
right."
Milliardo chuckled and filled Treize in on his sister, Relena's, current exploits as they approached
the room where the unchosen slaves were waiting. "She has been playfully flirting with one of
the new guards, but they both know it won't go anywhere."
Treize shook his head. "Does she still have that portrait of me hanging in her room? If you ask
me, I think it's indecent."
Milliardo chuckled as a servant hurried ahead. "So does our mother ... but Relena simply shrugs
it off and says that she needs to get used to undressing for you." He shook his head. "One of
the maids mentioned to me that she caught Relena actually putting on a little show." He sighed
and rolled his eyes. "I do not want to imagine my younger sister doing that."
Treize laughed. "Oh she always was a precocious one ... but she's going to be quite a beauty on
our wedding night, if the portrait she had sent to me is any indication. She's wearing this blue
dress ..."
Milliardo remembered the painting and nodded. "It's accurate. Blue really suits her."
"Yes ... much better than rose. Ah! Here we are." He motioned to the servants by the door.
The two men bowed and did as they were bade.
Milliardo entered the room three steps behind Treize and remained silent when his friend cleared
his throat in order to address the three slaves in the room.
They were all dressed in an identical fasion. Each wore a loincloth on their nether regions, and a
small lace-up vest. On the two women, it served to cover their breasts. They also wore veils to
obscure their faces. All three wore the white that was traditional for virgin slaves in training.
Once claimed by a master, the slaves would then don their master's colors
"Forgive my intrusion. I'm sure my presence here right now is very confusing to you." He
paused and motioned to Milliardo. "This is Milliardo Peacecraft ... brother to my betrothed. As
he will one day be my brother, I am going to allow him the rare honor of choosing one of you for
himself."
Milliardo smiled as the three slaves knelt in almost perfect synchronization. He turned to Treize.
"Tell me about them."
*****
Treize smiled at Milliardo. He had always respected the blonde, and was pleased that Milliardo
would be taking one of the slaves back to Sanq. He motioned one of the two women. "Lucrezia.
She's an excellent dancer, but too quiet and docile for my tastes." He then motioned to the
second. "Sally ... has a knack for herbology and healing ... a little opinionated, but a good
woman."
He then turned to the lone male of the group with a sad sigh. "then there's Duo. If it weren't for
the fact that I am not interested in males like that ... I would have chosen him." He walked over
and stroked the fine hair, smiling gently. "Smart, beautiful, graceful, considerate and kind.
Knows when to talk and when silence is more appropriate. Oddly enough, he's excellent at all
sorts of needlework and an accomplished chess player. He will tell you his opinions, and he will
speak up when he feels you are in the wrong ... but he is never distrespectful." Treize chuckled.
"Of course you know that all male slaves of my kingdom have a magic spell cast on them so that
they may bear young. There are quite a few individuals in my family tree who were male slaves."
He was silent for a moment.
Treize then turned to his friend. "Milliardo ... it is your choice entirely."
To Treize's great relief, Milliardo approached Duo and held out his hand for Duo to take. Treize
had hoped he'd guessed Milliardo's tastes correctly. Of course ... it hadn't hurt that Treize
remembered that Milliardo had made a pass at him about two years previous. "Milliardo ... I am
entrusting you with a bed slave trained as a potential for me. Do not make me regret the great
trust I am giving you." It was the only part of the ceremonies that Treize would go through with
Milliardo.
And, luckily enough, Milliardo seemed to understand that. "I swear that I will never give you
cause to regret trusting me with the care of this rare jewel of humanity."
Treize blinked. Those words were only used under certain circumstances. "Are you elevating
Duo's status to that of a concubine?"
Milliardo smiled and nodded. "It would be better for Duo. The slavers in my kingdom would try
and make trouble for a pleasure slave. But they would leave a royal concubine alone."
Treize chuckled softly as he shook his head. "You've put some thought into this, haven't you?"
Then he turned his gaze to Duo and sighed. "Very well ... Duo, Milliardo has chosen you. You
are to heed him as you were taught to heed me."
Duo bowed low. "Yes ... your highness."
Treize nodded, pleased that Duo was so accepting of Milliardo, and motioned to the door.
"Please ... I believe you know where your room is. The opening ceremonies aren't until
tomorrow. That gives you time to bathe, dine, rest, and get aquainted with Duo."
*****
Milliardo held the door to his usual chambers open so that Duo could enter. The youth's eyes
were filled with uncertanity, and Milliardo wanted to calm him before doing anything else.
"Please ... have a seat and make yourself comfortable." He waited until Duo was seated on a
cushioned chair by the small table before approaching. "Have you eaten today?" He sighed when
Duo shook his head and walked to the velvet pull. "Are you hungry?" When he got a shrug in
answer, he decided to request some food for Duo as well.
Once the food was sent for, Milliardo approached the table and sat down across from the veiled
youth. "I understand that you must be very disoriented. You're not certain of what I expect of
you." He leaned back and regarded Duo a moment. "I want you to know that you may ask any
question that comes to mind, and I will do my very best to answer. But first I have a question
for you." He tilted his head when he saw that Duo was listening. "Treize has never been in
doubt of his preferance. Why were you even traied in the first place?"
Duo spoke softly, as if unsure of himself. "It was a lucky break for me. I didn't expect to be
trained as a royal bedslave. I thought ... I assumed I would be sent someplace else considering
my background." There was a moment before Duo spoke again. "As far as I know, I'm an
orphan. That's my preferred scenario. I don't want to imagine that my parents just didn't want
me."
Milliardo nodded in understanding. "Of course not. Please continue."
Duo let out a breath. "For a while, I was one of many children who ran the streets. Begging for
scraps of food and getting sick all the time. Then I sought warmth in a church one winter. The
priest there brought me to the nearby orphanage. It wasn't much ... just a large rundown
building with broken windows ... but it was warmer than the streets and food there was a sure
thing."
Milliardo blinked. He knew the kingdom's orphanage. It was a lovely building with stained-glass
windows that almost put the ones in the church to shame, and it had a garden in the back where
the kids could plant and play. "Surely you don't mean the same orphanage as the one in the town
this day. The building is beautiful!"
Duo nodded. "When I was around six, and had been brought back to the orphanage several
times, I decided there was only one way to repay the kind woman who ran the building." Duo's
face turned bright pink. "It was a bold move on my part, but I went straight to the slaver's block
and offered myself up for sale and told the seller that any money I brought in was to be sent to
the orphanage."
Milliardo was touched. "So Treize bought you?"
Duo shook his head. "No ... the lucky part was that the slaver was a good man and brought me
to the palace so I could tell the royal family what I had told him. Prince Treize told them to train
me, and he promised me that the orphanage would be restored and kept up. He has never gone
back on his promise, so the orphanage is now that strong building you know." There was a
moment of silence. "I have one question that is pressing right now."
Milliardo was relieved that Duo seemed more at ease. "Yes?"
Duo nodded. "How should I address you? Are you Master, Milord, Your Highness, Sir ... or
something else?"
Milliardo shrugged. "I suppose you can call me Milliardo when it's just the two of us, My Lord
when it's an informal setting and Your Highness when it's a formal setting. The word master
should never be used by you in referance to me since you aren't my slave."
"Oh." Duo bit his looked down with an air of unease. "Uhmmm ... what's the difference
between a concubine and a slave?"
Milliardo let out a breath. "The duties are almost the same. As my concubine, you will be
expected to sleep with me. However ... you will have your own quatrers adjacent to mine, and
your own servants as well as guards to protect you whenever I'm not with you." He noticed that
the youth's eyes were going wide and his skin was going pale. "I'm sorry. This is all so much
for you to take in in such a short period of time." He held his hand out and smiled when Duo
took it. "Before anything else ... I think I should see the rest of your face." He gently and
carefully unclasped the veil that obscured the lower half of his new concubine's face.
When Milliardo stepped back, his breath caught in his throat. Duo's face still had a touch of the
roundness that children have. Lucky was an understatement. Milliardo knew that there were
men and women out there who would pay a lot of money for the beauty who stood before him
... only to spoil it with pain and sorrow. There was such innocence mixed with the knowledge
one gets from the harsh reality of life. Duo obviously expected the worst. The way he was
nibbling on his full bottom lip attested to that. Any desire he felt for the youth was quelled by the
fact that Duo was simply not ready for anything yet. Training never fully prepared someone for
the real thing. That's something Milliardo knew a lot of people forgot.
He smiled gently at Duo and nodded. "There ... that's not so bad, is it? You only need be veiled
when we are going out in public." Milliardo sighed when Duo simply nodded and looked away
and started removing his vest. "Please ... don't be afraid. Nothing needs to happen if you do not
wish it to." With that, he took Duo's hands gently into his own.
Duo refused to look up. "But ... isn't it my duty to pleasure you?"
Milliardo chuckled and shook his head. "Not here where it will be no more than a quick toss in
the sheets. You deserve so much better than that. When I get you to my kingdom, we will
spend a week in my hunting lodge learning each other's likes and dislikes. I will caress every
inch of your skin and when the act is finally upon us, you will not fear it as you do now." He
leaned forward to whisper in Duo's ear. "By the end of that week, you will not be afraid to look
me in the eye. The training you recieved to be a pleasure slave will be altered and you will learn
that a concubine is something very different."
Duo swallowed and whimpered as Milliardo licked the shell of his ear in a teasing way. "H-how
is it different?"
Milliardo guided the youth to the bed. "Here ... lie down. I shall rub your back as I tell you. You
may leave the loincloth on." Milliardo retireved a vial of massage oil as Duo complied. He poured
a small amount into his hand after sweeping Duo's long braid out of the way and let it warm
before drizzling it onto Duo's back. He felt the tension under his hands and smiled warmly as he
worked on rubbing that tension away.
"Well ... for starters, your class is above a servant's ... if only barely. You'll have your own
servants attend to your needs. You'll not have to do any real hard work ... just do what it is you
want during the day." He smiled as he saw Duo's eyes drooping. "Another thing is you have the
right to say no every once in a while. In short ... your status is just below what my wife's would
be. Does that make sense? You can't be equal in status, however."
A light snore was his only answer. Milliardo shook his head and finished rubbing Duo's back,
glad to feel those muscles finally relaxing. He carefully pulled the warm blanket up to cover Duo.
He made sure that the sides were tucked in and bent down to give Duo a chaste kiss on the
cheek. He frowned as he caught a whiff of a cosmetic powder and gently wiped Duo's cheek
with his thumb. The sight of dark circles under the youth's eyes tore at Milliardo. He'd had no
idea that Duo was so exhausted. 'You poor thing ... you've been on edge for quite some time, I'll
bet. Treize knew his sexual orientation from the time he hit puberty. I'll bet anything that you've
been worried sick.'
He carefully felt Duo's forehead, nodding in relief that Duo felt only a little warmer than what
was normal. A good night's sleep and a good meal would put things right. 'You'll have no need to
fret anymore, Duo. I will never harm you.' With that, he left the room to wait for the servant
who would bring the food.