#fear not black prince will resume shortly. I'm sure

[secretwhumplair]

Don't you want a bath?

727 words | Izara and the serpent king (sequel to Fighting spirit)

Content | Slavery, dehumanization, manhandling, defiant whumpee, carewhumper, implied/mentioned: nudity, future noncon, punishment, victim blaming

Notes | Izara's introduction to the serpent king continues! He hates it!

Taglist | @yet-another-heathen @echo-goes-aaa @whumpinator @neverthelass

Izara was dragged on to the next room.

It had large, arched windows, looking out over the palace grounds. It was on some sort of terrace—which made sense, there was a sizable pool in its center, a bath, Izara realized—and if he leapt just right-

»What are you looking at, little thing?«

The serpent king had seen through him, Izara could tell from the amusement in his voice. Like he knew just how helpless Izara was. The worst part was that it was true.

Izara didn’t answer. What was he supposed to say, anyway? He just forced himself to look at the serpent king, who had slid into the water, then dropped his gaze to the edge of the pool. He could vaguely imagine what the serpent king wanted with him here; he was already naked, after all. He tried not to think about it too hard. His whole body already hurt. Maybe the guard, still holding him, would get a turn too.

He tried not to think about it.

The guard marched him over to the edge of the pool, and the serpent king moved over to look up at him. It was the smallest comfort, looking down on him like this, but he knew it wouldn’t last.

»Come join me.« The softness of the serpent king’s voice couldn’t conceal that this was an order.

Izara didn’t want to move. He knew what was going to happen. It would be worse if he disobeyed, too.

There was no way out.

His eyes drifted to the windows again. Freedom was so close, and yet utterly unreachable.

»Come, sweet thing. You can let him go,« he added at the guard, and then added something in their language. Izara could imagine his punishment, should he disobey, being outlined to be carried out by the guard at the first wrong move.

For now, the guard let go of his arm again and positioned themself between him and the windows.

Izara’s hands—his newly freed hands, for whatever reason—curled into fists again. Of course.

The serpent king still looked up at him, quizzically. »Don’t you want a bath?«

Izara could have screamed at the duplicity. Of course he wanted a bath. He was desperate for a bath, even if he doubted he would ever feel actually clean again. What he didn’t want was for another master to toy with him, make it worse, and least of all he wanted for it to be disguised as some sort of mercy.

He could see what would happen if he refused, as clear as day. He would probably be locked up somewhere in a cell, or perhaps made to do the dirtiest work the king could think of, without the slightest opportunity of washing himself, and then he would be told it was him who chose this. He had been offered a bath, after all.

He ground his teeth, swallowing down tears. »I do.«

»Good. I want you to bathe as well.« The serpent king stretched out an arm, as if offering to help him into the pool.

»I don’t want to take a bath with you.« He was furious enough he barely felt fear at the impossible thing he was saying.

»I’m afraid that is not a choice I am offering you,« the serpent king said softly. »I want to get to know your body.«

Of course. Of course that was what he wanted. Izara felt sick.

»I won’t hurt you.«

Izara didn’t believe that for a second. A good bedslave would pretend not to be hurt far beyond the threshold of what counted as pain for real people, and that was probably the serpent king’s reference point, if he wasn’t straight-up lying.

He was not a good slave. He would forever refuse to be.

For as long as he could.

For as long as his waning strength lasted him.

He couldn’t fight the tears forever, and now they were welling up. »Come on, little thing,« the serpent king said, even softer. »It’s alright. Come on in.«

He reached further and took Izara by the hand, only grabbing on tight when Izara tried to pull away. »Come on.«

There was no way out.

He let the serpent king pull him into the water with the same uncanny gentleness he had displayed this whole time, and he hated himself for it.

[grumpyascianteddybear]

Aurora Floros

Aurora hails from the 13th. Her mother was an unsundered ancient by the miracle of her mother's ingenuity. As for her father, he was one a shepherd of the 13th before its fall. She had a very good early childhood with a mother and father who both loved her dearly. At some point, after the war came to their province, her father was found to have magic. This saw him become a scout, though his family was permitted to go with him.

This lasted for about a year before the fall of their world. Aurora watched as her father's soul and energy were slowly corrupted while he tried to protect them shortly after. Everyone was turning into these nasty things, but he was still okay. Eventually, Polaris would make a deal with an Ascian, Emet Selch. Through this, her mother would be reunited with her father, though the cost was perhaps steeper than anyone thought it would be.

The then six-year-old was soon kicking and screaming as she realized that this man would take her away from her father. Aurora is and always will be a daddy's girl, and she did not like that he was not going with him. Polaris calmed her down by giving her a necklace that he wore the match too. He promised his daughter that they would all be together again someday. This calmed her, and she went with her mother to the source.

A year would pass, and she would lose hope of ever seeing her father again. A promise broken, or so she thought. Her mother, though an unsundered ancient, was unable to use magic. Being a single mother with only a familiar to help her was not ideal, so she devised a plan. Hadianna became a reaper and made a pact with The Voidsent Prince, Ophiuchus.

Her seven-year-old did not take well to the voidsent that had once been her father at first. That was not daddy! That thing's energy and soul was gnarled and utterly wrong. Aurora did not like it and made things difficult for Ophiuchus at first. She was not fond of when her mother would be called to town and would leave the voidsent to watch her.

Eventually, Aurora would accept that the voidsent was not going anywhere. Her mother seemed to like him a great deal. She really wasn't sure how her mother could enjoy the company of such a twisted thing. The child had chosen to ignore him for the most part.

On one of the days he had been left to watch her, some bandits came to their small homestead. They tried to grab her, which caused her to scream and fight against the men. It wasn't long before the voidsent came out, his entrance giving her a chance to escape. Aurora will never forget the words that left his mouth.

"Fiore, get in the house!"

Hearing the nickname after so long started her enough to make her freeze. What? Only Daddy called her that. Did.....did he remember now? Did the voidsent know who he had been before now? Her pause was enough time for more bandits to come and bar her from getting to the house. With nowhere else to go, she headed for her father. The smaller-than-average child seeking shelter under his legs.

"Daddy, I'm scared."

"Sit down and dim your sight, Fiore."

Aurora had learned from Grampy how to turn her soul sight off. Though, with her being traditionally blind, that was scary for her. It caused the whole world to go completely black. Regardless, she did it, and once it was done, the screams started. Screams of fear as the voidsent cast off the mortal guise he had been wearing. It took him only a short time to eat through them. The mass of fresh aether left him feeling high. e

Once they were gone, he resumed the mortal mask and went to scoop up Aurora. She held onto him tightly as he carried her into the house. At some point, the child would pass out on his chest. She doesn't remember much other than him refusing to let her go, which was fine with her. There was also the sense of them moving to a bed, and she woke up with him and Mama the next morning.

After that, things went pretty well, and she had no real complaints about her childhood. Sure, it was hard for her to keep friends. Even in his mortal guise, Daddy still gave off funky vibes and that scared most people. She never blamed him, and she would always well-liked in town. Aurora just learned to keep people from being brought home. Not a big deal.

She would eventually start to travel at some point after the second turn of the final days. Her first stop would be none other than Raz-ad-Han. Aurora enjoys the city and small town around the island. Being close to the beach also reminds her of home. And who knows, maybe she will make a friend out of the city's local half voidsent.