by Izzy Shows
Kaidan
Tavixi was a bundle of nerves as we left her estate, constantly fussing with her dress and checking to make sure I looked all right. Not that there was a lot to check; I was dressed in the tight leather pants, as I'd always been since she bought me, with a pair of boots and nothing else. I still didn't particularly like it, but I'd gotten used to it. I tried to think of this as just another mission, another thing I had to do in order to get where I needed to go. It was the only way I could stay sane through all of this.
I watched with a quirked eyebrow as Tavixi shifted in her seat again. We were on her private ship once more, headed somewhere I didn't know.
"Are you all right, mistress?"
She jerked her head toward me, huffing out a little breath. "I'm a little anxious, that's all."
"Why's that?"
"I haven't been to one of these events in a while now, and I'm not certain how I'm going to be received."
I burned to ask her what sort of event we were going to, but I swallowed the question. It wasn't that Tavixi didn't like for me to talk; it was that she liked it too much. I didn't want to encourage her amorous feelings, no matter how adorable she was in making them known to me.
As if she knew what I'd wanted to ask, though, she told me anyway.
"Normally, your first outing as my body slave would simply be to accompany me to shop or something dull like that, but we're going to a party. It's a rather special occasion," she said, and bit her lip.
"If it's a special occasion, why are you so worried? Surely you've done this before." I couldn't seem to stop myself from talking this time.
She grimaced. "It's a celebration of the first domination of a male," she said. "There's going to be quite a show tonight, I'm certain, and as you can imagine, I won't be finding anyone there who shares my opinions. It's bound to be awkward, particularly if someone decides to single me out. I am sorry that this is the first event you'll be going to. I imagine it won't be fun for you."
"Fun?" I said, then swallowed as though there was something distasteful in my mouth I couldn't get out. "No, I don't imagine that will be fun for me. Male domination isn't exactly a thing where I'm from."
She pouted, but decided not to say anything further on that topic.
We rode in silence for several more minutes before she spoke again.
"Have you been doing your research on how to properly pay obeisance when I'm announced?" She couldn't quite meet my eyes when she asked; instead, she looked down at the floor.
Several sharp retorts jumped to my lips, but I fought them down one by one. It would do me no good to snap at her, not when she'd done everything she could to be kind to me. I didn't want to anger her, didn't want to find out what kind of mistress she would be to a slave she didn't like.
She always made a show of how kind and caring she was, about how she believed in equal rights and all of that, but I had a feeling that underneath it all, she wouldn't have a problem assuming the stern mistress role if she was displeased. Maybe I was paranoid; maybe I wasn't giving her the benefit of the doubt, but I hadn't had a lot of experience with kind people in my life.
"I have," I said at last, though it pained me greatly to say it. I had done as she asked and looked into it, and I still wasn't sure I was going to be able to bring myself to do it. It wasn't that it was a great, overdone affair; it had more to do with how symbolic the act was.
I didn't want to think about it just now. Best to put it out of my mind until I had to deal with it. Overthinking it would only make this that much more difficult to go through with once it was time to play my role.
At last, the ship came to a halt, and Tavixi stood up.
"Remember, you're to be two steps behind me at all times. You can't speak to anyone unless they speak to you, and don't make eye contact no matter what."
I gritted my teeth but held my tongue. This was still the most absurd situation I could imagine. I couldn't believe I wasn't even allowed to make eye contact with another person.
But I didn't say any of that to her. Instead, I nodded to indicate that I was aware of this already, and I followed her out of the ship once she got going.
We walked into the party and took our place in the line of mistresses and slaves waiting to be announced. At this point, I knew there would be very little conversation for me to engage in from here on into the night. But that was fine by me; I had never been much of a talker to begin with, and I didn't mind not being able to talk to a bunch of prissy females who didn't respect me.
A few minutes later, Tavixi's name was called, and we walked up the steps to the little platform that separated the room into two parts: those coming, and those already present.
She stood in the center of the platform, and I knelt before her to gently take her foot in one hand—slowly, so that she would have time to adjust her weight and not tip over. I removed her shoe, more of a soft ballet slipper than a real shoe, and with a grimace pressed a quick kiss to her foot, then quickly replaced her shoe and straightened up.
A sign of devotion to my mistress, a sign of subservience, that's what it is.
It shouldn't matter. I should be able to recognize this as an empty act, as going through the required motions to get through the mission, but it still stung my pride. I had done many things in my life, had always 'bent a knee', metaphorically speaking, to my government, but I'd never felt as low as I did now.
Tavixi was already leaving the platform, and I walked after her. She didn't appear to have any problem with what had just happened, further cementing the idea in my mind that she wasn't as forward-thinking as she liked to tell others she was. If she really believed in equal rights, she would have a hell of a problem with making a male kiss her foot to demonstrate his subservient position. She wouldn't want it to happen at all; hell, maybe she'd even take a stand and refuse to make the display.
But Tavixi didn't do any of that. Instead, she surged into the thick of the party, mingling with the other mistresses as well as she could. Not many of them would talk to her at first, choosing instead to snub her, but that didn't last long.
Thanks to me.
"Oh, Tavixi, darling, is that a new slave you have?" a female with garish makeup and lime-green hair exclaimed as she took a step closer to us. "I didn't know you had acquired one."
"Yes, this is Kaidan. I only got him recently, and really, it was only to save his life."
"Yes, of course, darling," the female said with a wink, as if they were co-conspirators.
She probably thinks Tavixi is making an excuse. Which she probably is.
"But look how big he is!" the female went on. "He's positively giant, and so exotic. Aren't you afraid of having someone so…so… Well, he looks positively dangerous!"
Tavixi laughed. "Kaidan would never hurt me."
I clenched my jaw at that and felt a muscle in my head begin to throb with the effort it took not to snap at her. It was true, I would never touch a female like that, but she didn't know that. She had no idea I had a code that forbade hurting women, no matter their species, unless we were at war and it was unavoidable. She seemed to be implying that it was out of devotion, which bothered me very much.
The night wore on like that, with me following her about as a good body slave would, and several more mistresses making the same comments about how 'exotic' and 'big' I was, and all of them seemed to be concerned that I looked dangerous.
To their credit, I was a very dangerous man. I had killed a lot of people, more than I could count, and I had maimed God-only-knew how many more. I could sprout claws at will and cover my body with scales that were tougher than any armor I'd ever worn, thanks to my genetic mutations. There was very little I couldn't do in the way of attack and defense, but they didn't know any of that.
All they knew was that I was a large, muscular male, and that terrified them to some degree.
Good. They should be afraid of me.
Because although I had a code that forbade hurting females, they sure as he
ll made me wish I didn't. I had never felt more objectified, even when I was standing on the slave block in nothing but a loincloth, than I did now with these mistresses milling around me. They kept asking Tavixi if my equipment was proportionate to how large I was as a male, and they couldn't seem to keep their eyes away from the soft black fabric that contained my groin.
At last, the evening seemed to be winding to a close, and we were all herded into something of an auditorium.
"This is the final show," Tavixi whispered as we walked in. "Once this is done, we'll be able to go. I'm… I'm sorry, in advance."
I frowned, wanting to ask what she was sorry for, but at that moment, another mistress cut Tavixi a sharp look; clearly, she wasn't supposed to be talking to me like this. Instead of asking, I followed her to her seat, where I knelt beside her on a straw mat.
The lights dimmed, and a female came out to stand at center stage.
"Thank you, ladies, for joining me on this special night when we celebrate the beginning of our world, the first male domination! As a special treat for you all, we are going to watch a male's first domination. He is an alien to our world, not grown in the slave houses, and this should be absolutely delightful," she said, her eyes gleaming. With that, she clapped her hands once, loudly, and walked off the stage.
I felt sick to my stomach already, knowing what was coming, but there was nothing I could do.
Maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe you're overthinking it.
But I doubted that.
Two females came out onto the stage, followed by four body slaves who were hauling a male behind them. He was fighting them hard, struggling to get away and howling as loudly as he could. My heart clenched in my chest, and the desire to stand and fight beside him surged within me. No one should have to go through this, and I felt complacent, as if I was contributing to his submission by not doing anything.
You are. You are complicit in this act. You are a part of the problem.
The voice in my head was absolutely right. I was the scum of the earth for not doing anything to defend this male, but I knew in my heart that even if I stood and fought beside him, the chances of the our getting out were slim to none. I was still wearing the beefed-up pain collar Tavixi had put on me when she first bought me, and I would no doubt be put down before I even got to the stage.
Still, I felt like shit for not even making the attempt.
At last, the male was dragged to the center of the stage, where he was chained to the floor on his hands and knees. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but at least he had normal pants on, from what I could see.
Then the show began.
The two females took turns whipping the male, lashing his back until it bled, until his screams turned hoarse and eventually he fell silent, not even able to grunt in pain. His back was a bloody mess, and he had collapsed to the floor, unable to support his own weight.
I should do something.
But there was nothing I could do, not right now, at least. I couldn't believe this was happening.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Tavixi casting furtive glances my way, clearly upset as well, but I couldn't bring myself to look at her, both out of disgust, and because my eyes were riveted on the scene before me. I couldn't seem to look away.
The male was forced to stand and face the crowd, but he fell to his knees again, and two of the body slaves had to hold him up, each with an arm wrapped around his back. Then one of the females fitted him with a collar, and for good measure sent a long, hard shock through it.
I watched as his body jerked and went limp, until at last the female let go of the button on the controller and allowed the pain to stop.
The pain will never stop. He's going to bear this for the rest of his life.
At last I looked at Tavixi, with hatred welling up within me.
She had said she was against slavery, but she had bought me, she had brought me here, and she wasn't saying a damned thing.
Kaidan
The ride back from the party was a terse affair, with Tavixi sitting in silence on the grand couch in the living area of her ship, and me standing as far away from her as I could. I wasn't supposed to leave her presence, but that didn't mean I had to be right beside her when no one else was looking.
Twenty minutes had gone by since we'd left the party, and I knew we were getting close to her home, but I still couldn't find a thing to say to her.
And I wanted to say something to her. Normally, I was fine not talking to people, but I felt the need to speak out, to tell her what we'd seen was wrong, that what we'd done by not doing anything was wrong.
But I couldn't find the words. Everything that came to mind was horridly inadequate, didn't fully express the depth of my feelings, and if I had said it aloud, would make me sound like a fool.
But something had to be said! Damn it, she couldn't be allowed to think everything was all right.
Then a quick look at her told me she didn't think everything was all right. She was looking up at me intermittently, wringing her hands in her lap and biting her lip. She was the picture of inner torment, and that only made me angrier.
She didn't deserve the comfort of knowing she felt horrible about what had happened. She didn't deserve to think she was a better person for finding fault instead of being all right with it. She didn't deserve to hold her head high and say she was against slavery when she let shit like this happen every damned day.
Maybe there wasn't a special celebration where it happened on stage, but it was clear that this was what the other mistresses thought was acceptable. No doubt this was a common occurrence; it was what they all did to 'break in' their new slaves.
And Tavixi probably thought she was high and mighty for not doing it herself.
God damn it, it made me so angry!
At last, I whirled on her, the tension inside me snapping like a rubber band.
"How the fuck can you sit there and pretend to be so virtuous when you just sat there and let that happen?" I snarled.
She jerked, her purple face going a shade lighter, her eyes wide. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it and worried at her lip again.
"No, you fucking tell me how the fuck you get away with saying you hate slavery and all that bullshit, and yet you do nothing in the face of that!"
I couldn't stop myself from yelling at her, no matter that the little voice in my head was telling me I was risking everything. That I shouldn't offend her, that I should be careful to keep her happy. I couldn't care about any of that right now, I was so goddamned angry.
"Kaidan, please…"
"Fucking Christ," I interrupted her, dragging a hand over my hair as I began to pace the length of the living area. "I can't fucking believe this."
"You have to understand, there's a time and a place to make a statement, to take a stand, and the middle of a celebration like that isn't it. Saying something there wouldn't have convinced a single person to stop what they were doing. All it would have ended with is our being thrown out of the establishment, and then no one—"
"No one would receive you in polite company again," I snapped. "I get that. You've said it a thousand times now, when you're defending why you keep slaves yourself. Which, by the way, you don't get a fucking free pass on. You're just as bad as the lot of them, owning another person and acting like you're somehow better than them the whole time. No, maybe you're worse, because at least those females don't pretend to be anything other than what they are."
She flinched, and tears started to slip out of her eyes, but I refused to let her weaken me. I refused to feel any kind of sympathy for her, not when she was behaving this way, not when she'd allowed that monstrosity to happen.
The worst of it all was, I had sat by and allowed it to happen as much as she had, and maybe I was taking out my anger with myself on her instead. But, damn it, I couldn't think about that right now.
"Kaidan, please, you have to at least try to hear me. I'm doing everything I can to move through th
e proper channels to change the way my country works. It's not easy, and it doesn't happen overnight, but it can happen! You just have to be willing to work within the system."
"Fuck the system," I growled. "Fuck the system, and fuck you for working in it, when the system lets this kind of shit happen every damned day. I can't, I won't, understand any of this. I won't understand, or accept, standing by and allowing something like that to happen when you claim to be against it."
"Please," she begged. "Please. I'm fighting this in the courts, which is the only place where there's a real hope of change!"
"I can't fucking look at you," I said, shaking my head. "I just… I can't. Don't talk. Don't talk ever again."
And with that, I spun on my heel and left the room. I didn't care where I went on the ship, as long as it wasn't near her.
On my way out, I heard her weeping.
Xiva
How much time had passed?
At least a day, I suspected, but I couldn't be sure. There was no way of telling time in this place. There were no clocks on the walls, and I hadn't been given a timepiece to wear.
They clearly didn't want us to be aware of the outside world; they wanted us to attack one another as quickly as possible so they could revel in the bloodshed. They didn't want people waiting, didn't want anyone worrying about when to sleep or what their families might be doing in the outside world.
All they wanted us focused on was the bloodshed, which was very evident from the way my master was screaming in my ear, as I was fairly certain he had been doing for at least one rotation now.
"You haven't killed a single person!" he shrieked. "You're just sitting up there, wasting time, while the others are racking up kills!"
I clenched my jaw to keep myself from saying anything to him. I had tried countless times to get him to understand that it would be easier to win if I let them wear each other out. They could thin out the herd for me, and I could swoop in and take care of the final few left standing.
