Little Big Man

LITTLE BIG MAN – a serial novel by Travis Creel

CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX: FATHER VERSUS SON

Previously: The two young princes are both apprehensive about the arrival of their father and uncle, who are flying to St. Petersburg to retrieve them. Abdullah threatens to run away before his father arrives, until Ruslan persuades him that it would be unwise and that he should trust us'. Meanwhile, the FSB men arrive, called in by Dmitri, who has them administer a lie detector test to Jamal. Jamal admits he doesn't like to fuck and insists that he cannot return to the palace – not after...' and then refuses to end the sentence. Dmitri gets the story from Alexei, learning of Ilya's rape of Jamal and that Jamal `liked it'. Later, Alexei and Matti, forbidden to talk directly to each other, find a loophole – they can speak to Declan in each other's presence. They are aware that there is a large party scheduled for the evening, but unaware of the impending arrival of the Prince Regent and his brother Khalid.

ALEXEI: SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, LATE AFTERNOON – ENTRANCE HALL/VARIOUS ROOMS

I had pieced together this much: Ilya had raped Prince Jamal. Jamal told Declan, who told the Prince Regent. As a result, Ilya would almost surely have been mounted on the dome, leaving Prince Abdullah without a slave, and he wanted Matti back to replace Ilya. Prince Abdullah, aware that Ruslan was attracted to Declan (a revelation that mystified me, frankly), hoped to exchange Declan for Matti.

But had he come here on his own? Why had be brought Prince Jamal? Was he acting on behalf of the Prince Regent? And if so, was part of his mission to obtain me for his father?

And, most of all, why were the FSB men called in to give a lie detector test to Prince Jamal – and to me? Master had told Prince Jamal that the interrogation was to help him and his brother from having to go back to their home country. So the princes were running away? That didn't square with their efforts to get Matti back.

I was totally confused.

When the doorbell rang at 4:00, I thought, for the second time that day, that it was too early for party guests to be arriving. Was it Horst? After Nikolai, he was perhaps Master's best friend.

I could not have been more wrong – or more shocked. Had it not been for my slave training, I would have gasped – if not fainted – when I opened the door and found myself face-to-face with the two men in western suits, overcoats – and keffiyehs. Even without the keffiyehs on their heads, I would have recognized them instantly: I was looking at the Prince Regent himself, along with his brother, the dangerous Prince Khalid – the one who wanted to dome Matti. Behind them were Tompkins and a shivering Declan, toting luggage. (Ah, so that's why Tompkins had summoned Declan.)

My legs felt shaky as I fell to the floor to display my ass. A royal foot pushed me prostrate to the floor, before a royal boot stomped on my ass. The Prince Regent's.

• This will be mine, soon enough. Up, boy.

I rose, startled by the declaration that accompanied his instruction.

• Where is your Master, boy?

• Your Majesty, I do not know.

• You are a slave and you do not know where your Master is?

• He is at home, Your Majesty, but I do not know which room he is in currently.

• Then take us to our rooms and come back when you have found him.

Their rooms. Matti and I had been preparing rooms for overnight guests, but how could I have possibly guessed that one of those guests would be the Prince Regent – or which room was intended for him? The best guest room was the Blue Room – it had views of the Gulf of Finland, the largest bed, and artworks on the walls by painters that were not household names but, after a semester of Renaissance Art, were familiar to me. I guessed that that was where Master would choose to house the Prince Regent. The adjacent room – the Amber Room – named for its color and not the gem – was the most logical place for Prince Khalid. The Green Room was nicer, but Nikolai was staying there, and it was down the hall. And the Amber Room also faced the sea.

Declan and I made a tacit agreement that he would settle in the Prince Regent and I would handle Khalid, which made sense given Declan's position at the palace. Khalid looked over the room dourly, and then said:

• I do not like this color. Is there another room?

• (gulp) I believe several rooms are unoccupied, Your Highness. If you would prefer a different room, I –

• I would. Show me the other rooms.

I took him on a quick tour of the rooms that Matti and I had been preparing, hoping not to encounter Matti. Unfortunately, Matti was making the bed in the Crimson Room, and Khalid spotted him. He turned to me.

• Were all the rooms made up by this slave?

• (WTF?) No, Your Highness.

• Which rooms were not?

• The ones that are occupied, Your Highness. I made up those rooms.

• Who is occupying those rooms?

• Master's friend Nikolai is in the Green Room, Grigory, Master's assistant, is in the Gray Room, Mr. Tompkins is in the –

• Show me Tompkins' room.

That would be the Silver Room. It was one of the smaller rooms, not as nice as the Amber, Rose, or Crimson rooms, but Matti had made up all of those rooms – apparently disqualifying them. (This was a dreadful sign – whatever happened, Matti must not return to the palace with this Man.) The Silver Room was also the furthest from his brother's Blue Room, and lacked a view of the sea.

Nevertheless, when we arrived, Khalid announced, "I will take this one." Tompkins would just have to lump it, I guess. Probably Khalid would order me back to move Tompkins' things, but it was clear his first priority was meeting with Master, and, after opening his suitcase for him, I was sent off to find Master and inform him of the arrival of two more princes.

Master was in the Conference Room, along with Nikolai and Master Ruslan, and didn't wait for me to display. "Bring them in here," he said upon spotting me. So he knew who the visitors were – he was expecting them. And all I could think of was that my fate and Matti's would be settled in the next few minutes. For the second time in less than a month, I was facing the possibility of being relocated to the Royal Palace – and of Matti being sentenced to the dome.

Master knew that they were coming. And hadn't told me. That was ominous.

When I returned to the Blue Room, I found Declan with the Prince Regent, unpacking his enormous suitcase, and removing a spectacular robe. Before I could drop to the floor for the routine display, he ordered me to "Assist my brother. We need to change clothes."

Either Western clothing was too uncomfortable or he needed to look more regal in front of Master. Or both.

Khalid greeted me with "Ah, boy, there you are." He stood in his underwear and socks, his overcoat, suit, shirt and tie lying on the bed. At his direction, I placed the clothing onto hangers and into the closet, put his shoes where he wanted them, and extracted a pair of sandals and a robe – slightly less spectacular than the Prince Regent's – from his suitcase. He lifted his foot and I understood that I was to remove his socks and replace them with the sandals. I anticipated his next request and reached for the robe.

My efforts were rewarded with a slap to the face. Apparently, I had mis-anticipated his next request. "I do not wear anything underneath my robe," he said, adding "I am not accustomed to undressing myself, but I grew tired of waiting. I will speak to your Master about a punishment for the delay."

My delay? You mean the time I spent obeying your brother's orders? The man unaccustomed to undressing himself then removed his own keffiyeh, either not trusting me to do it properly or concerned that if a slave deigned to touch his royal head, it would give him cooties. He then lifted his arms and I pulled off his undershirt, laid it on the bed and folded it carefully. There remained only one item of clothing. Remembering my initial encounter with Master, I hoped I could do it with my hands and not my mouth.

I pulled off Khalid's briefs with my hands, grateful not to be corrected with a slap, and unsheathed his dangling penis beneath possibly the thickest forest of pubic hair I have ever seen. Khalid was, in fact, quite hairy all over, including his back. His penis was similar to Master's, although uncircumcised. Now as naked as I was, he waited for me to drape him with the robe before he replaced the keffiyeh.

I escorted the Prince Regent and Prince Khalid to the conference room, where Khalid immediately fixed his eyes on Ruslan.

• (Khalid) So, the slave becomes a Master, eh? I suppose you imagine yourself very clever, Ruslan. My brother has informed me of your deception, which I regret that he was a part of.

• (Ruslan) Nice to see you again, Your Highness.

• (Khalid) Is it? Is that why you hid in your room last week to avoid seeing Mustafa and me?

• (Master) Alexei, go assist Henri in the kitchen.

I doubted that Henri needed me in the kitchen: Matti was already there. I think Master simply wanted me out of the room.

I was two feet from the doorway when I heard the Prince Regent's voice: "Stop, boy."

I stopped.

• (Prince Regent) Why are you sending this slave away?

• (Master) To assist in the kitchen. There is a large group for dinner.

The Prince Regent tapped his wristwatch and spoke into it.

• (P.R.) Boy, go to the kitchen and assist the chef. (to Master) 3914 is able in this capacity. Your boy may remain here.

• (Ruslan) Your Majesty, the matters we are discussing –

• (Khalid) Do not complete that sentence, Ruslan. I realize you have only been a slaveowner for a week, but surely you cannot be concerned about what this slave hears. After all, what can it do? Or are you so soft, you're afraid of hurting its feelings? Slaves do not have feelings. Do not mistake slaves for men.

• (Dmitri) Your Highness, Ruslan does not need a lecture about slave ownership.

• (Nikolai) Perhaps His Highness does not recognize that a slave's psychological disposition can affect his performance, and his performance matters to his Master.

• (Khalid) Who is this man, and why is he here?

• (Prince Regent) I do not think my brother needs to be lectured about slave ownership either.

• (Dmitri) Let us all calm down. Any issues between Ruslan and your brother can be discussed later. We have more important business. Your Highness, this is my mentor Nikolai, who is familiar with the situation and has been instrumental in helping us understand it. He is, however, a little more blunt in his speech than is sometimes advisable. Now, while I agree that it does not matter what Alexei may overhear, is there some reason you wish him to stay?

• (Khalid) We have biological needs.

• (Prince Regent) I am accustomed to having a slave attending me during business meetings. I can summon my boy if you prefer, but, as the saying goes – a bird in the hand –

• (Khalid) Needs to bury its head in my bush.

• (Ruslan) Your Majesty, there is a party tonight, at which –

• (Prince Regent) Ruslan, certainly you are familiar with the principle of tantra. I assume this slave is as well. (turning to me) Boy, get under the table.

My heart dropped an inch. He was acting as if he already owned me. I cast my eye over to Master and saw him nod his head a fraction of an inch. I dropped to my knees and crawled underneath the conference table. Both of the princes had pulled their robes up and exposed themselves. I approached the Prince Regent's crotch when Khalid suddenly said, "Me first. I have another biological need," and I moved over a few feet and took his cock into my mouth.

Where he unleashed a stream of urine. His other biological need. Terrific.

• (Khalid) Ah, there's nothing as satisfying as a good piss into the mouth of a slave. Unless it's a good crap. If my boy earned a punishment, I sometimes gave it a special meal directly from me. It didn't take to that so well, one of the reasons it failed its trial. The jury allowed it to keep its balls, outvoting me, but we did demote it to the cleaning crew.

• (Nikolai) I'm surprised you can find any slave who takes to that sort of thing well.

• (Khalid) I didn't expect it to enjoy the experience, of course – but 4385 vomited every time. It should have adjusted after a few times.

• (Prince Regent) My brother's views on shit are not common in the Royal Palace.

• (Khalid) If it were up to me, we'd eliminate toilets altogether. Just use slaves. Young Malik is quite anxious to use his slave that way when he is old enough to own one. But he is not yet fourteen.

• (Nikolai) Perhaps he will outgrow such ideas by the time he is mature enough for his own slave.

Khalid's slave. Nevada. I thought back to the boat, and how outraged I was at Nevada taking a bite of his peach cobbler while Rhody had to drag Maine across the floor by his balls. Karma, as they say, is a bitch, but replacing peach cobbler with shit was Karma on a power trip. I felt bad for Nevada – at least they didn't geld him – and equally bad for his replacement, hoping it was no one I knew.

The Prince Regent's leg kicked me, which I interpreted as a signal to turn my intentions to him. As it turns out, he needed a piss as well. Long flight, I guess. Then I set about the more traditional task of ministering to a cock in my mouth. As the conversation, gratefully, turned less scatological.

• (Prince Regent) It is time to talk business. Dmitri, you have been a friend, and you have been a business partner. There are times when our goals have been in conflict, and I am hoping that this is not one of those times, and that we can settle this amicably.

• (Master) That is my wish as well.

• (P.R.) Your boy is a good cocksucker, by the way.

• (Khalid) Don't compliment it.

• (Nikolai) Oh, so what he hears does matter.

• (Master) Nikolai.

• (Nikolai) Sorry. Sometimes I point out hypocrisy when I shouldn't. It's one of my faults.

• (P.R., ignoring him) I wonder if we could borrow Pyotr for a couple of hours tomorrow.

• (Master) Pyotr?

• (P.R.) We will need two cars.

• (Master) Two cars? For three men and a slave? Ah, you can't fit both your luggage and the slave in the trunk, is that it? Very well, Pyotr can drive your luggage over to the airstrip.

• (P.R.) Really, Dmitri, sometimes I find your sense of humor a little strained. Three men and a slave?

• (Khalid) Apparently the Russian education system doesn't teach counting.

• (Nikolai) His Majesty, yourself, and Tompkins. Plus – what's his number – 39 something. That's Three men and a slave. Wasn't there a movie with that title, something like that?

• (P.R.) We are playing games again. There will be five men and three slaves.

• (Nikolai) Who's playing games now? What five men? What three slaves?

• (P.R.) Myself, my brother, my two sons, and Tompkins. And the three slaves in this house right now.

The Prince Regent's cock slipped out of my mouth when he said that. A hand reached under the table and reached behind my head, pulling me back onto him. Still in shock, I wasn't ready for it, and uncharacteristically gagged. Meanwhile, above my head, there was a silence.

• (P.R.) Perhaps there is something in what you say, Nikolai. I think what this slave just heard has affected its performance. It allowed its attention to lapse. Fortunately, we will have a chance to discipline it this evening. Such a thing will not be tolerated when it is in the palace.

Sounding like a fait accompli.

Or maybe not.

• (Master) With all due respect, if you are going to bargain, you must bargain reasonably.

• (Khalid) Ha! Are you bargaining reasonably? We come here, fly all this way, and get nothing? Not even my brother's sons? Ours is the only reasonable position. We take my nephews back, and get fair compensation for our losses.

• (Nikolai) Your losses?

• (Khalid) First you force Rashid to take a rebellious slave. South Carolina, it was called.

• (Nikolai) May I point out that you were the ones who insisted on changes to the selection order?

• (Khalid, to Master) Why is he involved in this discussion? He wasn't even there.

That answer was easy. Nikolai was playing bad cop to Master's good cop.

• (Dmitri) Nikolai is aware of the events in Mogadishu. And he is correct – you requested changes in the order selected.

• (P.R.) And you exploited that by maneuvering us into the last pick.

• (Dmitri) You came pleading to me for the first two selections. You wanted something, you had to give something up.

• (P.R.) And why did you agree so readily? So you could dump South Carolina on us. I should have known the moment that Boris took the flutist, as delectable as it was – a white boy, a blond, when there was a Black boy available.

• (Khalid) We interrogated the other slaves we got from you and discovered that Rashid's boy had jumped overboard. And that it had tried to run away in the display hall in Mogadishu. You knew it was an unacceptable slave and you wanted to force us to take it.

• (Nikolai) This is ridiculous. You must –

• (Master) No, that much is true, Nikolai. But you had imposed rule changes on us – you ruined our plans for Round Five with your guillotine stunt -

• (Khalid) I think it must have been amusing.

• (Master) You made us look weak in front of our slaves. It was obvious we were playing by your tune and didn't know who to protect. Boris lost his top pick to that machine. No wonder he was angry. He blamed me and so stole my top pick.

• (Prince Regent) So Alexei was not your top pick. That should make it easier for you to surrender him.

I kept working on his shaft, not breaking any rhythm. I wondered if he expected me to lose concentration again with that revelation, but Wyoming had already broken that news to me on New Year's Eve.

• (Khalid) Then of course there was the betrayal at the swimming pool. You went back on your word and refused to sell Abdullah's boy back to us. And you wouldn't give us your boy, and you wouldn't give us Boris's boy. No – you had this great plan. You gave us your assistant, whom you knew would be unsuitable. Again, you pawned off on us an asset you wanted to get rid of.

• (Ruslan) Ilya was unsuitable? In what way?

• (Prince Regent) We don't need to go into that. It is enough to say that it is a failed slave.

• (Ruslan) Then bring him back and we'll compensate you at whatever fair market value is for his present condition.

• (a pause)

• (Ruslan) Your Majesty? Isn't that a reasonable request? We'll get an independent assessor in from IAMSO and he can evaluate how much Ilya would go for on the open market.

• (another pause)

• (Prince Regent) We can't do that.

• (Ruslan) Why not?

• (Prince Regent) An IAMSO assessor would discover that 4398 misbehaved. Its market value would be negligible.

• (Nikolai) Misbehaved? Misbehaved how, exactly?

• (Prince Regent) That is royal family business. 4398 is not the issue. My sons are the issue and so are the slaves you owe us. You will give us my sons and you will give us our slaves. All of them.

• (Dmitri) I think not.

• (Khalid) Do not underestimate us. My brother tends to get what he wants.

• (Nikolai) Not this time.

• (Khalid) Just watch. Brother, are you finished with that slave?

• (Prince Regent) I am losing interest, which is not the slave's fault.

And with that, he pulled away and dropped his robe to deny me access to his cock. Khalid followed suit, and then the Prince Regent stood.

• (Prince Regent) I am also losing interest in this conversation. We will attend your party tonight – all four of us. But we will not attend your dinner party. Have trays delivered to our rooms. Boy, come out from under the table.

I did.

• (P.R., to me) Where are my sons' rooms?

• Prince Abdullah is in the Peach Room, across from yours, Your Majesty. Prince Jamal is in the Lavender Room, next to it.

• (Khalid, to Master) Have you arranged for the wrestler?

• (Master) I have, Your Highness.

The wrestler? Rhody? Was Rhody to be at the party as well?

• (Khalid) Good. I intend to fuck its brains out. As your two slaves will have their brains fucked out of them once we get them to the palace.

• (Ruslan) He's still my slave, Khalid.

• (Khalid) You dare to call me `Khalid'?

• (Nikolai) It is kinder than what you deserve to be called.

• (Master) Gentlemen! Your Majesty, I apologize. My colleagues have forgotten their manners in the heat of the moment.

• (P.R.) It is more than manners, Dmitri. It is respect. But let us call a truce for this evening while we speak to my sons. We will go to the party and we will forget this conversation. But tomorrow, we will leave, with our sons and with compensation for our losses. There's a slave auction in Buenos Aires the week after next. Perhaps you can find replacements for your boys there.

The two of them left the room.

Nikolai muttered something in Russian. And then Master Ruslan said, in English: "Don't be too sure about that, Your Majesty. You think you hold all the cards, but you don't."

Master said something in Russian to Master Ruslan that sounded like a warning. Master Ruslan obviously wanted me to hear what he said, but I think Master was telling him he shouldn't have. I watched Master carefully for some sign of reassurance directed toward me, but there was none. He looked worried.

ALEXEI: SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, EARLY EVENING – VARIOUS ROOMS

During the next three hours, I was all over the place. As both Declan and Matti were assisting Henri in the kitchen, it was clearly going to be a large dinner party. I was to answer the door, attend to the guests' needs, and carry the trays to the four princes in their rooms. When that was finished, I was also to assist in serving the meal and washing dishes until it was time for the party.

One by one, I welcomed Semyon the Fat, Misha alias Mr. Clean, the German Horst, plus Yuri and Nurbek, which made sense if Rhody was to be part of the entertainment. I started counting cocks: in addition to the five Men I had admitted, there were ten Men living or working in the house, four princes, Tompkins, and Tcherepnin & Bobrovsky.

That made twenty-two. I wasn't sure whether Declan would be a `guest of honor' in the same way as Matti, Rhody and me, but with twenty-two men to service, I was hoping so. I wanted desperately to talk to Matti – even if we had to use the loophole and do it via Declan – but the only time we were together was while we were serving dinner, which obviously provided no opportunity for chat.

Before dinner was served to the guests, though, I had to take the trays to the four royals. On Downton Abbey, the servants learned to never knock before entering a room – you just walked in. That always struck me as rude. For slaves, it made a bit more sense; there was nothing we could witness or overhear that would ever be embarrassing to a Man, as we could never disseminate this information without being ordered to. It still felt uncomfortable barging into the room of the ruler of another country. But that's what I did, of course, placing the tray where he pointed it, before displaying for him.

As he had done in the Entrance Hall, the Prince Regent pushed me prostrate to the floor and planted his foot firmly on my ass.

• This is how we claim slaves as our own, boy. You are mine now, even if Dmitri doesn't accept it. If I give you an order, it supersedes anything he says to you – understood, boy?

• Yes, Your Majesty.

• (after kicking me hard in the ribs) You call me Master, boy! I am your fucking Master now, is that understood?

• (No, it is not) Yes, Master.

I can't call two men Master, especially if Master doesn't know he's not my Master. There was obviously a power struggle between Master and the Prince Regent, and I was the pawn in their chess match. Or was I in the role, ironically, of the king, whom they were both trying to capture? Too grand a role for a slave to take, I know, I should stick to being a pawn.

I wanted to report this to Master – or Master Ruslan – or (given how aggressive he was at the meeting) Nikolai. Somebody. Master should know what the Prince Regent had said. But he would have to ask before I could tell him.

The visit to Prince Khalid was even less comforting. He ordered me to spread my legs wide. Then he reached between them and grabbed my balls.

• Do you like these, boy?

• (okay, that was a question you never want to be asked) Yes, Your Highness.

• You may keep them.

• (Should I be grateful? And is this your decision anyway?)

• Until Monday.

• (What?)

• Then they are coming off. Not as punishment for you – by all reports you are an adequate slave – but as retribution for your current Master.

• (which is your brother, according to him, but anyway)

• And I am given to understand you have some fondness for 4387.

• (I didn't like where this was going.)

• I think I will have you kiss him on the lips. You will hold his head in your hands and kiss him. After it has been separated from the rest of his body. Would you like that, boy?

• No, Your Highness.

• Then perhaps we'll have you fuck his mouth instead. We'll invite you to his execution. It should be within the next week. And afterwards, we'll feed you some camel meat.

I didn't understand that last sentence, or why it seemed menacing. But that was the least of my worries.

The young princes, receiving their trays, both looked distressed, especially Prince Jamal. It seemed evident that their return to the palace – which they opposed – was tied to the palace taking ownership of myself and Matti, and to the violence Prince Khalid had promised to unleash on us. I wished I had some way of affecting the outcome of this power struggle, but I was powerless. There are aspects of being powerless that I have come to embrace – but this is not one of them. Having your very existence – or the existence of someone you care deeply about – hanging in the balance. And not a damn thing you can do about it.

Matti noticed my tears when I re-entered the kitchen. So did Henri, who tossed me a towel to dry them. He was too busy to pursue their cause, but he gave me a worried look.

When Henri wasn't looking, Matti mouthed "I love you, Cheesehead."

And then the tears started to flow again.

RUSLAN: SATURDAY, 28 JANUARY, EARLY EVENING – RUSLAN'S ROOM

• You're saying Plan Ruslan is in trouble because the Prince Regent is here?

• Big trouble, Nurbek.

• Let me get this straight. Prince Abdullah and his little brother show up yesterday. And the Prince Regent shows up today to get them back. And he demands to fuck Rodion at the party tonight, so Dmitri calls up Yuri and tells him to get our boy here tonight. Which is why I'm here.

• That's about it in a nutshell. Only it's Khalid who wants to fuck Rodion.

• Khalid? That's the evil brother.

• Well, there are two evil brothers, but he's the eviler.

• Why are the young princes here?

• Abdullah wants to try to get Matti back, only he wants to run away with him somewhere else and not go home because Matti would wind up on the dome. And Jamal – the younger brother – well, something happened and he's running away, too.

• So why is this a crisis? You don't want Matti as your slave anyway. You want Alexei. That's the whole point of Plan Ruslan, to get Alexei. So let them have Matti.

• Ah, but there's the rub. The Prince Regent is trying to bully Dmitri into giving him Alexei, as well as Matti. And I'm sorry, Nurbek, but there's no point in threatening to back out of LBM Europe if I can't use it as leverage to get Alexei. I'm not going to do it just to try to get you Rodion.

• Dmitri won't give in to him, will he?

• I don't know. They're pressing him hard. Remember, Dmitri hasn't committed to keeping Alexei and it just might be the easiest course of action to hand him over. Matti is needed here only to make Alexei more productive – without Alexei there's no need to keep Matti, so he might just bundle the pair of them off to the Middle East.

• What can be done about it?

• We have one card to play, and we have to play it. I need some help from Prince Abdullah – I think he'll agree. And there's a role in this for you – a small one, but maybe an important one.

• Me? Why me?

• Because you don't know the royals and they don't know you.

• I saw them briefly on the roof. They've seen me naked.

• The Prince Regent saw you naked. The others weren't there yet. And you never saw Jamal – that's the important thing. I want you to come a few minutes late to the party tonight – I'll text you when to come. And then, here's what I want you to do.

ALEXEI: SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, EVENING – PLAYROOM

There was no "carrying Alexei down to the playroom while whistling `We're Off to See the Wizard'" tonight. I was simply ordered to the playroom, along with Matti and Declan. I arrived there before the others, and was happy to see that it was already occupied - by 'the wrestler'.

• Rhody!

• Alexei! What a relief! I was afraid you'd been replaced.

• Why would you think that?

• There was another slave – a big guy, like one of the trusties we saw at the palace – who brought me my dinner and also set up the refreshments for the party.

• Oh, that's Declan.

• Who's Declan?

• I'll – it's complicated. I'm just happy to see you again. Do you know why you're here?

• Not a clue.

• The slave who brought your dinner – he's what you said he looked like: a trusty from the palace.

• Huh?

• The Prince Regent is here. And so is his brother Khalid, and Prince Abdullah and Jamal – that's the younger brother. Khalid specifically requested you.

• Your Master invited them all to the party?

• Not exactly.

Before I could explain, Matti entered, throwing Rhody into further shock.

• Matti! Omigod, Matti!

• Wow, Rhody! It's great to see you, dude! What are you doing here?

• I was going to ask you the same thing. But Alexei just told me Prince Abdullah was here, so I guess he brought you for the party – ?

• He's not my Master any more.

• What?!

• I live here now.

• What? How did that happen?

• It's a long story. The gist is, goodbye Royal Palace, hello St. Petersburg.

• That's great. So you are together? I'll be honest – I wish that Alexei loved me the way he loves you, but it makes me happy that the two of you can be together.

I started to explain that we'd only been together for a week, and were forbidden to talk to each other, so it was a little frustrating, when the door opened and a score of Men poured into the playroom. Literally a score of them. Declan entered as well, dutifully a few steps behind the Prince Regent.

Some of the Men headed straight for the refreshments, while others turned their attention to the slaves. Generally, it was the in-house personnel who headed for the vodka, and the guests, presented with slaves whom they didn't see every day, who went over to us.

Prince Abdullah headed straight for Matti, rubbing his hands lightly and lovingly over his torso and then his ass, as if massaging it. Catching eye of this, Khalid immediately tromped over and pushed him aside. He spit in Matti's face and then put his arms around Matti's neck, simulating choking him, ending the gesture by swinging his arm sideways so that his flat hand struck Matti in the side of the neck – the implication was clear. He was miming a blade beheading Matti.

Matti – bless his heart – grinned. Which only seemed to infuriate Khalid, who had wanted to intimidate Matti. Abdullah, observing this little scene, smiled and said something in Arabic. Khalid snarled, grabbed Matti's cock and simulated chopping it off as well. Abandoning Matti, he turned his attention to Rhody.

My attention was diverted when Semyon the Fat approached me and patted me on the cheek – the facial one – while someone else patted me on the cheek – the posterior one. A body pressed against me from behind and spoke to me sotto voce – I have no idea what was said, but it was clearly Bobrovsky who was whispering sweet Russian nothings in my ear. And then he poked sweet Russian fingers in my hole.

Meanwhile, Declan was being manhandled by Master's German friend Horst, whose erection could clearly be seen through his pants. "Now, THIS is the kind of slave I want," I heard him tell Master, "not the sort we'll get from Little Big Man Europe." I heard Master Ruslan advise him that he could always sell the boy he collected from LBM and buy a bigger slave.

And then Master Ruslan seemed to nod to somebody – I couldn't see because my view was partially blocked by Semyon French-kissing me (I do wish he'd use mouthwash).

RUSLAN: Dmitri set things in motion by starting to strip. Everyone got the idea and clothes started being shed with gusto, everyone anxious for a little action at the expense of the slaves. I nodded to Abdullah.

• (Abdullah) Declan, I left my flogger up in my room, on the dresser. Go fetch it for me.

• (Prince Regent) Abdullah, surely it can stay there. There are plenty of floggers here.

• (Abdullah) This is my favorite flogger. I'm sure there were plenty of floggers at the IAMSO Junior convention in Turkmenistan as well, but I packed my favorite and you didn't seem to object then.

Not really a good tactic, given that Abdullah had no intention of actually going to Turkmenistan, but his father merely rolled his eyes and nodded, and Declan went off in search of the flogger. Abdullah had placed it deep in a dresser drawer, not on top of it, so that Declan would have to hunt for it.

Dmitri announced the first activity, which was to suspend the slaves from the chains hanging from the ceiling. Lusty cheers went up from the crowd as Alexei, Matti, and Rhody were each attached to the wrist restraints and lifted off the floor. Then ankle restraints were attached to chains that bolted to the floor, pulling their legs wide apart and increasing the accessibility – and vulnerability - of their genitals.

By this time, everyone in the room was naked and, were it not for the fact that that the slaves were dangling from chains – and shaved smooth, you could not have told them from the participants.

Which was the point. It was then that, on cue, Nurbek entered.

• (Nurbek) Sorry I'm late. So looking forward to this – four slaves! Oh, you've only got three of them mounted.

He then approached Prince Jamal from behind and grabbed him around the waist.

• Ruslan, help me with this one? Let's get him up.

Now was the critical moment. Abdullah had wanted to key in Jamal as to what was going to happen. I was certain that if Jamal did what we told him to do, that it would look rehearsed and unnatural. If he was unaware of this development, his reaction would be completely spontaneous and convincing. I just kept my fingers crossed that my instincts about Jamal were correct.

They were. He not only failed to resist Nurbek, he raised his arms up to assist in the effort of being carried. And his face carried a big smile.

A towering voice thundered throughout the playroom, as if a bomb had exploded. It was, of course, the Prince Regent.

• (P.R.) You! What the hell are you doing?

• (Nurbek, releasing Jamal) I'm sorry, Your Majesty, did you wish to mount this slave yourself?

• (P.R.) You mistook my son for a slave? How dare you!

• (Nurbek) Your son? This is your son? I had no idea. I am quite horrified at my mistake, Your Majesty. I was told there would be four slaves. I saw only three and so I thought –

• (Khalid) Has he been shaved like a slave?

• (Nurbek) I approached him from behind, Your Highness. I couldn't see his pubic hair.

• (Nikolai) What there is of it.

• (Dmitri) A quite natural mistake, Your Majesty. Jamal is a similar size to the slaves.

• (Nikolai) Jamal didn't seem to resist much, did he?

That stopped the Prince Regent. It was Jamal's reaction – or lack of it – that probably angered the Prince Regent the most. There was a silence.

• (P.R.) Tomorrow is my son's sixteenth birthday. He is young, and immature. He overvalues courtesy and undervalues self-respect. He was merely being polite, not wishing to offend by resisting.

There was another silence, as the Prince Regent's explanation largely landed with a thud. And about to be shattered into pieces.

• (Jamal) It wasn't courtesy, Father. I thought it would be fun.

• (P.R.) What?!

• (Jamal) Can I, Father? Go up on the chains? Just to see what it feels like?

• (Khalid) Jamal. I understand what you are doing. You have doubtless heard that all slaveowners must undergo a Practicum in which they endure a short period of time as a slave. As your father has pointed out, tomorrow you will be sixteen, which means that you will have your own slave – a eunuch – in a year's time. Naturally, you want to learn how to be a slaveowner like these other fine men in the room. But, since your father officially owns all the slaves in the palace, you will not need to experience the practicum personally. You will get training from other means – the IAMSO Junior convention in Turkmenistan would have been a good source, had your brother not misdirected you here. But do not be concerned. We will make you into a competent Master. And tonight you will get some more experience in dealing with slaves. You will fuck all four of them.

There were four slaves in the room now; Declan had returned with Abdullah's flogger.

Khalid's quick thinking had, on the surface, given Jamal – and the Prince Regent – cover, although I was not certain how convincing it was to the others in the room. Only Jamal didn't want cover.

• (Jamal) No, uncle, I won't. I won't fuck any of them.

• (P.R., to the assembly) Excuse us for a moment.

He took Jamal aside, as Bobrovsky and Nikolai, assisted by an intrigued Horst, provided a moment of distraction by securing Declan to the chains and suspending him like the others. The Prince Regent and Jamal were talking quietly. The P.R. appeared to be opting for authoritarianism over persuasion – rarely an effective tactic with teenagers: Jamal's resistance was evident even if he wasn't saying much.

After a minute or two, Jamal left the room.

• (P.R.) I apologize for my son. The adolescent years are very difficult, and he has much to sort out. It is clear we need to be patient. I have sent him to his room to think about his responsibilities as a man. I will deal with the matter further after we return to the palace. And now, I think we have all of the slaves in position, let us enjoy them.

I cast a glance at Dmitri, and a glance at Abdullah, and smiled.

ALEXEI: It was quite a scene. I wished it hadn't played out while we were hanging from chains, as my arm muscles were getting strained during this father-son drama. Matti was keeping his eyes firmly on Abdullah, and so I did, too. It was hard to read the young prince's face – at various moments he seemed pleased, disgusted, and embarrassed. I tried to sort it out – he was, I think, disgusted that his little brother was refusing to fuck us, embarrassed that it was happening publicly, but also pleased that Jamal was defying his father.

But I had other things to worry about. Like my balls. The balls that Khalid had told me would be gone in forty-eight hours. If tonight's experience was all they were going to be used for in the future, I wouldn't miss them a great deal.

Across from each of us another chain dangled; suspended from it was a sphere the size of a baseball which appeared to be made of solid iron, like a cannonball. It was quite heavy, whatever it was. The game was for the contestants – twenty-one of them, now, with the young prince gone – to swing it back, and aim for our nuts, which were exposed and vulnerable after our legs were spread apart. Those that hit the target got a second go-round, until they failed. The shots that missed hit me on the thighs with enough force to be painful in themselves. The chains had been calibrated so that, if the angle was correct, they would score a direct hit on the testes. They landed with enough force and weight to cause me to see stars, and nearly provoke vomiting. Unfortunately, twelve of the twenty-one scored on their first attempt. Bobrovsky seemed good at this, and hit me eight times in a row, winning the competition for keeping his streak going the longest. His reward was to be first in line to fuck me, when it got to that phase of the evening. All in all, I took forty-one direct hits and I nearly lost consciousness.

As each contestant failed to hit my scrotum, he moved on to the next slave in line, which was Matti. Bobrovsky, having claimed first rights to my ass, didn't, as he was no longer in the competition for first rights to Matti. Which meant (a little unfairly) that Matti had only twenty contestants to face – and not the best one. He only took thirty-two hits on his balls, and Rhody and Declan even fewer.

Next, we were flogged, each man drawing a numbered ball out of a hat telling him how many strokes he was entitled to inflict. There were ten balls in the bag – two each stating 5, 10, 15, and 20 – a zero, and a 50. If you drew the zero, you got to draw two balls when you moved on to the next slave. And if you drew the 50, you were out of the game after administering them. They could choose their own implements and target areas of the body, except for the 50 (which couldn't be with a cane or a bullwhip) and the genitals, already having been bludgeoned enough, were not to be targeted. Again, they began with me. The Prince Regent drew a 5, and I was pleased that Khalid got a 0 until I realized that meant that he would get to draw two balls for flogging Matti. But Pyotr, Yuri, and Tcherepnin all drew 50, which meant lots of strokes for me, and three fewer assailants for Matti. Khalid was my only 0, and I wound up taking well over three hundred strokes – again, the most of anyone, and Declan got off the easiest.

Finally, came the fucking part of the festivities. The four of us were mounted into stocks, which, of course, put our heads at crotch height. A pecking order had been determined from the results of the previous competitions. This competition was similar to the familiar `two minute drill', in which the Men got to fuck us for two minutes and then make way for the next one. After your two minutes were up, you simply got in line somewhere else – you could choose the slave you wanted to fuck, and which end.

Matti, being a fresh `face' (translated: ass) to most guests, was popular and probably took the most cocks. Declan, being large, took the fewest, but I noticed that Master's friend Horst ignored the three smaller slaves to concentrate on the big trusty. Some Men focused on a single slave – Bobrovsky, once his two minutes of fucking my ass ended, simply moved to the end of the line behind me to fuck me again and again, and Khalid was concentrating his attentions on Rhody, though he did me once for good measure. Others were egalitarian (the Prince Regent among them) while several, including most of the household staff, simply chose whichever line was shortest – often opting for head rather than ass for that reason.

I noticed that Master Ruslan did not fuck me until after he had first taken Matti in both ends, and then turning his intentions to Declan and Rhody, before plowing his monster cock into my well-ravaged rectum. Was that a signal? Whereas Master raped my mouth then my ass before moving on to Matti. I wondered if he was getting in last licks before saying good-bye to me.

I don't think there was any kind of competition for this phase, or a predetermined time limit, but at some point, Master called out last fucks' and everyone just stayed within the slave they were plowing until they shot their load in either throat or bowels, and then the next man behind them did the same. Most had already cum earlier in the evening, but the call of last fucks' ensured that everyone got their rocks off before calling it a night.

It must have been well past midnight when they untied us and the guests slowly filed out. With the amount of alcohol that was consumed – and it had started to snow heavily during dinner time – I was wondering if the guests would be able to drive home safely – but that was their problem. The only way they could all stay over was if Master put two in a room. I was more concerned with where the slaves would wind up.

I presumed that Rhody would be sleeping with Yuri (and Nurbek?) in the Amber Room, where Master had decided to house him, Matti and I would be with our respective Masters, and Declan would go with the Prince Regent.

The Prince Regent had other ideas.

• (P.R., to me) You will come with me. (to Matti) You will attend to Prince Abdullah in his room. 3914 will go with my brother – he refuses to have you in his room. Understood?

• (Matti) Yes, Your Majesty.

• (P.R., to me) Understood, boy?

• Yes, Master. (He wasn't my Master, but he had ordered me to call him that, and my backside was sore enough as it was.)

Master, seeing this from across the room, broke off his conversation with Pyotr, and headed over to us.

• The four of you may stay in this room overnight, unless His Majesty needs you, Declan. Your Master has agreed to this, Rodion. There are two slings there you may sleep in – two of you will have to share. And, as it is now Sunday, you are permitted to speak to each other. Do you require Declan's services, Your Majesty?

Uh-oh. Power play going on.

• (referring to Rhody) I do not require this boy. I do require the others.

• I am sorry, Your Majesty, but I cannot lend Alexei to you. He needs to rest after this evening's entertainment, and I believe Matti's Master will say the same.

• (P.R., to Dmitri) Matti's master is speaking right now. And so is Alexei's. (to me) Boy, who is your Master?

• (oh shit oh shit oh shit) It is not for a slave to choose his Master, Master.

• (P.R.) See, he called me Master. Boy, am I not your Master?

• (take a deep breath and get it over with) No, Master, you are not my Master. Master is my Master.

• (Master) Then why do you call him Master?

• He ordered me to call him Master, Master.

• (Master) You are an obedient little bitch, aren't you, boy?

Despite his calling me a bitch, he was smiling when he said that. The two cardinal rules of slavery: always obey, and never lie to your Master. In this case, an oxymoron (`No, Master, you are not my Master') was my only way of following both dicta.

• (Master) So, Your Majesty, you ordered him to call you `Master'.

• (P.R.) He needs to get used to it. I'm taking him with me tomorrow. And 4387 as well.

• (Master) That remains to be seen. We will discuss it in the morning. The boys are staying here tonight.

• (P.R.) Very well, Dmitri. I'll let you win this round. Tonight doesn't matter. Tomorrow does. Come, boy.

The latter was to Declan, fortunately, not me. The Prince Regent gathered Prince Abdullah and Khalid with him – the latter looking major-league pissed – and calmly walked out of the room, Declan in tow. By now, the room had pretty much cleared out. Even Master Ruslan had gone, leaving with Yuri and Nurbek. The only ones left were Master, Nikolai, and Tcherepnin.

Master turned to me.

• We're going to win this, you know.

It was one of the few times he had ever said anything remotely reassuring about my future.

[COMING UP NEXT: CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN - SHOWDOWN]