Kari groggily registered muted voices but was still too deep in the clutches of sleep to understand what was being said.
Sleep had taken a long time to come last night, and he was unsure how long he had lain awake with his thoughts swirling around in his head. It made whatever time it was feel extremely early, though.
A hand gently shook his shoulder and he grumbled, curling into himself to escape the prospect of getting up. It was unfortunately persistent. The voices were more distinct now but Kari’s foggy mind still couldn’t decipher the speech. After a few more unsuccessful tries, the hands gave up on shaking him and pulled him, albeit gently, sheets and all, to the edge of the bed. He was manhandled out of bed and into a standing position.
He swayed drunkenly on his feet in his sleepy state, far too out of it to be bothered about his lack of modesty as the bedding was removed. He vaguely registered hands moving across various parts of his body but they were gentle and the touches were fleeting.
Kari careened heavily to the side, only to be propped up against someone, and felt his head dropping down further. Thankfully, whatever was happening was over soon enough and he was helped back to bed. He eagerly cuddled into the soft blankets and this time, sleep overtook his mind quickly.
*****
The next time he heard voices, he was awake but had been drifting on the edge of a comfortable drowsiness. Kari popped his head out from where it had been buried in the blankets and looked around the room.
There was more light than last night but the room was still dim. It looked much the same from where he lay in the middle of the massive bed and he flopped back down to rub the sleep from his eyes.
The door opened and two male betas walked in. One he recognized from the night before; the disgruntled man that had led them into the manor whom Ryedir had referred to as his steward. The other who followed seemed younger, closer to Kari’s age, with dark hair and dark eyes. More importantly, the younger man carried a large tray filled with delicious smelling food. Kari sat up eagerly, hoping the food was for him considering he was the only other person in the room.
“So, you are awake this time.” The older man spoke, sounding just as grumpy as his frown suggested. Kari blinked in confusion until the younger beta elaborated with a grin.
“We came to get you measured earlier, but you were completely out of it. Master had to pull you out of bed and prop you up until the measuring is done,” he said with a laugh as he sat the tray down on the edge of the bed. The tray had little legs that held it up off the bed and was loaded up with a colourful fare.
Kari eagerly crawled closer to see what was on there. Most of it appeared to be different fruits cut into bite sized pieces but there was also what appeared to be bread, a few different types of pastries, and a selection of dips. He didn’t recognize most of what was on the tray but it looked delicious, nonetheless.
Kari sat next to the tray, sheets carefully wrapped around his waist, and reached a hand out to take a piece before halting. “Uhh… Is this for me?”
The younger man that had been carrying the tray smiled and nodded but it was the older, grumpy man who answered.
“Yes. We have been informed that you were gravely injured and still need a great deal of rest and wholesome food.” The man’s dark eyes raked over Kari’s frame and the frown on his face clearly showed what he thought of Kari’s appearance. “Although I am unsure why His Highness would pay money for a slave in such condition. Even more odd is Oran selling someone in such poor condition. It would look badly on him in court if this were known.”
Kari scoffed and reached out to grab a slice of apple, it was one of the few things on the tray he recognized. “I’m pretty sure that has more to do with him not buying me, I was a gift,” he muttered before munching down on the apple. He groaned in pleasure at the sheer freshness of it. Having been in the army for so many months, fresh food of any description was scarce.
He spent a few moments just savoring the sweet crispness of the apple slice before eagerly reaching for another. He ignored the amused look the young man shot him and chose a pinkish coloured fruit off the tray. He groaned even louder in pleasure at the juicy sweetness that assaulted his taste buds.
“What is that?!”
“A strawberry,” the amused beta answered.
“What about that one?” Kari pointed to a fleshy looking, orange coloured slice.
“Mango.”
He let out another moan of pleasure at the taste of the mango.
They continued like that, he would point at something and the other man would name it until Kari had sampled one of everything on the tray. Mango, he decided, was good enough to be a reason for living all on its own.
Still happily munching away, Kari glanced up at the older man he now mentally referred to as ‘the grumpy one’. He watched Kari eat with an odd expression on his face, almost a kind of perplexed bewilderment. Catching the omega’s look, he seemed to come back to himself and straightened up, expression schooling back into a frown.
“I am Trois Morse, Prince Lezzker’s steward. As such, I oversee the running of the manor and this household’s staff, among other things. I have been informed that you will be on light duties until our resident healer approves otherwise and will have time for rest during the day if required. While you are his personal pleasure slave, you are still expected to follow the same code of conduct around the manor as the rest of us. Any complaints about any of the household are to come to me. Do you understand?”
His tone was stiff and formal and he seemed to be trying to glare a hole into Kari’s body the longer he didn’t reply. The omega nodded and the man seemed to relax ever so slightly.
“This is Nevis.” He gestured to the young man who had carried the tray, and the beta waved in greeting. “He is another of His Highness’s slaves and you will help him with his daily tasks for now. He is the prince’s personal attendant and looks after his rooms, clothing, food, and general errands as required.”
Kari nodded again, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. His Highness this, Prince that.
Looks like he wouldn’t be able to escape the alpha even when they weren’t in the same room. All he wanted to do was something that meant he didn’t have to think about the events from yesterday and the choice he had been given. Yet if the beta kept blathering on and mentioning his name, then there would be no escape.
Trois seemed to sense Kari’s internal insolence and narrowed his eyes at him. Kari just stared back defiantly and continued to demolish the food off the tray. The steward turned to the other slave, Nevis, and asked him to fetch something from the other room before turning back to Kari.
“I have been informed that you are completely untrained and Aithyeans have no slaves, so you are unaware how to act. However, I would have expected you to have some level of self-preservation and cautiousness that would dictate that you show a certain level of respect to others. In other households, pleasure slaves are often favored and can laze about all day doing nothing but looking pretty but that is not the case here. His Highness values usefulness highly and everyone works for their meals.”
Kari continued to stare back, refusing to back down. He didn’t ask for any of this and there was no way in hell he was going to posture himself in front of this grumpy old beta.
“I may not be able to beat you like other households allow, but make no mistake, I can be very creative with my punishments if you don’t learn some respect for your elders.”
Kari opened his mouth to give an angry reply but was interrupted by the return of Nevis who carried a large chest. He snapped his mouth shut and looked away. Getting into a fight on the first day here just because a stuck-up old bat rubbed him the wrong way was not a good idea. He might not have a choice in all this but that doesn’t mean he should make it worse for himself.
Anger at the whole situation loomed over his mind and threatened to overwhelm him again. It completely soured the sweet taste of breakfast in his mouth and he kept his eyes downcast this time. Ryedir seemed to let him away get with talking back last night and now Trois had said he wasn’t allowed to beat him physically but that didn’t mean he would get off lightly if he did something they didn’t like. He was property, he reminded himself with distaste, and he needed to be careful until he knew the rules.
Nevis sat the chest on the ground and opened the lid. The wooden paneling of the chest was surprisingly thin, which must be how he could carry such a large object on his own. Kari could see various colors and types of fabrics inside. He didn’t have to wonder what they were for long as the grumpy one spoke again.
“This morning you were measured by the tailor and this will be your new wardrobe as befitting of your new station. There are clothes here for both around the manor and for more formal occasions, including visiting the town's markets.”
Kari’s head jerked up. “Visiting the town?! You mean I can leave here?”