Rose Colored Blindfold

Rose Colored Blindfold Rose Colored Blindfold   By Amanda and Tenchi Kaze     Chapter Five   Machiavellia trudged out into the night, walking through the mud with a determined expression set on her face. She reached the end of the long dirt path to the manor in minutes, spotting the guards who were always posted there, keeping watch. She swallowed her anger, walking up to them both with an anguished look. "Oh, sirs! Sirs, I have just seen the most horrible thing! Sinners, sinners have invaded the manor... sodomites are in that very house!"   The guards turned immediately at this, surprised by the sudden announcement. "What do you mean, Miss? Where are the sinners?" one of the guards asked once Machiavellia had come closer to them.   "Oh!" Machiavellia replied, faking a swoon. She started to make up part of the story as she went. "It's the Master Itiel, and a young man... I am a new servant, you see, and I was just walking in to check on him... and they were engaging in sodomite behavior, both of them! Everyone knows that that is a crime above all crimes, and that they must be caught immediately! They pose a danger to everyone!"   "The master?" the other guard asked, genuinely puzzled. "If this is true... that means that the boy must be his victim. He is preying on the young oneat hat he can get..." He shook his head. "Miss, we shall immediately put him under arrest. This cannot be allowed to go on."   The woman bit her lip. She had wanted to get Raquel pinned as a sodomite along with Itiel, but to some extent it would be more satisfying to have him be a victim. 'He'll be the first witness to Itiel's death at the stake,' she thought, grinning a little and quickly hiding it behind her hand.   The first guard nodded in agreement. "It makes me sick to think that he would fly in the face of God so recklessly. Don't worry, Miss. We will make sure that he is justly punished."   "Thank you, kind sirs!" Machiavellia replied with an honest smile. "Please hurry! I tremble to think what might be happening!" She watched the guards set off at a run for the manor, smiling as she stood on the path. 'Your punishment is coming, Itiel...'   ******   Meanwhile, back in Itiel's chambers, the two lovers still lay in the comfort of each other's arms. Itiel sighed peacefully, nuzzling Raquel's hair. "This has most definitely been one of the best nights of my entire life..."   "I think I've been living only for this," Raquel replied, smiling. "Somehow, I had a feeling that I should stay with you, and it's turned out better than I ever imagined."   "I don't know how I ever lived without you," said Itiel, hugging Raquel closer. "Everything else I'd felt in my life after my father died and before I met you seems pointless now."   Raquel curled into the delicate curves of Itiel's . "P. "Perhaps you were living for right now, too," he said with a chuckle.   Itiel laughed softly. "That sounds about right," he replied with a smile. "And if that's true, I don't ever want right now to end." "And neither do I..." Raquel lifted his head, lips parted in anticipation of a kiss.   Itiel leaned down, happily ready to oblige. Their faces drifted closer and closer, their lips just about to touch–   "Open up!" shouted a loud, gruff voice from outside the door. There was the sound of pounding on the wooden surface, two people trying to break down the door. "Come out, sodomite!"   "Itiel?" Raquel asked fearfully, pulling the sheets up around them. "What's going on?!"   "I don't know!" said Itiel, voice full of shock and fear as well. "I think you should hide, though. Somewhere, anywhere!"   The boy kicked free of the sheets, slipping off the bed and padding around the room, terrified. He finally ducked behind a large wardrobe in the corner, saying urgently, "You're going to hide too, aren't you?!"   "Yes, I am," he said quickly, also getting off the bed, looking around until he finally decided that he would go under the bed. However, just as he was almost underneath, the door finally broke open, and two guards that normally guarded the borders of Itiel's land burst inside.   "There he is!" one of them cried, running to the bed and taking a hold of Itiel's ankle. "You can't get away. We know what you were doing, sodomite." He roughly pulled Itiel from under the bed. "Where's that boy you were giving your horrible ministrations to?" Itiel bit his lip, knowing when he was beat. There was no way he could run now, not when he was halfway under a rather tight space. "He's not here!" he said, not moving from where he was.   "No, Itiel..." the blind boy whispered from his place behind the wardrobe, squeezing his eyes shut.   "Not here, huh? We'll see about that," growled the other guard, standing to look around the room while the first guard took care of Itiel.   'Please God, don't let him find Raquel...' prayed Itiel in his mind over and over. He didn't know what good praying to God when he was being caught for betraying Him at the same time, but it was all he could do.   Raquel hunkered lower in his hiding place, starting to panic. He tried to remain calm as the guard's footsteps came closer and closer.   The guard's head darted to and fro, eyes peeled for any sign of the boy. Reaching forward, he grabbed the handle of the wardrobe and flung it open, a scowl on his face when he saw that nobody was there. He searched in several other places, but somehow, managed to avoid discovering the boy.   The boy breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the man walk away from the wardrobe, but immediately, worry gripped him again. 'Itiel... what are they going to do to him?' he wondered.   "It appears he is telling the truth," the guard told his partner, helping him to bring Itiel into a standing position, holding the brown-haired man's arms behind his back.   Itiel was relieved that Raquel hadn't been found, but at the same time, his was filled with fear and anxiety like never before. 'What happens next?...'   Raquel battled with his feelings, debating whether to jump out of hiding and yell to the guards, or to stay put. 'Itiel told me to hide,' he told himself finally. 'I have to do what he says!'   "Where are you going to take me?" Itiel asked, no small amount in his voice of his dread of hearing the answer.   "Don't you know? You'll be thrown in the dungeons for a while," one of the guards explained. "And when we've warned all of the townspeople about you, you'll be taken out and there will be a public execution. You will burn at the stake for your sins."   Itiel winced very visibly. He had been expecting this sort of answer, but it still hit him like a kick to the gut all the same. He was silent, not facing either of the guards, because no man likes for other people to see him cry.   'They're going to kill him!' Raquel's hands flew to his mouth, tears brimming in his eyes. 'No, oh no, this can't be... I don't want him to die!...'   "Come on," said a guard gruffly, jerking Itiel in front of them and making him walk with them.   'Itiel...' Raquel buried his head in his hands, sniffling quietly. 'Oh... God, how could you do this? How can you let them take him away?'   Several times, Itiel considered struggling; considered pulling, kicking, and biting at his captors until they let go. However, he knew he couldn't do this. He was tired after what he and Raquel had done, the manor had many dead ends, and the guards looked both strong and fast enough to catch him if he broke away for even a second. 'What good would getting away for a few seconds do?' Itiel thought, continuing to walk.   "Come on," the guard muttered, roughly pulling Itiel along. "You're going with others like you... where you belong."   Itiel muttered softly, "What will you do to Raquel if you find him?..."   "Is that what his name is? From what the witness told us, he's just a boy. Someone easy for you to victimize." The guard looked sternly at Itiel. "We will take care of him, and keep him safe. One thing's for sure, you'll never see him again. I doubt he'd want to see you, anyway, after what you've done to him."   As much as the words "never see him again" hit Itiel, another word in the sentence caught his attention even more. "Witness?" he blurted out.   "A new servant of yours," came the reply. "She was absolutely shocked. I can't blame her... her first time here and she sees you sodomizing a boy, practically a child!"   "New servant? But I didn't–" Itiel's words were cut short as he realized who this 'new servant' must have been. He growled low in his throat, an image of the haughty Italian woman in his mind.   "She wanted to be sure that your punishment would come swiftly. I'm sure that your... Raquel hopes so, too."   Itiel was again silent, not saying a word as they trudged down the hallways and towards the door of the main hall. As the exited the manor, though, Itiel saw something on the path ahead of them out of the corner of his eye. Or rather, someone.   Machiavellia stood to one side of the path, watching with keen eyes as Itiel was marched by her. She smirked coldly at him, mouthing "I hope you enjoyed it" before murmuring, "You're going to burn for it."   Itiel watched her over her shoulder, shooting a dirty look towards her until she was finally out of sight.   ******   When he deemed it safe enough, Raquel crawled out from his hiding place, rushing to the door of Itiel's chamber and listening for any signs of the guards. When he heard nothing, he started for the manor doors. "I have to find him... I can't let him die," he said to himself. "I don't care how hard it is!"   Raquel exited the manor, cool night air blowing his hair into his eyes. He started down the path, using instinct to guide him as he made his way in the dark toward the town.   ******   It took less time than Itiel had imagined for them to reach an underground dungeon near the town. And even less time for the two guards to shove him into a cell and slam the door behind him, locking it tightly. "Ugh," he moaned, sitting up and rubbing his head. The men had thrown him to the floor quite hard.   A voice from a cell across from Itiel called out to him. "Never thought I'd see you here." Cold, mocking laughter followed the words, and a familiar face pressed itself to the bars.   Itiel stiffened in instant recognition. 'Oh God, no...' He turned around, facing the man across from him. Sure enough, there was Gavin, leaning against the bars of his cell and leering at him.   "Surprising, that you'd be thrown into the same dungeon as me," Gavin replied. "They caught me with another of my slave boys today... prettier than the one you took from me, I might add. I had my fun with him before they got me, so it's no loss on my part. What did you do to end up here?"   "I fell in love," said Itiel bitterly, leaning against the wall of his cell, his eyes to the floor. "And now I'm going to be burned for that."   Gavin giggled, his eyes growing narrow. "It was... him, wasn't it? That boy..." His giggles turned into laughter; loud, rasping chortles. "I don't blame you. He has a body on him... And he screams so wonderfully when you've got him down on a bed..."   "That's not why!" Itiel near shouted, hands balling into fists. "I don't love him for just the physical aspect, and definitely not the kind of physical you're talking about," he said, still refusing to look Gavin in the eyes.   "You just don't want to admit that you liked it. You were in him, weren't you? How was it?" Gavin sneered at him. "Tight, warm... Just thinking about it..." He licked his lips.   Itiel couldn't help it, but his cheeks turned red when he thought about it. "I'll admit, I did like it. It was better than any I've had from any other... Still, there's more about him that I like that just that! He's honest, affectionate, determined, loyal, imaginative, gentle..." Itiel's words trailed off, beginning to miss Raquel even more than he was already by talking about him.   "That's all good... but I consider that kind of thing to be of secondary importance." Gavin drew away from the bars, smiling at Itiel. "And I'm sure that's what they're saying about you... sodomite."   "I think I'm starting to get sick of that word," mumbled Itiel, also turning away from the bars of his cell.   "Get used to it. You'll be hearing it in Hell." With that, Gavin turned away, falling silent.   "Same for you..." Itiel laid down on the cold stone floor, instinctively curling into a ball to keep himself warm.   ******   A few mornings later, Itiel awoke in the same position he had fallen asleep in every night since his imprisonment, blinking his eyes open reluctantly at the sound of his cell door being unlocked. "Huhn?" he mumbled, pushing himself up into a sitting position.   One of the guards came into his cell, roughly yanking Itiel to his feet and slamming him against the cell wall. "Come with me. And go quickly. We can't keep the people waiting." He pulled Itiel away from the wall, snarling. "Today is your last on this Earth, sodomite. You'll be seeing Hell soon enough."   Itiel hit the wall with a short cry, keeping his gaze away from the guard's as the man spoke to him. As he was pulled after the guard, he muttered sarcastically, "Thank you for stating the obvious..."   "Shut up!" the man replied, slapping Itiel across the face. "You have no right to speak that way. The same thing happened with the other one across from you... he's already at the stake, awaiting death." He pulled roughly on Itiel's arm as he led him out of the dungeon into a crowded square-- the marketplace. "Hurry up."   However, rather than hurrying, Itiel stopped, feet planted firmly on the ground. "I would rather not hurry."   The guard delivered a sharp blow to Itiel's stomach in response, nearly doubling the man over. "You're going to COME! And that's final!"   "...Or you'll what?" Itiel said after recovering from the blow, wobbling to his feet. "How could it be worse? I'm already fated to die a slow, horrible death, what can you say or do that will make me make your job any easier?" he hissed.   "We could find that boy and force him to watch," the guard replied, clearly threatening him. "You'd get to see his face now... and as the fire consumes you."   Itiel's eyes widened, stepping backward. "You're bluffing. You couldn't find him before, how would you find him now?"   "We'll find a way, believe me," the man said. "I can tell by the look on your face. You know that my threat is very much real." He yanked Itiel's arm again. "So... do you move, or do we have to look for... Raquel?"   "...I move," Itiel grumbled, walking with the guard, though making an effort to walk with the least amount of speed the guard would allow him.   Eventually, they reached an open area in the middle of the crowd, where two piles of sticks were set up, large stakes planted in the middle of them. Gavin was already tied to one, and he watched with interest as the guard pushed Itiel up against the stake. A few other guards joined in, helping the first to tie Itiel down with long lengths of rope.   "We're both going to die," Gavin hissed, laughing at Itiel. "Both of us, sinnerssss... we're going to burn together forever..."   "Ugh, believe me, the burning forever part isn't bothering me nearly as much as the being together with you part is," Itiel snapped at Gavin.   "Ehehehe..." Gavin continued to chuckle, his eyes wide and fathomless. "Still such a foo--" He stopped speaking suddenly, staring straight ahead at something that only he could see, at least for the moment. A smile broke out on his lips, obscenely wide. "...You've come to see it, too..." He turned to Itiel, still grinning. "He's come to watch."   "Huh?" Itiel's head jerked up suddenly, squinting in the morning sunlight as he attempted to look where Gavin was looking. 'Oh no...' he thought, heart nearly stopping in that moment. 'He's going to hear everything; the flames crackling, the crowd cheering, my agonizing screams... everything!'   Raquel was making his way through the crowd, a determined expression on his face. He seemed a little out of breath, as if he had traveled for daysen hen he reached one of the guards, he whispered something in his ear, looking completely serious. The guard nodded, then held up a hand to silence the restless people gathered around.   "This boy is the victim of this sodomite," he announced, pointing to Itiel. "The victim wishes to speak with his abuser, to tell him his feelings before he is executed. I will grant him this. Everyone, be silent while he speaks to this man."   'At least I'll have a chance to say goodbye...' Itiel thought sadly, his eyes fixed on Raquel as the blind boy made his way toward the stakes.   Raquel walked until his feet bumped the sticks surrounding Itiel's stake, his sightless eyes gazing up at the man tied to it. He drew close, close enough for Itiel to feel his breath on his skin. Then he wandered around behind the man, one hand at his side, the other reaching up and towards Itiel's throat. He held it inches away, as if ready to choke him. Instead of doing that, he said something, his voice loud enough for the entire crowd to hear. "...I hate you."