Thalien

Thalien gave himself a long rest after his abuse at the hands of Valenn's gang, his sleep deep and dreamless. When he awoke and realized that his Raven teacher had not visited him that night, he felt puzzled, almost worried. It had happened before, but only very rarely. Thalien felt somehow hollow as he forced himself out into the gardens, and half-heartedly went through the routine of tending to the plants. His feelings already existed in the evening twilight, when he knew his Master would come for him.

Valsgav came at the time he initially promised. This time Thalien was waiting for him, and all but threw down his trimming shears and ran to greet him. Instead he tried to move with more restraint, especially since Valsgav's outward manner toward him had not changed a bit. His Master still came to him silently, and quietly lead him away toward his tower keep.

Instead of their usual meeting place in his master bedroom, Valsgav instead took him into a wholly different part of the tower. Thalien couldn't resist the urge to stare at the surroundings, as he'd never even been into this part of his Master's home before. The decor was still plain, but the rugs on the floor were thick and magical torches burned clean and bright in their sconces. The halls were lonely despite being so brightly lit, with no other slaves or humans moving about the area. It was strange to Thalien, as the tower had originally been constructed to play host to the elite knights of the Elven army. To see it relatively unoccupied despite its vast size made it feel enormously lonely.

Valsgav stopped when he came to a pair of richly carved oak doors, an addition of the human occupiers. They lead into what had once been the great Elven Tactical Library, full of the ancient military knowledge of a people that had once been far more fierce. Most of those scrolls had been moved or burned when the humans came, and Thalien could only imagine that most of the tomes in the new Library were from Valsgav's personal collection.

The front part of the room was dominated by fur rugs and a wide, low table, with thickly cushioned high-backed couches of the sort that humans favored arranged around it. Paintings of unfamiliar humans, tapestries, and hangings covered the rest of the walls. The great bookshelves set into the walls began at the rear of the room, where staircases wound upward toward a raised area. Books and scrolls, neatly arranged, stuffed the shelves. A fireplace was set into the center of the room, a stone chimney rising up from it to pierce the center of the room. To Thalien, after living humbly for so many months, the room seemed impossibly sumptuous. A basket of food was even sitting on the table, a bottle of wine and a loaf of bread sticking out of it slightly.

Valsgav paid no mind to Thalien's awed gawking. Instead he hung his cloak on a peg on the wall, then took off his sword-belt to hang beside it. He stretched his back muscles, rotating stiff shoulders. When he turned to face Thalien, it seemed almost as an afterthought. Thalien regarded him silently, wide-eyed, as if being in the great study somehow made his Master instantly more majestic.

At best, Valsgav seemed curious at Thalien's reaction. “You may speak now,” he said.

“Th-thank you, Master,” Thalien said. He felt like his Human speech was impossibly awkward, probably atrociously accented to Valsgav's ears.

“Hungry?” Valsgav asked. He began striding toward the couches.

“Oh... no, thank you, Master,” Thalien responded, following him.

“I had little appetite at Council today, so I shall sup as we talk.” Valsgav made a point of pouring out a cup of the wine for Thalien, who took it obediently.

The drink actually made Thalien a bit suspicious; human liquors were known primarily for strength. For an elf, even that one glass might be a bit much. Still, if his Master bade him drink then he would drink. He took the cup obediently and sipped a little. The flavor seemed impossibly deep and rich.

“I said I would talk about what was upsetting me,” Valsgav spoke as he heaped food on a nearby trencher. “In return, you must answer my questions honestly.”

“Alright,” Thalien agreed.

Valsgav eyed him for a moment, his gaze so piercing that Thalien wanted to shrink away from it. “Very well, then. The prime subject of discussion in council for the past three months has been the question of expansion.”

“Expansion...?”

“Expansion. Whether or not it is time to raise an army and begin planning further invasions into the elven territories. With Salthessen, we've taken a good third of your people's lands, but there's yet more that could be taken.”

Thalien stared. Hearing his Master speak in such a cold-blooded manner was jarring.

Valsgav continued. “Most men fall into one of two camps on the matter. Some of us feel it's best to dig deep and take a firmer hold on the lands we've taken before moving on. Others think we should strike now, while we've still got our original momentum, and your people are caught off-guard.”

“Which group is yours?” Thalien asked.

“The former. If we moved on now it would be pure greed, and our reach would outstrip our grasp,” Valsgav's answer came quickly, and with conviction. “Most of the men my age feel that way, but the younger lords... want to move on.”

Younger lords like Valenn, Thalien thought to himself. He wondered how intense the dislike between the two factions was. It must be terrible to have lead to talk of assassinations.

“It's hard. Most of us are fighting our sons, and no matter which faction prevails, it will be ugly. The diplomats among us are trying to arrange for a split in the armies, but that's no good either. Half our forces is too weak for reliable attack or defense.” Valsgav scowled at his trencher, brows knit with some kind of terrible emotion.

Thalien had no idea what to say. It was hard to feel sympathy, knowing that his own race was the one that lost no matter the decision the humans made. Still, it was hard not to feel something of nobility in his Master's struggle.

“What do you think will happen?” Thalien asked.

“I don't know... it's all coming to a head. The month is nearly out. The final vote at Council will likely be tomorrow,” Valsgav paused, then glanced up at Thalien. A shrewd light danced in his eyes. “What do you think I should do?”

Thalien shrank against the back of the couch he was seated at. His cup of wine shook slightly in his hands; half-empty already, and his body was beginning to feel loose and warm. What should he say? The truth? A polite lie? A lie that was to the elves' advantage? He had no idea.

Valsgav noticed his reluctance, and suddenly laughed. “Nothing to say?”

“I... I'm not sure I could say anything... meaningful, to you, Master,” Thalien replied. He could hear the timidity in his own voice. “I think your way is best for your people.”

Thalien's inner turmoil reflected in the depths of his eyes. Valsgav's demeanor sobered a bit. “Ah... but not for yours, of course. Or perhaps for you.” Valsgav's eyes became distant. “How you must hate us. Everything your people made, over gods know how long a time, and all we're fit to do is rape and ravage it.”

“Master...” Thalien set his goblet down and reached a hand out toward him. He was startled when Valsgav grabbed hold of his wrist.

“That's why they... why we prefer to keep you silent, you know,” Valsgav's eyes bored into Thalien's as he spoke. “Victims need not have voices. Most men would punish someone like you very harshly.” Valsgav's voice was thick.

It made Thalien feel breathless. “But you wouldn't. That's why I wanted to speak to you. You're a good Master,” Thalien said.

“'Good'. Compared to some men, I suppose.” Valsgav chuckled, but Thalien could also see something changing in his eyes. Carnal heat began to warm his Master's voice. “But I'm no different than the others. I see the beauty in you, and I want it for my own. It becomes an addiction...”

Thalien had to look away. His heart was pounding and he was afraid of embarrassing himself with the beginnings of an erection. “I've... rarely known what it's like to be wanted. I was of not great accomplishment among my people, I was reckoned weak and a common coward...”

“Your people are often foolish,” Valsgav moved closer to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. His voice was husky. Thalien could not avoid meeting his Master's eyes now, and as Valsgav drew closer, a kiss became inevitable. Valsgav's breath was sweet with alcohol, and his lips were lustful. Thalien felt as if his skin was on fire. His lips parted, allowing Valsgav's kiss to press more deeply into him. The other man's tongue twined with his. Words were forgotten and passion became their common language.

Valsgav did not move to tear Thalien's clothes away in his usual fevered silence. Instead he pulled away from Thalien, the two men gasping for breath. Valsgav grinned down at him. “And now what will you do?”

Thalien stared up at Valsgav for a moment, confused, shocked, still aroused. Perhaps it was the wine that made him so bold, or the force of his desire for Valsgav and his muscular form. Thalien found his shaking hands raise to the buttons of his shirt. Slowly, his mouth half-open and panting with lust, he began to undo them. His eyes remained on Valsgav's the entire time, locked in heat as the rough-spun cloth slowly slid away from his body. He could hear Valsgav's breathing become heavier.

Thalien knew what had to come next. His hands slid down over his own chest, the lines more defined after his time in training with the Raven. Thalien leaned back on the couch as he did this, simultaneously lifting his hips and spreading his legs apart. The pose itself felt so wanton to Thalien that his cheeks burned; his cock was already erect, its outline unmistakable against the front of his loose breeches. Valsgav's eyes strayed from his to drink in the view of his beloved slave's body, framed for his lusts.

Thalien moved his hands down to his fly and undid the simple rope and button clasp that held it closed. His erection bobbed free as he moved the cloth aside from himself, its base crowned by a shade of blond hair. Valsgav sucked in a deep breath; Thalien was so aroused he dimly feared he might climax simply from the act of disrobing himself before his Master, of his own will. He moaned softly as he pulled his pants down, freeing first one trim leg and then another. As he finished, he tossed the cloth aside.

Freed of his clothing and all sense of propriety, he flashed his Master a smile dusky with drink and desire. Thalien arched his back so he could tilt his hips upward further, every muscle along his legs and abdomen flexing. With his legs spread so wide, every detail of his erect cock and the roundness of his testicles was displayed, and Thalien could almost feel Valsgav's eyes trail beyond across his perineum and to the cleft of flesh where his rosebud nestled.

Valsgav sat back on his haunches, eyes alight with eagerness. His hands flew to remove his heavy tunic and loosen his fly, so his own thick erection could bounce free. “Such a view...”

Thalien was almost giddy with the rush of sexual power. He ran a finger down to the tip of his cock, letting it rest lightly there. “Do I please you, Master?”

“So much, too much!” Valsgav was atop him in an instant, his own erection sliding over Thalien's. The contact of velvety flesh against velvety flesh was a shock of pleasure wholly new and unexpected to Thalien. Valsgav's grin grew wider as he heard a demure gasp of ecstasy escape Thalien's throat. “Such naughty elves will bring naught but trouble to themselves...”

A short cry escaped Thalien's throat as Valsgav's hands seized his thighs. He felt his hips raised even farther, into a position that would have been impossible if not for his Master's tremendous strength. Valsgav's short beard brushed Thalien's thighs as the human began slathering his slave's pale, soft thighs with kisses. It was a sensation Thalien had never felt before, and he found himself making all sorts of wanton noises he would not dare allow himself in the presence of any other human. His flesh there was so sensitive that Valsgav's attentions elicited paroxysms of pleasure, heightened by the tension his position put on his black muscles.

Valsgav's throat hummed with pleasure as he gazed down at his beloved's face, contorted in new, all-consuming sensation. Valsgav continued kissing Thalien's thighs until his lips brushed the elf's perineum, and then he drew still further down. Thalien emitted a shrill cry as he felt his Master's tongue begin to gently probe his rosebud, and his Master's hot breath against his soft testicles.

“Master! You, you....” Thalien's attempt to speak dissolved into the incoherence of shaking passion. He could feel his Master's thick, human tongue probing his rosebud, slicking it with saliva. The sensation was somehow shatteringly intense despite the gentleness of Valsgav's ministrations. Thalien's hands knotted the fabric of the couch, and he tossed his head back and forth. His breath was short, he felt he was going mad with need. “Master! Master!”

Valsgav's tongue pleasured his slave as deeply and as long as he could bear. Precum had pearled at the tip of Thalien's purpling erection by the time Valsgav drew his mouth away and wiped his lips. Thalien looked up at him and knew his eyes were burning for his Master, begging him for more. Even Thalien's hands crept up to Valsgav's thick and heavy erection, stroking it, cradling it. “I want it, I want it from you, only you...” Thalien's voice was husky, a purr. “You're so beautiful, so big, no one else compares to my Master.”

“You will be mine? Mine forever, given of your own heart?” Valsgav breathed, watching Thalien's stroking fingers play about his cock. “Mine to use, to pleasure, to...”

“Love,” Thalien's hand gave Valsgav's shaft a tender caress. “I will love you so long as my heart endures...”

“... yes! Yes, I will have you, I will love you, so long as your love is mine and mine alone,” Valsgav whispered. His hands groped at Thalien's slippery thighs, lifting them again.

Thalien moved his hands to the back of the couch, bracing himself to receive his Master. “Yes! Ahh {Serradin}, {Koleniel}, take me, please, I need you... I need it...”

“All of it,” Valsgav growled. He guided his erection to Thalien's slippery ring, and pushed his cock's head inward.

Thalien let out a cry, his muscles pulsing against the magnificent shaft that was burying itself within him. “All of it!”

In all of the many times Thalien and Valsgav had been together, Thalien had never felt so spread open, so completely penetrated and suffused by his Master's presence. Slow and careful, Valsgav inched forward until his erection slipped fully into the begging embrace of Thalien's body. Thalien was nearly out of his mind with pleasure already; he had no idea how long he would last.

“So soft...” Valsgav muttered, drawing his hips back smoothly as silk, then pressing them forward with a warrior's power. “So soft...”

Thalien cried out, lust electrifying his body. His skin was flushed, his nipples erect. Valsgav thrust into him again, harder, as if so moved by the site that he could no longer control himself. Thalien's seed spilled a thin trail down onto his taught abdomen.

Master and slave moved together with the grace and desperation of newlywed lovers. Valsgav let out a guttural cry after the first minutes and pitched himself forward, wrapping his arms around Thalien's waist and hips. He pulled backwards, moving himself into a seated position, and pulling his slave forward into his lap. Thalien's eyes were wide and his head pitched over Valsgav's shoulder; somehow this allowed his Master to take him even more completely.

“Make love to me,” Valsgav said. His voice was stern and thick, but it was not a command. Thalien gazed into his eyes for a moment, then threw himself forward to kiss his Master as deeply as he could manage. He rocked his hips up and down, his muscles tensing and flexing against Valsgav's velvet-soft steel inside of him. The taut slap of flesh against flesh and the moist aroma of sex filled the room.

Thalien pitched himself first forward, and then back. He pitched his weight onto his hands, Valsgav supporting him with a grip as sure as steel about his hips. Their exertions built into frenzy, Thalien able to bring himself down on Valsgav with ever-increasing force. Orgasm game to him with the swiftness and power of thunder itself, his seed spilling forth in his frenzy to cover his own chest and stain the couch's fur covering with tiny droplets. As the power left Thalien's arms, already nearly numb and aching, Valsgav pitched forward and sated himself with a few final, powerful thrusts. The dark hairs on his body gleamed with sweat.

This time Thalien was not rushed from his Master's sight. Valsgav slid to his side on the great couch, cradling his slave's slimmer frame in his arms. Thalien was half-insensate with pleasure and joy, resting his head upon his Master's powerful chest. Valsgav stroked Thalien's hair and murmured words of the human language that Thalien could barely understand in his present state of mind. The ones that were coherent thrilled and comforted him, though. “Forever mine... no matter what happens...”

So Thalien was allowed to spend the night in his beloved Master's arms, knowing contentment and security for the first time since the fall of Salthessen. The troubles he had discussed with his Master sooner in the night had fled a thousand miles from his mind. The world had fallen away, and only the perfect unity of his and his Master's naked bodies existed to him. If he had been mindful of such things as politics, he might have paid more heed to the tightness of Valsgav's grip about his shoulders, and the quiet desperation its steel belied.