On Love’s Wings copyright c. 2016 T.A. Chase
Part Eight-
He’d seen some of the whores chose that instead of working at the Loving Houses. They seemed happy, but he wasn’t sure it made that big of difference. They were still selling their bodies and they were totally dependent on the good will of the men who supported them. If those men chose to throw them back out on the streets, the whores couldn’t do anything about it.
He thought there should be some kind of contract signed by both parties, so the whore knew he wouldn’t be used then tossed aside when he was no longer young and pretty. It made sense to him, yet what did he know? He was just a stupid bit of ass without any kind of education.
Miataga shook his head slightly. He couldn’t buy into the insults and common beliefs of the men who used him. He was more than what he did for a living. More than what society said he had to be. If he believed what they said, he would end up being no better than his mother, and that wasn’t what he wanted out of his life.
“Are you warm enough?” Ari asked, touching Miataga’s shoulder.
“Yes,” he replied.
Ari seemed different all ready and it intrigued Miataga. He seemed genuinely concerned for Miataga, and not as something to be used, but as a real person. A thought crossed his mind.
“How did you convince my master to let me go for so long?” Normally, the whores weren’t allowed to leave the Houses with their customers. Well, not unless the customer was wealthy—or powerful—enough to give the master some kind of incentive.
“I told him who I was and that I needed a companion on a trip. He named a price. I paid it.” Ari shrugged. “It’s not like I don’t have the money. I don’t spend any of my pay. It goes into an account every month.”
“You don’t send any home?”
Some of the whores sent their families what little extra money they make from tips, which wasn’t much, but still it helped when money was tight everywhere. Miataga saved his tips, hoping to have enough one day to buy his freedom. It was a silly dream since none of the whores had ever been able to buy off the debt the master said they had. Freedom was a carrot the masters dangled in front of them to keep them working while they made more money than they could ever spend.
“No.” Ari’s tone was clipped then he sighed. “They don’t want my money. It’s tainted because it comes from Emmem. In many ways, my people see you as the enemy still, even though the treaty was signed years ago.”
Miataga remembered hearing about the war with the countries to the west, which included the mountains where Ari was from. Being locked away, he didn’t know much about what happened and only got bits and pieces from the people who paid for his services.
“Did you fight in that war?”
Ari shook his head. “No, even though Vikex and I are a formidable weapon, I told my superiors I wouldn’t fight against my own people. They assigned us to patrol the northern borders. We had quite a few skirmishes, but no true battles.”
Curiosity played in Miataga’s brain, but he bit his tongue. Not prying into his clients’ lives was something Miataga had been taught. Unless the person was a high-ranking official and finding out secrets could get the master some leverage. He wasn’t interested in using anything Ari said against him.
“You actually paid my master the price he told you? You didn’t bargain or anything?”
“No. I didn’t have time. If we stayed in Sendler any longer, they would’ve found something that only Vikex and I could deal with. We haven’t had any time off for over a year now. If we don’t get a chance to rest and recharge, we might miss something and make mistakes. I don’t want my fellow soldiers dying because I wasn’t a hundred percent. I forced my supervisor to give me permission for this vacation.” Ari touched Vikex’ neck. “I don’t want anything to happen to Vikex. He didn’t ask to be used like this. While he is a war bird, he isn’t meant to fight continuously. He needs weeks to recover, which they haven’t given us.”
Miataga cautiously touched Vikex’ feathers right next to Ari’s hand. He didn’t want to presume he had permission from the phoenix. Vikex didn’t react to his touch, so he assumed the bird didn’t care. “It’s hard to see someone we love being taken advantage of. He’s lucky to have you to fight for him.”
Ari flashed him a smile. “It’s mutual. He’s saved my life so many times. I know he’d die for me and I would do the same for him. We are each other’s family, though Vikex does have the rest of his flock.”
“Does his flock like you?” Miataga edged his hand over to cover Ari’s. He smiled when Ari turned his over and entwined their fingers.
“They accept me. I’m not sure if that’s the same as humans’ liking each other. The birds aren’t human—or even human-like. Their emotions and how they react to things are different from us. It’s hard sometimes, but I try not to push into their world. There are times when I wish we could stay with them, because even though they are alien in many ways to me, they still seem to care for me more than my own human family does.”
The sadness in Ari’s voice caused Miataga to lift his hand to his mouth then brush a kiss over it. He understood the need to connect with someone, whether a person or a flock of phoenix. It was the same need that drove people to his bed. Most of the time he didn’t like being used, but there were a few times when he felt like he’d helped someone in some way. Maybe he’d do that for Ari.
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016,
by and is filed under "Free story, On Love's Wings ".
You can leave a response here,
or send a Trackback
from your own site.
cool excerpt – thanks TA!