#alessander

 He’d been warned this meeting was important, and Devlyn had been anxious through the whole day. It was odd to see the prince anything other than calm and collected, and something about it made him anxious as well. Devlyn instructed him to be on his best behavior for the meeting, sit still and look pretty, and he intended to do just that. He didn’t want to know what the prince would do if he made a mistake, so he would follow his directions exactly. Sit still, look pretty, and pretend that the prince’s brothers weren’t watching him.

 He’d never met Devlyn’s father or brothers personally but he knew who they were. Crown prince Atherton, the oldest, and probably the scariest to him, and the middle prince Nikolai, who was paying more attention to Alessander than the conversation between Devlyn and his father. King Satura was an older man, but there was a dark look in his eyes, something worse than what he’d seen from Devlyn. He really, really did not want to make a mistake. 

 If not for his ever present anxiety, the meeting would have actually been somewhat boring. He listened to the men drone on about official matters, though he was pleased to hear that his subjects seemed to be doing well under Devlyn’s rule. That was all he hoped to get out of doing this after all. His father talked of matters from his kingdom, and Alessander noticed the several backhanded compliments and subtle jabs at Devlyn, from all three of the men. The prince seemed to be handling it well enough, but Alessander had a feeling he knew when something got to him by the sudden grip on his hair, which would let go just as quickly, hand gently smoothing his hair out, almost assuring him he hadn’t done anything wrong. It still shocked him whenever the prince was kind but he found himself appreciating it more these days.

 “Devlyn, can I speak to you alone?” The king asked at one point, rising from his chair, causing Devlyn to freeze up completely. He had a feeling the prince didn’t really have a choice in the matter.

 “Of course, father…” He stood up and Alessander sat up straight, watching him. “Stay here Less, be good.” He told him.

 “Yes, my prince.” He said softly, watching as the two left the room, closing the door behind them. He was left alone with his brothers, and he decided his best bet was keeping his eyes on the floor. He didn’t want to give any reason for the other princes to acknowledge him, but he should’ve known it wouldn’t have been that easy, keeping his eyes trained on the floor even as he heard the scrape of a chair being pushed back against the floor and footsteps approaching him.

 “Look at me, dog.” He winced as his face was grabbed, forcing him to look up and face Nikolai. He looked a lot like Devlyn, just slightly older, with longer hair too. He looked him over, studying his face, while Alessander tried to avoid eye contact, looking anywhere but at him. “So you’re the prince that Devlyn stole this kingdom from… I understand it a lot more now that I’m seeing you.” 

 “He said the little prince didn’t even put up a fight, hm?” Atherton said, getting up to come see him as well. “He doesn’t look like he could’ve fought if he wanted to. No wonder it was so easy for him.” He said, looking down on him. Atherton was taller than either of the two other princes, a bit broader as well. His dark hair was cut short, his eyes mirrored his father’s, dark, unnerving even. Alessander tried not to show his frustration, he didn’t surrender out of fear, he did it for his people, he knew it was the right thing. He didn’t want them to see him as a coward for doing what was right.

 “I wonder why Devlyn didn’t just kill him, what’s the use in keeping him around?” He forcefully turned his head side to side, looking him over. 

 “Really? Look at him, he’s got him dressed up as exactly what he is, a whore.” Atherton snickered, the comment making Alessander go red with anger and embarrassment. He wished Devlyn would come back soon, but judging by the sound of arguing between him and his father outside the door he felt he wouldn’t get so lucky. 

 “Can’t say I blame him, he is a pretty little thing. I’m surprised he looks as well rested as he does, you’d think Devlyn would take him every night.” Nikolai laughed, and for once, Alessander snapped. He didn’t know why, but he felt the need to defend his prince. Devlyn was a lot of terrible things, and he’d done a lot of terrible things to Alessander in particular, but he knew for certain that he wouldn’t violate him that way. 

 “My prince would never-” He started, only to be cut off by a harsh slap across the face. 

 “He must not be very well trained, speaking out of turn like that.” Nikolai said. “Devlyn must be going easy on him.” Alessander would beg to differ, but he didn’t dare speak up, holding one hand over his mouth, covering his now split lip.

 “I’d like to see how he disciplines the boy. He might need some help if it’s clearly not working.” Atherton said, grabbing Alessander by the hair and dragging him to his feet. “At least he has all this hair, it must be easy to pull him around.” He laughed, Alessander whimpering from the pain. 

 “Do you think he always makes those noises? Let me see him.” Nikolai said, and Atherton shoved him towards him, thankfully releasing his hair. Nikolai caught him by his shackled wrists, holding him in place and letting out a whistle. “He’s even prettier up close. Think Devlyn would let me borrow him?”

 “N-no!” He gasped, knowing full well it would only put him in more trouble. “No, p-please, I… He…” He couldn’t come up with the words to defend himself, he knew that if Devlyn agreed to it, he’d have no choice.

 “He might need to, he needs to learn to keep quiet.” Atherton said. “If I had a whip on me I’d teach him the lesson right now.” The prince pulled his long hair to the side, exposing his bare back covered in scars from previous whippings. He shivered as a hand trailed down his back, the unwanted contact driving him closer to Nikolai. “Judging by these scars, he hasn’t been whipped nearly enough.” He said, almost sounding disappointed in the supposed lack of discipline. Alessander wondered how mangled and torn his skin would have to be before it satisfied him. 

 “A shame really, you’d think that Devlyn would know better by now.” Nikolai said, keeping a tight grip on one of his wrists, his other hand brushing his hair from his face. “Well, a shame for the little mutt here. I know I’m going to enjoy seeing the punishment he gets.” He grinned. The hand brushing his hair away suddenly got rougher, yanking his hair back from his face and getting a sharp whine from Alessander. 

 He just wanted them to leave him alone, to stop touching him, preferably before Devlyn returned, but he was still being held in place and harassed when the door opened once again. His stomach dropped, Devlyn would know he misbehaved, he’d be punished in front of these two and they would just love that. 

 “Glad you two are done arguing.” Atherton said, though he sounded as bored as ever. “Devlyn, punish your little dog, would you? He likes to talk too much for his own good.” Once again a handful of his hair was grabbed, he was pulled from Nikolai’s grip and dragged towards his prince, crying out as he was roughly thrown to the floor in front of him. He kept his head down, blinking back the tears welling up, already trembling in fear of what Devlyn would do to him. He thought he could expect a whipping, maybe a short beating, maybe being forbidden from eating, but he didn’t expect at all what Devlyn actually did.

 “How dare you!” He snapped, and Alessander fearfully looked up, only to realize that it was directed at his brothers rather than him. “You have no right to put your hands on him!”

 “I wouldn’t have had to put my hands on him if he was well behaved. You need to train him better, Devlyn, or I’m going to do much worse than slap him.” Nikolai said, sounding rather unaffected by Devlyn’s reaction. 

 “You won’t so much as touch him ever again!” He said seriously, helping Alessander to his feet. 

 “Are you really protecting him?” Atherton asked, eyebrows raised. “Do you really love this mutt that much?”

 “He belongs to me. He surrendered to me, he gave his submission to me, if anybody is going to harm him then it is going to be me!” Rather than hold him by the leash, he kept an arm around his shoulders, almost protectively. “I own him and I will decide when and why he is punished. If I find out you ever put your hands on him again, I will be sure you pay for it, understand?” He snapped, and though his brothers and his father seemed almost amused by his display of emotion, Alessander had a feeling that he meant every single word.

 ***

 Much later that evening, long after the prince’s family had retired to their own rooms for the time being- apparently they intended to stay the week- Alessander sat with Devlyn in their room, letting him brush through his tangled hair. He winced every now and then when the brush would get too close to his now sensitive scalp, irritated from all the hair pulling even after all this time. Whenever he whined in pain Devlyn would gently shush him, the only verbal exchange between them until Alessander finally spoke up.

 “I… I would like to thank you, my prince…” He said softly. “They… wanted you to punish me in front of them and I… they scared me…” For once his gratitude was genuine, rather than a conditioned response. He truly believed Devlyn would punish him for his mistake but he didn’t seem to even care, fussing over Alessander now that they were alone. 

 “I know love, I’m sorry…” The prince sighed. “I shouldn’t have left you alone with them, but I couldn’t exactly say no to my father…”

 “Of course… I appreciate it anyway though, you… you didn’t have to do that for me…” It was odd to even consider the prince being so protective of him. 

 “I did though.” The prince set the brush aside, coming to stand next to the chair Alessander sat in and gently grabbing his chin, turning his head to face him, so much kinder than how his brother had handled him. “You are mine, Less. You are my pet, and I will discipline you when you are bad, I will reward you when you are good, and I will protect you from anyone who wishes to hurt you, understand?”

 “I understand…” He glanced away from him, despite how he leaned into the kind touch, almost embarrassed that he seemed to enjoy it. Much to his surprise, the prince released his chin, helping him to his feet and pulling him into a hug, strong arms holding him close, one hand gently carding through his hair.

 “Your body belongs to me, I am the only one allowed to punish you. I won’t let anyone else even try, little prince.” He said softly, and despite his words Alessander closed his eyes, relaxing against him.

 “What was that, Less?” Devlyn looked up from the letters he was reading by candlelight, just another task to take up his night. Reasonably Alessander could’ve gone to bed, but he figured he might as well wait for his prince to be done, wait till he would braid his hair and hold him close before bed.

 “The stars, they’re bright…” he repeated, slightly louder. “It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve really seen them…” the thought made his heart ache and his eyes burn, he quickly blinked back tears. He’d once spent long hours and sleepless nights staring at the stars, late nights with Taryn pointing out constellations he could never remember. It wouldn’t do any good to dwell on it, he knew he would never really have it back.

 The prince rose from his chair, startling Alessander. He must’ve messed up again, been selfish and stupid and needy again, annoyed the prince into having to deal with him. He didn’t know why else he would stop what he was doing just for him. 

“I-I’m sorry, my prince, I didn’t mean to-to bother you…” he started, hurrying to get off the seat and to his knees. Devlyn stopped him though, grasping the chain hanging from his collar and gently tugging him closer.

 “You’ve been well behaved enough pet, I think we could step outside for a moment.” He said, and Alessander was instantly flooded with relief. 

 “Thank y-you, my prince…” he said, voice soft as he followed him out onto the balcony. It had been so long since his escape attempt, yet he hadn’t been allowed on the balcony once since Devlyn had chained him there during a storm. It was nice to be let outside without an audience or crowd to witness the sad state of the crown prince though. There was only him, his owner, and the stars, what felt like the only thing right to him at the moment.

 While he stood before the railing, the prince snaked his arms around him from behind, holding him close against him. It wasn’t rough, or even possessive. It was soft and gentle, something that wouldn’t have been out of place between a pair of lovers. Alessander had no choice but to accept it, leaning into his touch, tilting his head to the side as he brushed his hair out of the way and left soft kisses on his neck. 

 To distract from the prince touching him he looked upwards, scanning the stars for anything familiar. The harsh winter had passed into a cool spring, he’d really been living this way for months now. Despite everything though he could still come back to constellations, memories of books and maps he’d eagerly read and memorized over the years.

 “Right there…” he lifted one shackled hand, pointing out the stars, “is the constellation for Leo…” he murmured. 

 “Is it?” The prince hummed, pressing a kiss to his jaw.

 “Mmhm… and over there… is Ursa Major…” The prince pulled away as he pointed out the stars, almost as if he were paying attention. “I used to have maps and star charts for each of the seasons… used to love watching the night sky…” 

 “Maybe we can make time to do this more often then…” Devlyn said softly. “You’ve been so good for me, you deserve to be rewarded.” 

 “Thank you…” he murmured, leaning into the almost loving kiss on his cheek. Sometimes, he could forget this was the same man who had destroyed him. He could forget this man murdered his parents and his best friend, branded him as property, whipped him and beaten him and broke him down into nothing more than a pathetic slave. Sometimes he had to forget, because there was no one left to hold him and love him aside from Prince Devlyn. 

 Focus on the stars, he told himself, forced the thoughts of misery to the back of his mind. The stars were bright and beautiful and though they changed their patterns remained the same, comforting and familiar. He’d always loved the stars, but never so much as he did right now, rambling off facts and pointing out stars, while the prince humored him, letting him speak and even occasionally asking him a question, as if he were genuinely interested. His owner really could be so kind sometimes.

 He had come to miss so many things from his old life that somehow, the stars had slipped his mind. He couldn’t have his family back, he couldn’t have Taryn back, he could never have his kingdom or his title or even his name back, but the stars would always be there.