Dark Dominion

7. A Pretty Distraction [M]

[Content warnings: Explicit sex and blood drinking.]

Juniper was placed in a holding cell, left alone with his thoughts. After being dropped off by Ian, who he had learned was the prince's secretary, he set about feeling his way around the room.

The door was made of thick metal with a small window embedded within, for observation. A single, metal-framed bed took up one corner of the room, and a toilet and sink took the other. Jun could cross the whole space with just a few strides. And like the rest of the building, the floors and walls were cold, hard concrete. At least - Jun thought - it was clean.

He sat on the bed with a plate of food provided by Ian. He wasn't sure he could stomach it, but he hadn't had anything all day, aside from his morning tea. It was a hearty sandwich filled with meat, cheese, and vegetables. He decided to eat the bread off the top. It should be enough to avert hunger.

Once he finished eating, he placed the plate on the bedside table and laid himself down. The mattress was thin, and the scratchy blanket was even thinner. There was no pillow. He longed for his warm and plush comforter back home. His room may have been in the cellar, but his mother did her best to make it comfortable, with cozy blankets and piles of soft and squishy pillows.

His fingers moved to touch his new collar. He remembered when his younger siblings fussed with their first collars. Now he understood the foreign feeling of the entwined metal chilling his skin. There was one disconcerting difference between his collar and those worn by his siblings. Juniper's collar lacked a tag. He wasn't given his family's number. The implication filled the boy with deep sorrow.

Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he wondered about his family. Were they close by in another cell? Were they together at least? Jun felt guilty that he hadn't asked about them and what their punishments might be. He hoped they would be able to go home soon. He would probably never see them again, but if he had knowledge that they were alive and on the farm, he could press forward.

So he was to be a bed slave in some capacity? Juniper attempted to wrap his mind around the idea of his body put to use in such a way. He never expected that this was how he would be deemed useful. It frightened him; he had such limited understanding of the subject.

He did know that vampires liked to mix their feedings with pleasure. It was why brothels and courtesan houses were so numerous in vampire territories. Jun may have been extremely sheltered, but he wasn't completely ignorant about the duties associated with those particular establishments. He and his brothers would sometimes talk about them during their burgeoning puberty years, when all things sex intrigued them.

However, he wasn't sure exactly what it meant to be a "pet" or a "thrall." Given the context of the prince's words, he supposed some vampires kept these slaves for personal use.

A cold shiver ran down Juniper's spine. Shouldn't he be grateful that he wasn't going to be executed? He didn't know the specifics of what was in store for him, but Jun really wanted to live. Willow's school books had taught him about the laws regarding the regulation and treatment of slaves. According to such laws, he would at least be well fed, and he shouldn't be recklessly abused.

His thoughts were beginning to overwhelm him. He wasn't sure what time it was, or even if it was the same day of his discovery. Juniper was so weary, but how could he rest with such tormenting thoughts in his mind?

He decided to sing. Even though Jun believed that the root of his current plight was his own singing, he needed his mother's lullabies - to at least feel some remnant of her comfort. He chose one that she had made up herself, just for him. It was a sweet melody but sung in a minor key, reflecting the underlying sadness his mother always felt.