Book One: Time Of The Clan

chapter 5

Atticus was visibly trembling at the loud noise, he looked at balaam and saw the horns on his head grow bigger, and when he looked lower, his legs had changed too, no longer the long legs of a butler, but now a goat's legs, twisted and almost painful looking. Balaam looked over Atticus and narrowed his eyes, noticing the fear response in his eyes, for a demon, Atticus should not be as scared of confrontation as he was; balaam would have to look into that to warn the master. Balaam looked around and took a breath, straightening himself to his full height, he was now taller than before with his new set of legs.

"We have to get you ready for rest, the master shall be up here soon, until then you are to behave, do not make me yell again." Balaam looked at Atticus's curled up body, it was almost defensive.
Atticus nodded, not wanting to speak in fear that he might make balaam yell once more, to be honest, the thing that surprised Atticus the most was not the yelling, but the sudden change of form balaam went through, half his body changed! Atticus figured he might have to get used to that if he wanted to continue living here, especially with the plans Aamon had set in place for him. Atticus did not want to be a queen or king, he did not want to be a ruler at all, he figured that he would cross that bridge when he got to it and that for now, he will face what comes for him head on.
He heard a door shut as balaam left, once he felt certain that he was not being watched, he slipped on a new pair of undergarments and dressed himself in the lush silk given to him for sleep.
Atticus shuddered as the cool fabric touched his skin, he was quick to rush to the bed, burrowing in the think blankets. He was under the large comforter of a blanket; it was covered in soft fur, and it wrapped around Atticus. Atticus felt his outfit warm as the blanket trapped the heat, his body changing how the blankets temperature fluctuated. He heads the door open as someone walked in, Atticus stayed still, hoping it was not a maid of a sorts. He gasped when he felt the blankets getting pulled off him, he fought in retaliation and pulled the blanket back towards him, shielding himself from the chilly air of the room outside him.
As the blanket was pulled further and further away from him, Atticus realized that he to, was slowly being pulled away by the trespasser, he peeks out as the blanket was tugged completely from under him.
"Aamon?" Atticus squeaked.
Atticus knew he was not dressed in a way that he wanted Aamon to see his, the silky shirt and the velvet shorts were something that he tried to hide, glaring at the bigger man.
"Now now. Don't look at me as if I'm a monster, I am not nearly as bad as you think I am, you will learn to appreciate me." Aamon told Atticus, right before leaping at him, smothering him in the blanket.
Atticus barely held back a squeal of delight, he never got to roughhouse when he was with Meredith, he always got scolded for it! Atticus did not want to give Aamon the satisfaction of hearing Atticus's delight with the current situation.
Aamon wrapped Atticus up in the blanket burrito style, throwing him to the right left side of the bed and sitting down to wrap his arms around the trapped boy.
Atticus squealed and gator rolled, attempting to escape the tightly wrapped bundle that he was trapped in.
"Emerald? Do stay still, I am trying to sleep." Aamon scolded him softly.
"Sleep? Don't sleep on me!" Atticus exclaimed, once more attempting to rid himself of the confining blanket. Atticus kept thrashing around, to and fro, that was until Aamon squeezed him even harder, preventing him from ever escaping the confining grasps. Atticus stilled, with a sigh, he relaxed, allowing himself to be be cuddled like a pillow.
"Good boy Atticus, thank you." Aamon hugged Atticus with a squeeze and began to slightly unroll him, pulling some of the blanket onto himself and allowing Atticus to lay by his side. Aamon laid Atticus out, putting Atticus's hand on his chest, and bringing the boy closer to him, reveling in each other's warmth.
Aamon looked down to see Atticus glaring at him.
"What are you mad at me for now emerald?" Aamon asked tiredly.
"The same thing I was mad at you for before! You made me your queen without giving me an option at all! And then, you only told me about it when we in front of your people! You manipulated me!" Atticus cried out.
"Dear-i- "Aamon began.
"No! No. Don't.... Aamon. Not yet. I want your apology to be genuine. I will stay here for now, but your on thin ice right now. Please talk to me before you make decisions for me like that." Atticus said quietly, laying his head back down on aamons chest.
"Very well emerald. I will try." Aamon made a blind promise, how could he tell his emerald everything? Atticus did not need to know everything. No. No, he did not. Aamon had a job to do, a job to protect his emerald from the dangers of the outside, he could not let him figure out anything.
"Aamon?" Atticus asked.
"Oh. Sorry love. I spaced out." Aamon pet Atticus on the head, focusing his attention on the small horns on the boy's forehead. He massaged the horns as the boy purred beneath him.
Atticus jumped as he heard the purr coming from his chest.
"What is that!" Atticus yelled.
"Well emerald, that was a purr, many demons can do it, though, you purr quite loud." Aamon looked down at Atticus, grinning.
'Well, I don't like it! how does it stop?" Atticus demanded an answer.
"You don't stop it. It is a show of happiness, not many demons get that you know." Aamon admonished, teasing Atticus for his desperation.
Atticus pouted and leaned back, too tired to put up a fight.
"Go to sleep love. Everything will feel better when you awaken once more." Ammon cooed to Atticus, continuing his previously interrupted massages.
Atticus felt the purrs deepen as he slowly lost himself to sleep, drifting off into a comfortable slumber.

(The next day)

The room heated up drastically, signaling a change in time. Down here, the later in got, the colder it was, the earlier it was, the hotter it got. Atticus groaned and threw the blanket off of himself and laid in the warm air of the hot day.
"Uggh..." Atticus groaned, not wanting to get up and face the hot air of the day.
"Emerald, you have to get up. I have a gift for you. It will help with the heat of the day." Aamon told him.
Atticus pulled himself out of the bed and stumbled towards Aamon.
"What do you want, you family sized white chocolate bar. This is why your people are afraid of you, your gross." Atticus said grumpily, not even trying with his insults.
"What a .... Lovely insult emerald. Now, look here, I enchanted an outfit specifically for you. It will keep you colder, even in the warmest of weather." Aamon looked proud of himself.
Atticus looked at Aamon skeptically.
"How do I believe you?" Atticus said.
"I'll show you." Aamon told him. Aamon then took the cloak and wrapped in around Atticus, letting the boy be enveloped by the thick fur. Atticus felt his body's temperature drop to a comfortable temp immediately.
"It is also enchanted to change its temperature depending on what you feel in the moment." Aamon beamed. "I will warn you, normally gifts from a partner are seen as a attempt to become a consort, so in the public's eyes it may seem as if I am trying to romance you. You are okay with that?" Aamon asked the man.
"I guess. I appreciate that you told me. It means you listened last night. I accept your apology last night, thank you for proving that you could listen." Atticus smiled at Aamon and hugged him.
Aamon blinked in surprise, not used to this affection from the boy, however, after a moment Aamon hugged back, cherishing the smaller male's warmth. Atticus squeezed Aamon one more time before he released the man.
"What are we doing today?" Atticus asked Aamon.
"Well emerald, first off we will eat a meal, then we will go to a meeting with the other leaders, then we will walk around the shops of the town and introduce my people to you, then we will show you the castle people, I will formally introduce you to my closest advisor, and best friend." Aamon told Atticus.
"Who's your friend?" Atticus asked.
"Balaam. You have met him. Briefly." Aamon said.
Atticus shuddered. He did not like balaam. Aamon noticed and decided to ask about the odd reaction.
"Well...he yelled at me last night, it was scary. I don't like him." Atticus looked away.
"Well dear, us demon do tend to... be a lot. Demons almost never do anything without payment, that what I meant about balaam being able to toy with you. He likes new things and you? Well, your very pretty." Aamon told Atticus. Atticus looked at Aamon, bewildered that something like that could even be said. He shook his head and turned away, not arguing, if balaam tried anything, Atticus could always fight him. That is what he thought at least. Aamon was slightly confused by his pet's lack of reaction but thought not to question it.
"Shall we leave?" Aaron asked.
"Yes. Yes, I think we should." Atticus replied, following Aamon through the door and out into the hallway.
They walked through the halls, Atticus was starting to get the hang of the corridors, finally understanding where he was going, he had only been through here a few times but that was enough. They were supposed to go downstairs to eat, Atticus was almost shaking with happiness, he was excited to eat a good meal, especially after being with Meredith for so long. Aamon noted Atticus's excitement and was happy, knowing that the boy would not be disappointed with what he had to offer.
They reached the dining hall in no time and aamon watched amused as the boy's eyes lit up as the pro is of food became a reality.
"Shall we sit?" Aamon offered.
"Yes!" Atticus looked up happily.
Aamon led Atticus to a table, letting the boy savor the smell of the food. He saw the confusion on his face when Atticus saw the different foods, aamon was sure it was quite the culture change after being with the harpies for so long.
"What is this?" Atticus asked, pointing to the stuffed scorpion, it was a delicacy in the demon realm because the scorpions were difficult to find, and even more dangerous to catch if you found them. One sting from the beasts could be the end for a high-level demon. The scorpions were about as big as the average mans chest, a hatchling being the size of a grown man's palm.
"This, my dear, is grilled scorpion, stuffed with breaded peppers and salsa. It is a common delicacy for demon royalty." Aamon told Atticus, happy to serve the slender boy, he need some meat on his bones before aamon decided to have a taste of him. Atticus looked skeptical that the food would be good, but he tried it anyway. He bit into the meal, and gagged. The scorpion was far to meaty to eat. He enjoyed the stuffing inside, but he disliked the scorpion, actually, he disliked the look of most of the meat that was served.'
"A-aamon? I don't want to be rude but...I don't think I like meat." Atticus looked confused.
"No worries emerald, I will have the meat, we still have wide variety of non-meat items." Aamon consoled the disappointed demon.
Atticus smiled, appreciating the acceptance.
"Thank you Aamon" Atticus told him. He immediately went to dig into the meal, enjoying the vast display of foreign foods.

Word count:2055