Claimed Beauty (The Cubi Book 2) Read online

  Holy shit, Daniel’s getting a gift. Seldon had no illusions that placing Daniel at the status level of a biological child—a born Cubi—meant Daniel would come out well on top. What made it a punishment for Seldon was that no Cubi had ever paired up for so long, and it was bound to be hell sometimes. He still found it fair and hoped his children would find it fair, too.

  When Caledon glanced at him, Seldon saw both nervousness and that the man was very pleased with his own genius plan. Seldon glanced at the Grand Ladies and Lords. Their expression told of both somewhat acceptance, but also that they didn’t think it a suitable punishment.

  “And the last part,” Caledon said, locking eyes with Seldon. “The part I want to add since I wish to take away public whipping and starvation. You will be somewhat starved, as you are not allowed to feed on any human breeder for the next year,” Caledon said.

  Several gasps were audible, including Seldon’s. Well, looked like he’d be a ghost anyway. Or at least very old and frail. But that didn’t make sense with some of the other aspects Caledon had come up with.

  “You will, however, only feed from Daniel, and Daniel will only feed from you. Whenever he’s hungry.”

  Seldon glanced at Daniel who looked both confused and happy. Seldon felt happy, too, but as a green-eye he had about one-third of a Changeling’s libido. Seldon could definitely see the punishment in that as it would become too much of a good thing.

  “Do you find the punishment fair?”

  “Yes, My Lord,” Seldon answered. “I’m honored that this incident hasn’t caused you, My Lord, to lose faith in my commitment to your order and the one you placed under my care. I even find My Lord’s request for my sentence, to only match my age, lenient.”

  “Really?” the Grand Lady exclaimed. “Do you find it a reward, too, since he is compatible with you?”

  “Yes, but does the Grand House know of any Cubus who has paired up with someone for a lifetime? Or any green-eye with a hunger big enough to match that of a newborn?” Seldon glanced at the high table.

  That made the Grand Lady snort. “Oh, I think I see the punishment in your Lord’s request. Do you have more to add, Lord Caledon?”

  “No, Grand Lady, I do not.”

  “We will convene. Stay in your seats.” The Grand Lady left, trailing the last seven Grand Lords and Ladies and Caledon. The rest waited in silence. Well, Seldon did. The breeders, Gordon, and Daniel spoke too quietly for Seldon to be able to eavesdrop, but Daniel kept glancing at him with a worried frown.

  Please let me keep him, please let me keep him, Seldon thought, but his own words repeated in his mind. Having Daniel with him as he progressed would also be a nightmare, and as he evolved energetically, it would be a headache. But their laws were from older times where they didn’t live in structures the way they did now. The structure Grand Lady Goedin’s mother had put in place as she established this place. Some of their laws were from when each Cubus had to be able to fend for themselves and their House under a monarch. From times where the red-eyed were slaves to the higher evolved because they couldn’t dose humans on their own. Now the red-eyes collected the energy for them all, and the higher evolved Cubi assisted them with doses and dosings as payment for their hard work. Should they devolve into the old kind of structure again, the order would still hold, and Daniel would be secured. Seldon found some peace in that.

  He had heard of punishments of the sort Caledon proposed, but in today’s structures it was unheard of and deemed cruel to the transgressor. Then again, so was a slow death as a ghost. He could take a flogging. The last time he had suffered one, he had been a blue-eye, and it was for neglecting his responsibilities when breeders breached the stable boundaries. No Cubi made it through the red-eye level without a flogging or two. Especially any his age who had lived under a monarch and with a Lord. Back then, whippings were a lot more common than under the rules set forth by Grand Lady Dahlidin.

  They were hurt, they healed with no scars to show, but the mental scars remained, and even though Seldon had lost count of the whippings he had suffered before coming there, he still remembered the pain, fear, and humiliation.

  Seldon glanced at Daniel who looked way too nervous. Seldon had no idea what the boy was thinking, and he gave up even trying. All he knew was that the boy did him proud with how respectful he answered the Grand House’s questions.

  Ten to fifteen minutes had passed before the nine purple-eyed came back. The Grand House took their seats while Caledon went to stand in front of Seldon.

  Grand Lady Geodin stood and looked at Seldon. “It will be as your Lord suggested with one thing added by the Grand House. Physical and public punishment will be carried out tomorrow evening. One hundred lashes.”

  Seldon’s mouth grew dry.

  “For the next year, you will not be allowed to feed on any human. You will feed only on the Changeling who will, for the next four hundred thirty-six years, be under your protection and guidance in your home. He will be of the status as a Halfling born to you. Lord Caledon will check in on you more often the next year, making sure you are capable of providing for and covering Daniel’s hunger.

  “You will be under house arrest for the year you are starved of humans. Your work in the stables will be done from your home. If it is absolutely necessary for you to be present in the stables, you will be accompanied by a purple-eye to make sure you do not feed on a human. No human is allowed in your home without Lord Caledon or a representative chosen by him present. Your door will be marked for all to know this. Should Daniel need someone to accompany him outside your home, you must make the arrangements for one to do so or ask your Lord to help provide the necessary escort.

  “Daniel will start school in three months as is usual for Changelings. This concludes our decision regarding your punishment.”

  A public whipping, a year with at least double or triple the sex he needed, house arrest, and the public humiliation of having it written on his door. Those he could definitely see the punishment in. Maybe even having Daniel for so many years, but he was also glad about that one. He would not let the boy down again.

  “I promised that you could dish out the punishment for Jonah touching Daniel,” Caledon said. “What punishment did you have in mind?”

  Seldon could hardly believe Caledon stood by that promise in light of everything that had happened since. But Seldon thought for a second, reminding himself he took pride in being an honorable man and that he had worked hard on imprinting a similar sense of honor in his children. “My initial thoughts? Had it been Gordon, it would have been public starvation for a week. Since Jonah is so young it would hurt him, so three days and a whipping.”

  “And now?” Caledon kept a blank expression.

  Seldon sighed heavily. “The same. The dosing was my doing, so the consequences of it should not be put on him. Anything else would be petty revenge and abuse of the power you give me,” Seldon said even though he had thought up very different ways to make the red-eye pay for what he’d done. He looked up, finding Caledon looking very pleased. He turned to look at the Grand Lady, and she looked more surprised.

  “You were right to insist on Sire Seldon’s integrity. I will allow it.”

  “Thank you.” Caledon turned to face Seldon with a formal body language. “Sire Seldon, tomorrow you will be assisting me in the trial against Jonah. You will be the one to disclose the verdict the Grand House and we agree upon, and you will also be the one to execute any corporal punishment. After his whipping, should this be the punishment agreed upon, you will receive yours.”

  “Yes, My Lord.” Seldon didn’t manage to hide his surprise at that. He’d thought it would all be out of his hands because he wasn’t exactly objective anymore. But the pleased look on Caledon’s face gave Seldon some peace. How he’d be able to feed Daniel after being whipped was a different matter, though.

  Caledon turned to the Grand House. “Thank you for your time and dedication. We will return here tomorrow at the specifi
ed time so Sire Seldon can finish this and receive his punishment.”

  “Good,” the Grand Lady said and turned to look at Seldon. “Sire Seldon, a copy of the decision will be sent to you. You will be appointed a contact should you feel the need for emergency assistance during this time that your House Lord cannot provide for any reason. Any questions about the parameters of the punishment should also be directed to your House Lord.”

  “Thank you, Grand Lady.”

  The Grand House Cubi stood and left, Grand Lord Ildon stopped by Seldon’s table on his way out. He extended his hand, and Seldon stood, taking his hand. “Don’t mess up over the next year.”

  “No, My Grand Lord.”

  “Good.” With that, the Grand Lord left, and Caledon glanced after him.

  “For the sake of my ass, too,” he whispered once the Grand Lord was out of hearing range.

  “Yes, My Lord.”

  “Come on, let’s get your boy home.” Caledon winked and led Seldon to the chairs.

  “Was that good or bad, Master?”

  “Seldon or Sire. You’re no longer a slave, cub.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Daniel smiled nervously.

  “Let’s go to your home and discuss this further,” Caledon said.

  “Oh, wait, Alex?” Seldon said, catching himself in reaching for the human. No longer allowed physical contact, Seldon reminded himself. Alex turned and looked at him. “That curse you muttered the other morning about my dick becoming minced meat? You just got your wish. For a year.”

  Alex scoffed. “I might have held that second dosing against you that morning, but I never wanted this.”

  “I know. See you in a year.”

  Alex nodded—his sadness more pronounced than Seldon would have expected. But then the conversation about Elias came back, and Seldon promised himself he’d talk to Caledon about it. However, it was not the time, though.

  Chapter Four

  Daniel followed Seldon and Caledon back to Seldon’s home, and he was relieved that he’d get to stay with Seldon. But he was not happy to hear that Seldon was going to get whipped and denied feeding on humans for a year. That he and Seldon had just been ordered by the Cubi version of a court to be exclusive was kind of a blow, but he didn’t mind, either. Wondering why it didn’t freak him out, he ended up at the same reason he hadn’t freaked at being dosed by Caledon that morning. He knew them, and he even felt comfortable around them. Well, as comfortable as a young man could be around the people who kidnapped him and turned him into a supernatural sex-vampire. The other part about feeling okay with it was probably that he hadn’t really had all this in his head for long enough to really figure out what he thought about it.

  Seldon stared at his door as they arrived.

  “What?” Caledon asked.

  “Just imagining the door telling everyone that I’m on house arrest and can’t see a human like I’m some undisciplined newborn.”

  “We’re not that bad,” Daniel said.

  Seldon and Caledon turned to look at him before they both laughed loudly.

  “You couldn’t go a day without feeding,” Seldon said.

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Oh, yeah!” Caledon said. “And I’d advise you against trying.”

  “How come?”

  “It can make you sick. So when you get all tingly, you tell Seldon.”

  “But if I’m so much hungrier than he is, then…will you even want me?” Daniel immediately wanted to pull back the question, because he finally managed to put a finger on something he might really have a problem with. He wanted sex to mean something, and not just be feeding with nothing valuable to it. Well, he’d had sex like that with a few girls at a few parties, but this was different. He lived with the guy. At first, he had feared becoming something Seldon just took out to play with whenever it suited him. Like the breeders going around to the Cubi to feed them and that was it.

  He didn’t want Seldon to just dose him because he was ordered to and get it over with as if he wanted to do other stuff than fuck Daniel for the third time that day.

  Seldon looked like he weighed his words. He finally just unlocked the door and went in. “Let’s continue this over a cup of coffee.”

  “Good plan,” Caledon said and held out his hand for Daniel to enter first.

  Well, with that kind of enthusiasm from Seldon, Daniel’s hopes for life with the big man plummeted. And it wasn’t just for a year—it was for four hundred thirty-six years. Why was Daniel being punished, too? Was he part of the problem since they ended up with wanting him to suffer, too? Right then, Seldon was far from his favorite person in the world.

  “Would you make the coffee?” Seldon asked.

  “Thought I wasn’t a house slave anymore.”

  Seldon grabbed the front of Daniel’s shirt and pulled him so close, their noses almost touched. His eyes burned a bright green, and Daniel fought to get away from him.

  “No, and you might remember me telling you that I raised my children with more firm a hand than I would a slave. You’ve just been elevated to the status of my biological child, so if you think shit like that lip is going to fly from now on, you have another thing coming! You will earn my respect just like they have!”

  “I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” Daniel croaked, sure he’d get his ass spanked now. And he really hadn’t meant to say it. His thoughts had been on why he was being punished, too.

  “And that’s the problem.” Seldon guided Daniel to a chair, kicked its leg to move it out, and planted Daniel on the seat. “Respect is a mindset, not just the tidbits you choose not to say to my face.” Seldon looked up, surprised, and Daniel followed his line of sight, finding Caledon pouring water into the coffeemaker. “Caledon, please don’t do that. My house is degraded enough as it is, and my guests shouldn’t be making their own coffee, Lord or not.”

  Caledon set the pot down and backed away, eying Daniel, while Seldon took over the project. Other than getting ready for a punishment, Daniel actually felt like shit for making Seldon feel humiliated like that. Not that Daniel had any understanding about why making coffee could become that big of a problem, but Seldon had tried to keep Daniel safe from Jonah, and because of that the big man was going to be whipped in public. On top of that, a sign would be painted on the front door of his home saying he was unworthy of feeding as a punishment, and he was grounded. Being grounded at that age had to suck, big-time.

  But it wasn’t like any of this was easy for Daniel, either. He was changed into something he was still learning about. This wasn’t exactly fun and games for him, either. Yeah, so maybe Seldon had a right to be angry, Daniel did cause some of it, but he could at least cut him some slack in all these changes.

  Seldon came back to the table and placed three mugs on it, taking a seat along with Caledon.

  “Where did that snide remark come from just now? I’d really like to know why you thought that would be okay.”

  “I’m overwhelmed by all these changes, and I’m pretty pissed that I’m getting punished, too, since I’ve also been told it wasn’t my fault Jonah groped me.”

  “Punished?” Seldon and Caledon exclaimed together.

  “Oh, man, if you see what the Grand House awarded you for Seldon’s transgression as a punishment, then I’m going to come and get you tomorrow morning after you’ve fed,” Caledon continued. “We’re talking six o’clock, you’re ready to work, and you get to start where every other Changeling does. See if you still think being elevated to the status of a Cubi child is a punishment.”

  Oh, shit, that didn’t sound good. “I don’t know anything about your world yet.”

  “You will. Seldon won’t have the opportunity to show you some of these things because of the house arrest, but you can be sure I’ll help him where he is limited to show you because it is also in my interest that you get out of this entitled-brat mentality. Being of his House means you will be raised to live and work in my House, and you can be damn sure that I will not tolerat
e behavior like that. I trust Seldon to take care of your upbringing, but I won’t leave him with only half his methods of doing a good job.”

  “Half my methods?” Seldon asked. “Is an overdose and denying him to feed open to me?”

  “Within reason, yes—a balance I have full confidence you know since you didn’t get vindictive with Jonah when I told you that you’d still get to punish him. The Grand House wasn’t so sure, but you proved them wrong when you measured it out today. You did me very proud then.”

  “Thank you, My Lord.”

  Daniel had almost stopped paying attention at the mention of an overdose and denying him to feed because he was pretty sure that was way worse than getting spanked. It had certainly looked painful on the breeder he had witnessed receiving overdoses in the arena.

  “Now, you asked Seldon a question by the front door that we agreed we were going to talk about over coffee,” Caledon said. Daniel turned his head to see if the coffee had run through. It had, so he got up, but so did Seldon who pushed him back down to sit.

  “No, no, if making coffee is so beneath you, now that you’re turning into one of us, I’ll do it.”

  That actually stung. So did the look on Caledon’s face.

  Well, fuck them, Daniel hadn’t asked to be there, hadn’t asked to be dosed, hadn’t asked to become some thing feeding on sex. The Cubi‘s ways were completely over the top, and Daniel found both Seldon and Caledon unreasonable in their ways when making coffee could become that big of a deal.

  “Oh, man, you’re the sulkiest kid I know. Seldon, I might go have a talk with the Grand House about your punishment, this is cruel and unusual.”

  Daniel looked up. “What’s the usual?”

  Seldon poured coffee for Caledon and himself and placed the thermos in the middle of the table, meaning Daniel would have to get up or ask for them to hand him the thermos if he wanted some. Well, thanks for shit, pal.