Retribution

Chapter 2

-oOo-

At the end of his first winter at Ardais, Danilo left for the Guards' season at Thendara.  But before he could meet with Regis, Domna Callina Aillard summoned him and questioned him closely about Dyan’s behavior.  It took nearly an hour to satisfy the leronis, and he was greatly embarrassed.  Nonetheless, he was pleased that his safety mattered to another person in Thendara besides Regis.  As for Regis himself--

They greeted each other in the guardsmen's barracks with hugs and laughter.  After being parted so long, seeing each other was a joy, even if there were a few surprises.

“Holy Bearer of Burdens,” said Danilo.  “Are you going to shave it off?”

“Hey, I like this beard.  Doesn't it look imposing?  I think it gives me an air of authority.  The next footpad I encounter will think twice before defying me.”

“I must sadly correct you.  It is not quite a beard, but rather a lipfull of fuzzy down, plus a dependage of two uneven patches on either side of your chin.”  Danilo grinned slyly and said in the voice of the arms-master, “'Vanity is frowned on in the Guards, but we do respect order.'”

“All right,” Regis conceded.  “If you're laughing, so will everyone else.”  Grudgingly, he fetched a basin of water and began to remove the beard. 

“Be careful, bredu.  It does not impress footpads if you appear before them already maimed.”

When finished, Regis had his old face back.  He too, had his questions.  Danilo sighed.  This was going to be a day of long explanations.

“He swore he would behave himself towards me, and he has.”  Danilo did not meet his friend's eyes as he unpacked by his bed.  “He has made no advances.”

“But do you live there without strain?” Regis asked, perched on Danilo's mattress.

“No,” Danilo admitted.  “He is a difficult man, and he has things arranged at Ardais to suit his tastes.  Nor does he exactly hide his activity.  Here, get off.  I need to put on the sheets.”

Regis stood up. “My grandfather and Kennard Alton are madmen!  They never should have connived at your adoption as the solution to your troubles with Dyan.  You’re one of the most sensitive telepaths on Darkover and you live in that place?  It is madness.”

“But for part of the year I serve with the Guards,” Danilo reminded him, waving a finger around the room. 

“Where we train to fight on the practice ground, sword, knife, hand-to-hand, and wrestle, then go out under the supervision of a Senior Officer to confront drunks and break up fights, trying to keep the peace despite every fool in Thendara who does not care.  It’s no work for you, Dani.”

“Are you saying I’m not up to it?  I'm your paxman, Regis, and need to learn these things.”

“I’m not accusing you of lacking the ability.  I’m saying you have a handicap, namely the nature of your laran, your temperament, and your past.  They all combine against you.”

“It is precisely because of my laran, my temperament, and my past that I wish to stick it out, and finish every difficult task I undertake.  Do you understand?”  Danilo threw his clothes impatiently on the bed.

“I do,” said Regis glumly.  He put an arm around his friend.

An officer entered in full uniform and the two boys sprang apart, coming to attention.  To their surprise, the officer was Dyan Ardais.  “At ease,” Lord Ardais said, running his cool gaze over them.  “Did you get something in your eye?” he asked his foster-son.  His sardonic expression fell on Regis.  “Under normal circumstances I would have suspicions if I saw two cadets embracing, but not about you and Danilo. That would be grossly out of place, would it not?  My foster-son is a model of virtue.”

Annoyed, Danilo replied, “I am fine, sir.”

“Good.  I've come to announce a change.  You may tell the other cadets when they arrive.  Danvan Hastur has given me command of the guards this year.”

“Sir?” said Danilo in consternation. 

“You should remember that Kennard Alton and his son are off-planet,” Lord Ardais replied.  “It was necessary for the Regent to find a substitute.”

“But sir,” said Regis, “isn't the post supposed to go to an Alton?  Gabriel Lanart-Hastur is an Alton cousin, and he was deputy commander last year.”

“Dom Hastur did not want to be accused of absorbing the position into the Hastur Domain, a concern I share.  As for myself, do not expect favoritism from me.  You two will be treated exactly like every other cadet here, and I intend to train you hard and work you hard.  For a start, go clean this room.”

“Yessir,” said the two boys dejectedly.  

After his foster-father left, Danilo headed for the broom.  Regis, however, was staring into space, thinking. 

“He gave no hint of this beforehand,” said Danilo ruefully as he began to sweep the floor. 

“Maybe he didn't know until today.  Do you know what?  I've grown suspicious of Grandfather.  As a career officer, Gabriel really is the better choice.  There must be a reason Grandfather felt he had to either mollify—or bribe--Dyan.  Making him commander is even worse than making him cadet-master.  Zandru's Hells, why hasn't Grandfather learned yet!”

“I don't think Dyan's foolish enough to try to force one of the cadets into his bed again this year.”  Danilo gave his friend an ironic look.  “He doesn't have another Domain to give away to make amends for it.”

Regis was still thoughtful.  “You are probably right.  Nevertheless, why did Grandfather do it?  It's so aggravating!  I finally meet you again only to have him assigned to watch over us.”   

Danilo stopped sweeping and met his eyes.  -Do you think--

Regis' hand stilled.  -Maybe.  Let me consider this.- 

-I know your grandfather does not approve of us,- thought Danilo gravely.

-That is true, but I still don't see why he is so eager to appoint Dyan to be our chaperone.  Anyone else would do for that job, including Gabriel.  Zandru's scorpion whips!  I've just had a thought.  The more you are in Dyan's company, the more Grandfather hopes you'll become used to him, and let him win over your feelings.  Maybe Grandfather is bribing him with YOU.-

-Regis!  That's crazy-talk.- 

Regis, however, was scowling.  -It would solve two problems for Grandfather.  Parting us so he can marry me off, and sealing Dyan's support for the Hasturs in Council with your body.  No wonder Grandfather wants you to live at Ardais.  Yes, my vile old relative is capable of being that devious.-

“That can't be true,” said Danilo aloud.  “Regis, I know you are angry, but this is paranoia.  Rest assured I have no intention of cooperating with such a scheme.  Besides,” he added sardonically.  “No one ever won love by screaming drill orders and assigning barracks-sweeping duty.  At least, I've never heard of such.  If it didn't work the first time with me, then it's not working the second.”

“That's good, bredu.”  Regis, however, was still troubled. 

“Dyan does not even know what proper courtship is.  He finds a lover by being cruel to a boy, then waits for a submissive response.  That is how he knows he's met the compliment to his nature.”

“I do not think he is even that polite, sometimes,” said Regis darkly.  “I do not trust him at all.”

At that moment Danilo happened to glance out a window.  Lord Ardais was crossing the courtyard, heading for an approaching cadet.  Something in his foster-father's manner alerted Danilo and he set aside his broom, stepping close to the window to watch. 

“Bredu?” said Regis.  “What--

Danilo waved him to silence.  Regis joined him at the window.

“What's your name, cadet?”  Lord Ardais barked at the boy.

“Cadet Storn,” said the boy.  “Riccardo Storn.”  Riccardo was well-grown for a first year boy, and he was just sufficiently good-looking that Danilo sucked in his breath in alarm. 

“You're the boy the Storns adopted, the foundling,” said Dyan. 

“Yes, sir,” said Riccardo.  “The family's been very kind to me.”

“You were living on the streets, I heard.  That was indeed great altruism on the part of the Storns to take you in and sponsor you for a cadetship.  If you keep your cool and learn how to handle yourself in dangerous situations, you will have a fine career as a Guardsman.”  Dyan fixed him with a meaning eye.  “Of equal importance is how you learn to handle association with your betters.  Do not neglect the social aspects of your position, by which you can gain much personal advantage.”

“I understand, sir.”  Riccardo's tone had gone oddly flat.

“I was told you lived by your wits on the street, earning coins by performing certain services.”

“I did,” said Riccardo, his voice almost inaudible.  He hung his head, humiliated at having this conversation with his superior.

“Well,” said Dyan brightly.  “I need an aide.  There is a small salary that goes with the position. You will of course sleep in my quarters, and will be taking care of my clothes and equipment, but the position is not very onerous.  One thing, though.  You must attend to my needs. “ He stepped very close to the boy.  “ALL of my needs.  Do you understand?”

Watching from the window, Regis and Danilo tensed. 

“Sir?” said Riccardo weakly.

Dyan reached down and fondled the front of the boy's trousers.  Taking his time, he untied the cords, watching Riccardo with cool steadiness.  Then he slid a hand inside and lifted the boy's genitals out. 

“Sir,” said Riccardo again.  This time his voice was pleading, his face distressed.  “Please let me go!”

Lord Ardais ignored him, rubbing the boy's cock.  “You do not have my permission to leave.  Be silent, cadet.”

A long moment passed as the two stared at one another, Riccardo with his face flushed, blinking as if he were about to break into tears, and Dyan with a half-smile on his face.  He palmed the boy's body with sudden roughness, and glanced down pointedly.  Riccardo was growing erect.

-We have to stop this!- Regis sent to Danilo.  -Let's go out and--

Lord Ardais had lifted a coin out of his pocket, and was stroking the boy's face with the edge, his other hand still working along the boy's shaft.  Riccardo was fully erect now, and his mouth hung open.  “This is an advance on your salary.”  He lifted the coin in the air so they could both have a good look at it.  “Say, one day's worth of wages?”

Riccardo stared at the coin, then at Dyan.  “All right,” said the cadet, his voice suddenly brisk.  He took the money. 

“A good choice.”  Dyan let go of the cadet.  “I must make arrangements for the opening ceremony, so meet me at my quarters in an hour.  The arms-master will show you where to move your things.  I expect good discipline and order from you, and I believe this arrangement will be of much profit to us both.”  He gave a final stroke to the boy's erection, then a patronizing pat, and looked directly towards the window of the barracks.

It was too late to duck out of sight, and the two boys at the window went red, flustered at being caught. 

“Go over and introduce yourself to my foster-son Danilo, and his friend, Regis Hastur.”  He gave Riccardo a polite shove in the direction of the barracks, and finished crossing the courtyard. 

With a horrified look, Riccardo spun around and stuffed himself back inside his trousers and retied the cords.  When he turned back again, his eyes were wide and frightened. 

Impatiently, Regis waved him over.  “What on earth do you think you're doing?” Regis blurted, leaning out the window.  “You can't!  Zandru's Hells, the man's a disaster.”

Riccardo's mouth worked.  He was almost too mortified to make himself speak.  “You s—saw?” he stuttered.

“Yes,” said Danilo urgently.  “You can't do it.  Back out any way you can.  Invent a sexual disease or something.  Holy Bearer of Burdens, you don't know what you're getting into.”

“You're—you're his foster-son?” Riccardo said.  “Oh.”  He recovered himself and gave an awkward smile.  “You're THAT boy.  Some advice you give.  You were his lover, and now you're his heir, eh?”  He laughed nervously.  “You did well enough, I see.  A Domain is a pretty good payoff.  And you're telling me to do differently?”

“I was never his lover!” Danilo sputtered.

Regis scowled.  “Look here.  You have the sponsorship of a good family, the Storns.  Why do you think you need Dyan's?”

Riccardo only gave him a wounded look.  “Pardon me, Dom Regis, but you've never lived on the streets.  I'm afraid you'll never understand one who has.”

 

“Look,” Danilo begged.  “Don't do it; I'm serious.  Dom Ardais is an awful man.”

Riccardo made a scoffing noise.  “If you truly believed that, Dom Danilo, you never would have accepted the Domain.”

“Lord of Light!” Regis exclaimed.  “You know his reputation.  Everyone does.  How can you take the risk?”

“Well, if he becomes a bother, I'll leave,” said Riccardo evenly.  “As for me, I could use another sponsor.  The Storns expect me to make my way in life somehow.  Maybe you don't see the need, but I do.”

“He has a boy named Garin Lanart ensconced in the Ardais compound here in the city,” said Danilo, trying not to lose his patience.  “He's Dyan's lover.  You realize the both of you will be sharing him?”

“Has he?” said Riccardo slowly.  He half-grinned.  “That's a bit of luck, isn't it?  I shouldn't be called on too much, then.  Thanks for the heads-up.  Good day to you, my lords.”  Riccardo bowed to them, and headed across the courtyard.

Danilo was hanging over the edge of the sill, staring in astonishment. The two boys exchanged incredulous looks.

“Always, Dyan manages to have his way,” Regis marveled with disgust.  “I swear you're the only person who's ever told him no.”

For the rest of the season they worked hard at their duties and had little free time.  They were never out on patrol together, and were never alone except on their weekly day off, and Dyan's pen on the duty roster kept assigning each of them different free days.  Worse, Danvan Hastur always needed Regis to attend him whenever Regis was free.  Lord Ardais himself called for Danilo's assistance on the commander's various rounds and duties so often that Danilo was convinced he was seeing twenty times more of his foster-father than Regis.  By the arrival of Autumn, even Danilo agreed the Regent was colluding with Dyan to break them up.  

As for Regis' other suspicion, Danilo admitted that though his foster-father was very capable in his role as commander of the guards, it still did not soften his feelings, or rather, it did not soften them very much.  He had, however, grown too familiar with Lord Ardais to be paranoid about him anymore.  And Dyan did have his virtues. 

Riccardo must have performed more than adequately in bed.  At the end of the season he was invited back to Ardais to become one of Dyan's personal bodyguards.  To Danilo's dismay, young Storn agreed, resigning his commission. 

“It's not as much work, and I'm less likely to be killed apprehending some thief,” the ex-cadet said to Regis and Danilo when they remonstrated with him.  “As for the rest, that's just business.  The salary's better than a guardsman's, too.”

Their duties were wearying and difficult, with Regis and Danilo seeing little of each other except when they rose from bed or lay down to sleep.  But the weeks passed quickly, and they found their time together much too short.  When the end of Autumn came, Danilo found it very hard to accompany Dyan to Ardais again.

-oOo-

One good thing came from so much association with his foster-father.  This year, the layer of protection around him eased.  He was even allowed to meet Dyan in private these days.

“I am pleased you think my progress is satisfactory, and that I do not need--” Danilo hesitated, “--so much oversight in the dispatch of my work anymore.”  For a moment, Danilo regretted his words.  He was afraid Dyan might catch the hidden meaning.

It seemed Lord Ardais had.  One of his eyebrows rose.  “That is true.  I gave orders a few weeks ago that you were not to be shadowed so much.  I supposed you had begun to grow tired of it.”

Danilo was astounded.  “Those were YOUR orders, sir?  You gave the command that I was to be accompanied at all times!?”

“Of course.  You are not so much a boy anymore, and you will want to take advantage of your freedoms.  The Ardais blood is waking in your veins, driven by our chieri ancestry, and you will soon succumb to its passions, as all men of our line do.  To one your age, Ardais is ripe fruit.  At least I found it so, at seventeen.”

Danilo was annoyed by the comparison.  Like Regis last year, Danilo found himself being bothered by cravings more and more, especially since his duties at Ardais did not exhaust him the way the Guards had.

The laborers winding up the harvest were many days away from wives and sweethearts, and they sometimes used each other for pleasure as they slept out nights under blankets in the fields.  Between Dyan, Riccardo, Garin, Carlo the kitchen boy, and the laborers, Danilo learned to shield his mind better than he'd ever managed to learn from the tuition of three tough-as-old-horsehide leroni at Corandolis Tower.  Yet--things--kept happening to him at odd moments during the harvest. 

“Stefan,” said the coridom to the foreman, “blow the horn for the noon meal.”  The foreman lifted the glossy, curved horn and blew a loud blast.  The coridom, Ruyvan, nodded in satisfaction.  Danilo's eyes skittered away from the foreman as if he’d just gazed a leronis in the face.  Stefan was bare-chested, and he was tapping the long horn against a thick forearm whose fine hairs had been sun-bleached to gold.  Danilo looked at the ground, his chervine, and studied the reins in his hands.

“Someone must tell Dom Ardais how the day's labor went,” said Stefan.

“I'll go,” replied Danilo immediately, and he rode off as hastily as he could without being rude.

After Danilo left, Stefan gave the coridom a look.  “You're right.  The boy is still so shy he can’t look a man in the face.  Strange.”

Ruyvan grunted a sour negative.  “Not so strange at Ardais, Stefan.”

Danilo knew there was a phrase for this.  Not in Casta or Cahuenga.  The off-worlders had one and his Terranan cousin Daniel Lawton used it on occasion. /What was it again?  Oh yes, “adolescent hormones.”/

His adolescent hormones had finally woken, and Regis wasn't around for it.  Danilo swore he was not going to start thinking about Dyan the same way he seemed to be thinking about any vaguely attractive random male that caught his eye.  He absolutely WOULD NOT.  There seemed to be an awful lot of vaguely attractive random males wandering the castle, however.  His gaze kept being caught, leaving him stupid and staring. 

When Dyan yanked Riccardo, or Garin or Carlo into a corner, Danilo, instead of fleeing immediately like he'd done last year, found himself lingering, half-sickened but half-drawn,  wondering what they were doing, aroused.  He would be hypnotized by the emotions he was involuntarily picking up with laran, and it took an effort of will to drag himself away.  At times, the pull was so strong he began to give some credence to Dyan's notion that there was indeed some alien gene affecting the Ardais bloodlines.  Part of the Ardais gift was unusually powerful telepathy, the ability to meld one's mind completely with that of another, and the gift tended to work on its own.  Last year, his body had been too young to resonate in sympathy with the sexual thoughts around him.  His disgust had protected him.  Now, his Ardais gift betrayed him.  What if it was indeed the gift that had caused all those other Ardais males to go mad, driving them insane when they were unable to keep the passions of so many others out of their minds?   

In his dreams he found himself in compromising positions with strange men, and he'd wake up happy and wanting more.  Even Dyan appeared in those particular dreams—more than once.  In sleep there was no residue of fear, no memory of the horror Dyan had caused him, and his unconscious brain luxuriated in the scenes, craving his foster-father's unashamed violence, his trespassing nudity and forceful invasions, all delicious.  Once awake and returned to the reality of what Lord Ardais was, Danilo would be appalled at himself, touching the sticky spray on his legs with incredulity.  His body could not be doing this to him.  It simply couldn't.  He felt absolutely sick on those mornings.  No amount of denial on Danilo's part could blame this on his foster-father's laran meddling, and he spent much of the second winter feeling guilty.  He was sworn to Regis Hastur.  He longed for Regis, mind and body.   Yet his body—without his mind--longed for so many others, including what his mind told him would be absolutely insane to want. 

/I am not Dyan Ardais,/ Danilo repeated to himself.  /This blood, this alien thing in me, does not drive my will.  I am a Syrtis, always and forever.  The chieri blood in me means nothing.  I will not go mad like all those ancient Lords of Ardais./

If his sexuality had woken anywhere else, he could have dealt with it more easily.  But here, it had become a horror.

Dyan Ardais.  His own foster-father.  His mother's half-brother.  He was crazy to even consider it.  /I am NOT considering it. The longing is only a dream, a phantom./ 

But as winter passed, Lord Ardais' 'more than once' appearances in his dreams became 'often.'  Danilo began to have a recurring nightmare.  He was caught out in a ghost wind, insane from kireseth pollen, wandering icy mountain paths, naked, defenseless.  Then someone jumped him from behind.  It was Lord Ardais, and his foster-father was stabbing him again and again with a knife, screaming out his rage at Danilo's denial of him, hammering  the revenge in with every blow.  The next instant Dyan had mounted him, and Danilo was coupling with his murderer willingly even as he bled to death.  'I can do this to you,' Lord Ardais was chanting, 'I have the gift to coerce the will.  I can make you want me even now.'  Regis' appalled face was there too, watching Danilo's betrayal, watching him die.   

One day after an unusually vivid repeat of his nightmare, Danilo woke with a start, remembering something he'd been taught at Corandolis Tower.  He hadn't been paying much attention to Domna Elhalyn at the time, but now he recalled her words clearly.

'To a telepath, recurring dreams are always premonitions.'

He glanced out his bedroom window.  Several feet of snow lay on the ground.  Even if he could manage to contact Regis, maybe through the relays at Corandolis, no travel was possible.  Castle Ardais was his prison until spring.

-oOo-

Continued in Chapter 3.