"S-so... t-this is it?" Gary Sapperstein stuttered. "I'm not to be given a fair trial..."

Typically the silent one, Ben couldn't withhold an extremely audible gasp, causing the king to look sharply in his direction. His eyes connecting with the monarch's, Ben quickly deduced this interrogation had about reached its limit. After thirty minutes of the king savaging the criminal with questions and accusations, Ben wasn't the least bit surprised that the ruler's patience had evaporated.

The king's eyes coldly flickered over both men... the depraved Gary Sapperstein, a foreigner, but now a citizen in his land. That made his actions here today much simpler. Sapperstein was a citizen of Tehara. He had full control over the outcome in regard to both men. He looked briefly at the trembling, younger man. As of now, he was undecided of his fate. He always tried to be a fair and impartial ruler. The fact of this young man's crush on Justin, not to mention having the knowledge of him being Justin's first kiss, filled him with an unrepentant rage, although he was endeavoring to keep that fact out of the decision-making process.

"Gary Sapperstein, you have been found guilty of treason against your king in the highest degree. There is no vindication for your crimes against me, and the vile acts you perpetrated on an innocent young man," the king didn't continue to say, a man that belonged to him. He wanted to strangle the man with his bare hands, but that would make him appear as a complete savage to his people. And that wasn't the legacy he wanted to leave for his son. He would remain composed and render this piece of vermin's sentence with dignity. "Therefore, according to Teharan law, your crime carries a death penalty, which shall be executed at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning."

"T-tomorrow morning? It's too soon. What if I wish to appeal?" Sapperstein protested, uncaring that he had interrupted the king, outraged that he wasn't being given a chance to defend himself.

"Appeal?" the king asked in a low, and ominous voice. He could see Ben rolling his eyes without looking at him. One, the cretin had interrupted the king's royal decree... and two, he thought to usurp the king's authority with an appeal. Such was impossible, and a direct insult to the king. "I AM the law here, Sapperstein! There is no platform for an appeal. Now, I will finish with you..." his eyes coldly moved to Tomas that sat cowering in the far corner. "Traditionally, I grant a last request, be it a special visitor, a meal, etc. I loathe extending this to you... but I am a man of honor. You may direct that to your guard once you return to your cell."

Sapperstein sneered. He no longer cared about enraging the king. There wasn't much more he could do to him now. Perhaps a hasty death would be preferable, and in doing so, his savagery would be revealed for all of Tehara to see. "I have a last request, Your Highness... but I must ask it of you, and not the guard."

Ben's eyes widened, his instincts leaving him with a harsh foreboding. "His Majesty already instructed you to inform your guard. It's best to leave it at that!" Ben rarely spoke in these interrogations, but at this moment he felt compelled to do so.

The king smiled tensely at his chief of security, knowing that they both had the same bad feeling. "No, let him go on, Benjamin. He thinks he has nothing left to lose." Brian smiled cruelly at the venomous man, his head turning briefly to address the other prisoner. "I hope you are taking notes, Tomas. Your fate isn't sealed yet." Looking back at the deranged criminal, the king demanded, "What is your request of me?" Brian eyed the man with menace in his gaze, knowing intuitively that his request would be an insult. And if so, he would need to act as the king... and not as a man.

Sapperstein's smile was cold, the definition of pure evil. "I request one hour with your hot new slave. I think this is a reasonable request since I am to die due to your obsession with him."

Ben reached for his sword at the same moment the king vaulted to his feet, the chair he had been seated at behind the table, flying halfway across the room. "My King, allow me to end this now. You don't need to suffer this outrage further."

"It's fine, Benjamin. I am under control," the king's breathing was only slightly uneven, in the back of his mind he had expected this kind of insult. The ruler towered over the man that was handcuffed to the metal table, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "I could slit your throat and be done with you now; in fact, I'm sure that's what you would like. I would be viewed as a tyrant before my people." The king looked toward Ben and the other guard present. "Return him to his cell."

As he was roughly dragged to his feet, Sapperstein spat out, "So, I don't get to fuck Justin? Pity. His ass needs it... and by someone who knows how to do it."

All eyes turned to the king in horror, and for guidance, but none was forthcoming as the king slammed his fist into the table, harsh Arabic curses falling from his mouth in rapid precision. Ignoring the pain in his wrist, the monarch turned glacial eyes back to the repugnant prisoner, wishing he could reorder time back to where he had found Sapperstein leaning over Justin in that tent. If he could do that, he would split him open from head to toe, feeding his disgusting carcass to the buzzards. His voice low and hollow, the king decreed, "I was going to utilize death before firing squad; however, that's too good for you. Tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. you will be brought into the courtyard, where you shall be beheaded by the executioner." He stared holes into the sudden pallor on Sapperstein's face. "Get him out of my sight!"

Once the door closed behind the condemned man, the king looked over in Tomas' direction. "You're next. I do hope you do better than your co-conspirator..."

Emmett knocked on the tower door, looking down at the key in his hand, uncertain if he should unlock it first, or if he should wait for an answer. It was a dilemma in his mind. He didn't want to be presumptive, making Justin feel he had no choice but to accept his visits, but in the boy's reality, he had very few choices now. He was thankful when he heard a bored response telling him to enter. Smiling at the guard outside of Justin's door, he slipped the key inside and pushed the door forward.

"I hope I'm not disturbing anything..." Emmett began, his head tilting to the side as he took in the sight of Justin sitting at the window looking down below, the blond's profile giving the impression of a young man in misery. For the first time, he took a really good look at Justin. He was truly a beautiful young man, so very different from anyone he had ever seen. There was something fresh and genuine about him. He could see why Brian had become so instantly intrigued, now bordering on obsessed.

Knowing Brian as he did, he had really thought his initial choice had been to dissolve the contract that was barbaric no matter how it was viewed. Brian could be extremely primitive, but this even seemed like too much. That had all changed when Brian had his first glimpse of Justin. He believed that more changes would be coming; he just hoped they would be positive... but with Lindsay due to return soon, he knew not all of them would be. Approaching him a bit timidly, not wanting to distress him further, Emmett asked, "Anything interesting out there?"

Justin shrugged. "There's a little boy outside, running and playing. He seems happy."

"That would be Gus, the king's son. He is a delightful child. I'm sure in time you'll get to know him. Everyone falls instantly in love with him." Emmett knew he could have added, ‘just like with his father,' but he knew that wouldn't be so well received.

"I wish I could draw him." Justin scrutinized the courtyard, the grass, the flowers, the ornate benches that gave it life... but most of all, the gazebo. The structure of it was breathtaking. "I'm sure the king and his wife are very proud of him."

"His Highness dotes on him incessantly." Emmett didn't elaborate on Lindsay's attentiveness to her child. He didn't lie, and he didn't want to color Justin's perception of someone he had yet to meet. "So, you're an artist?" Emmett asked in excitement, trying to gain all the information he could, both for Brian's benefit, but to find a way to make Justin feel more at home too.

Justin turned from the window to look at Emmett, blinking his eyes as he tried to figure out exactly what he was up to. "You really don't have to babysit me. It's not like this is a dungeon. I have a television and an extensive selection of books at my disposal. I'm sure you have better things to do."

"I'm not babysitting you..." Emmett held a hand to his chest as if to feign surprise. He grinned broadly when Justin narrowed his eyes on him, both of them knowing exactly why he was here. "I'll go if you don't want me here. The king did urge me to spend some time with you. He wants you to feel more comfortable in your new surroundings."

"Comfortable..." Justin snorted. "Tell me, Emmett... do you really like him? I know you have sworn your loyalty to him, but do you really like and respect him?"

Emmett was shocked. He hadn't expected Justin to ask him that. He supposed that Justin was expecting him to just say the affirmative, anything to promote the king in the young man's eyes... but perhaps this was his chance to smooth the way. "I know you probably won't believe me, but yes, Justin. I respect King Bruhier. I am not a fighter, but I would assist him on the battlefield - if he ever called on me." Emmett laughed giddily. "I know he wouldn't, though. He would say I can better serve him by staying behind and keeping his house in order. The truth of that is that he would be right."

"I see. And have you known the king long?" Justin bit his lip, trying to find a delicate way to say it... but unable to find the right words. Emmett and the King of Tehara were like night and day. They just didn't fit. He knew there had to be a story.

"I've been with him for about ten years now." Emmett shook his head as he remembered how they had first met. "I was living on the streets, surviving from sheer will and a bit of luck. I wasn't doing very well. His Majesty had just inherited the throne; I didn't even recognize him."

Justin sat forward, suddenly eager to hear more. He wasn't sure why, but Emmett's voice, his story, perhaps even his whole demeanor, was very engaging. His curiosity was immediately piqued. "What happened?"

"I was begging for a handout. I would have taken any offer, just to survive another day. The king asked me about my skills." Emmett grinned sheepishly. "I thought he was asking to be serviced." Emmett laughed all the louder. "Maybe I was just hoping. I mean... look at him..."

"I try not to..." Justin replied scornfully. "Well, I am assuming you made an alternative offer?"

"Yes, I did. My skills are in managing the staff in a large home. I lost my last position when the lady of the manor realized that I wouldn't be accommodating her needs when her husband traveled. She decided to get back at me by telling her husband that I had attempted to seduce her, and my employer ended up liking my defense even less." Emmett laughed as he remembered. "I have never been one to hide my light under a bushel. I told him, the only way I would touch his oversexed wife is if she had a nine-inch cock hiding under her skirts. I got punched for my troubles and tossed out without any severance pay. The king laughed exuberantly at my story and hired me on a trial basis to manage his home. It was the best thing that could have happened to me."

Nodding, Justin surmised, "It appears that you have a good relationship; at least, from what little I have observed."

"Behind closed doors, the king calls me friend and keeps things casual. The only time he diverts from that is when I deliberately provoke him." Emmett smiled. "Over the years I have learned how much I can get away with, and without a doubt, I know exactly which buttons to push."

"I'll bet you do." Justin looked back out the window, smiling as he watched the young boy running with a small dog, the familiarity and the wagging of the animal's tail telling him that the dog must belong to the child. Biting his lip, Justin turned away from the relaxing sight of the boy with his dog to ask, "I am assuming the king is still locked up in his study?"

"Actually no." Emmett frowned, uncertain how much Justin was supposed to know, but he couldn't see the harm in the young man knowing the king's whereabouts. After all, he had been a victim in the entire fiasco, and the punishment rendered wouldn't be a secret, in or out of the palace walls. "Unless he has returned, I believe the king was to be at the prison today, interrogating the men that betrayed him."

Justin sighed. "They will be killed, won't they?" He wasn't sure how he felt about being the cause of two more men being killed, but in the case of Sapperstein, he realized the king had no choice. All of his actions had been treason against the king. The more he thought about Tomas and his savage behavior, he really believed he had just been trying to fit in with Sapperstein's group, knowing his life could be on the line if he failed.

"I couldn't say for sure, Justin." Emmett knew that wasn't quite true. Even though he wasn't at the prison, there wasn't a doubt in his mind of Gary Sapperstein's ultimate fate. "The crimes Sapperstein committed were extreme. He is a danger to anyone he comes into contact with... so, to give my actual opinion, I believe his judgment will be harsh."

Nodding, Justin agreed, "The man is vile. He truly deserves no mercy." Justin held his hand up, barely stifling a yawn, smiling at Emmett apologetically. "I'm sorry, Emmett. I woke up much earlier this morning than is normal for me; I think I'd like to lie down before his lordship descends on me."

"Not at all, I understand perfectly." Emmett smiled at Justin, at once gasping when he had a sudden thought. "I forgot! The king wanted me to see if I could devise something to protect your eyes from the early morning light. He does want you to be comfortable." Emmett looked at the window in assessment, turning back to look inquiringly at Justin. "Would you prefer shades or curtains? I think I can attach either without much of a problem."

Justin frowned, finding himself surprised that the king would think about something so irrelevant to what must be a day filled with massive duties, deciding the ruler must indeed be a very complex man. Looking at the window in question, Justin shook his head. "Let's leave it for now. I don't know how long the king will keep me up here, although I actually kind of like the solitude. I think changing anything about this tower will take away from the ambiance of it... and I wouldn't want to do that."

"Well, if you change your mind, you just have to let me know." Emmett continued to smile at Justin, amazed at how fond he was already of the young man. He hoped in time that Justin would see Brian's good qualities. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that the king intended on holding onto Justin. From what little time he had spent with the blond so far, he could easily understand why. "Have a good rest, and if you need anything, don't hesitate to call out to the guard."

"I should be fine, but thank you, Emmett. I know you are loyal to the king, but it's nice to talk to a friendly face."

Emmett beamed. "I am devoted to the king, but I see no reason why we can't be friends as well. I look forward to getting to know you in the days ahead."

"Me too." Justin watched as Emmett knocked on the door, and exited when the guard opened it, thinking to himself that this wasn't so terrible. Even though he would never admit it to the arrogant king, he realized he could have received a much worse punishment. As he moved to lie down to take what he knew to be a much-needed nap, he knew that was the best course of action he could take. The king told him he would be visiting him in the evenings. It was only a few short hours until dinner now. Justin knew he needed to be rested and ready to combat any of the predatory tactics the king would come at him with; for one thing was certain - he had been given a reprieve during his last encounter with the monarch. He had his doubts that tonight's visit would be as simple to control.

TBC