Sonadow
SonicXShadow
He Is My Master by Taranea

Chapter 11: I Trusted You

“By now I must have looked everywhere except underneath the floorboards. Where is that hedgehog?” Shadow muttered, thoroughly annoyed by now. He had been searching for Sonic during the last two hours, late afternoon becoming later still.

He had been to the courtyard, the stables, the throne room, Black Doom’s chambers again, to all of the four towers, even the kitchens, ignoring all the odd stares of passers-by who were wondering about the sudden wanderlust of their Prince, but of his supposed slave he hadn’t seen so much as a single quill.

Shadow was just about to return to their dorm, hoping that maybe Sonic had gone there and they maybe had just missed each other, when a certain purple, very annoying reptile came running up behind him, and it wasn’t Barney the Dinosaur.

“My Prince! My Prince! It isss outrageoussss!”

“Indeed. You’re using up so many consonants nobody else has any left.”

“Wh-what?!” Lazar stammered, taken aback by Shadow’s muttered remark. The dark Prince had half-turned and said it over his shoulder, before turning around fully and giving an irritated sigh.

“Never mind. What is it?”

“We’ve captured your ssslave!”

“Sonic? Where?” Shadow tried not to let his surprise and sudden, irrational apprehension show, but his eyes snapped fully open nonetheless. A part of him was immediately concerned – if they said they had captured Sonic, did that mean that there had been a fight? Was Sonic injured? Somehow this question concerned Shadow a lot more than whether the blue hedgehog had blown their charade in the process…

“In your room, my Prince!” Lazar lisped auferegt, his tail swishing nervously from side to side, “It isss terrible, that blue-furred ssavage attacked Lord Drago! Hisss hip iss damaged! Oh my Prince, we apprehended him in your room, ssleeping, he could have hurt you next!”

“Attacked me? Laughable.” Shadow tried very hard to stand in a way that did not suggest his left knee was currently wanting to buckle and refuse to work for the rest of the day.

“He issss not broken. It wass…perhapss a misssjudgement to take him into your private chamberss sso early, my Prince.” Lazar was looking at the ground, choosing his words carefully, but it was obvious his resentment towards Shadow’s treatmeant of Sonic was growing.

The black hedgehog scowled and his tone was just a fraction sharper when he continued. “I generally do not make mistakes, Lazar. I hope I am not making one by keeping you around my person.”

“N-no! Of, of courssse not, my Prince, I wass merely ssuggesting-!”

“Where is my slave right now?”

“In the dungeonss, we resstrained him, we thought it besst to inform you before taking any sssteps-”

“Very well. I want to see him.”

Lazar nodded and turned, and Shadow was pleased to notice that if reptiles had been capable of sweating, the purple lizard by now would have made for a nice (if tasteless) indoor fountain. But still, even if he was able to keep Lazar in check for the time being, the black hedgehog was all too well aware that obedience born only from fear was the weakest possible foundation for any ruler. If Lazar continued to suspect that something was wrong with Shadow and his stubborn slave, and maybe found some support, the reptile would turn against him as soon as Shadow let down his guard. It was a dangerous game they were playing and time was running out – they would need to find the Emerald soon, or else the Ultimate Lifeform could already see himself trying to explain where exactly he had found Chaos-powered hover skates in a medieval world in front of a royal court.

Not to mention a certain pair of red-white sneakers, Shadow thought grimly, just before stepping through the dungeon door he was starting to find too familiar for his liking.

The scene that greeted him was not too different from the one he had encountered upon his first arrival in the paralell dimension. The bulldog dungeon master as well as the cat servant were present, plus two guards consisting of a rhino and an elephant. Torches were burning on the walls since it was already too dark outside for the small barred window in the top of the wall to provide sufficient illumination.

Sonic was strapped to a wooden table on his belly, spread-eagled as both his ankles and wrists were encased in shackles, stretched just enough that it wouldn’t be painful, but that he couldn’t move, either. At Shadow’s entry, his head whipped round, emerald eyes wide, and his mouth opened as if he wanted to call out, but then closed it instead, just looking at his supposed master with an unreadable expression.

“What did he do exactly?” the black hedgehog asked after a moment’s hesitation, deciding it would be best to know as much as possible before taking any steps.

“He attacked Lord Drago without provocation, my Prince,” Greytail answered, reading from a list. “Also, this slave is still supposed to be leashed, yet left the chamber he was supposed to stay in. According to His Lordship, he met this slave in the West Corridor at three in the afternoon today, and the hedgehog did not only refuse a direct command, but also injured His Lordship by kicking, punching and biting several times.”

“’Without provocation’ up my spines! And I did not bite!” Sonic, whose eyes had ever more narrowed during the list of his accusations, shouted, but immediately a vicious crack of the whip hit his unprotected back and his whole body arched as he gasped, then fell silent, refusing to cry out.

If anybody had noticed the sudden, murderous look in Shadow’s eyes, then they didn’t say anything, and by the time Graytail looked up again, it was long gone, the obsidian face as impassive as ever.

“I would like to talk to Lord Drago about this,” Shadow said coolly. “I need to express my condolences.”

Condolences after I’m done dealing with him, that is, he thought, adding a mental cynical chuckle. If he is the guy who tried to rape Sonic, then there is no place in the entire *castle* he’ll be safe.

“Lord Drago hasss excussed himself from public life for a few dayss. He isss in recuperation,” Lazard lisped, shooting a baleful glance at Sonic (which the hedgehog returned with a snarl) for the last sentence. “Yet thiss ssslave musst be dealt with now, my Prince.”

Shadow nodded. “I see. What did you have in mind, Lazar?”

The lizard smiled. “Death.”

Sonic’s face had turned expressionless. Shadow pretended to consider for a moment, staring down at his pet tied before him with carefully calculating eyes. He thought he could almost see Sonic tense under his gaze, the hedgehog unable to turn his head far enough to see Shadow’s expression. Finally, the black hedgehog spoke.

“…no. I do not wish for him to die. What alternatives can we consider?”

“Leave him alive? But, my Prince, the King decreed-”

“My father is currently not in the castle. And he also usually doesn’t immerse himself in my affairs,” Shadow announced, hoping to Maria that this was actually the truth. Judging by the fact that no spear-brandishing guards sprang into action yelling “Impostor! Where have you hidden the true Prince?!”, it seemed as if he had gotten away with his act once more.

Lazar gnashed his teeth in barely concealed frustration and flicked his tongue angrily. It was clear that this meeting wasn’t going the way he had planned. Frowning in exasperation, the purple reptile snapped at the cat servant:
“Greytail. What is the alternative procedure in case of an unbroken slave attacking a royal?”

The cat unfurled his parchments and scanned them again. Then he looked up again, slightly paler.
“…severe corporal punishment. Amputation of body part while fully conscious.”

If Lazar had looked annoyed before, now he could have been used in the Happy Days theme song. “Isss that sso, Greytail. Well, I alwayss appreciated the sssspecial jusstice Hiss Majessty understandsss to dispensse. Now, I would suggesst perhapss the leg…”

“No.” Shadow had glimpsed the pure terror in Sonic’s eyes for one brief second. It was something he hadn’t even known the other was capable of feeling. The supposed Prince licked over his tan lips as Lazar then raised an eye ridge, the mind of the Ultimate Lifeform racing to find a way out of this.
“I will forcibly remove part of his spines instead.”

“What?! But they grow back!” Lazar snarled, apparently unable to contain his frustration with the Prince any longer. Shadow’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
“So do lizards’ limbs, as I’ve heard, Lazar,” the dark Prince said in a low tone, “Shall we test that theory?”

When the purple reptile only opened and closed his mouth, speechless, Shadow turned around to Greytail. “Will that be acceptable as punishment?”

“Ripping his quills out? Yes, I should think so,” the cat replied, tapping the roll of his parchments against his chin thoughtfully. To the bulldog dungeonmaster, he said: “Amboss. Prepare the coals and the grippers.”

When the canine had nodded and gone to another corner of the room, Lazar had found his speech again, even if it now sounded rather sourly.
“Very well. If that iss your wish, my Prince. You may wish to leave now ass well, ssince the following procedure will be rather boring and…messsy,” the lizard grinned at Sonic during the last word.

Shadow however shook his head, by now pretty certain the purple reptile would pop a vessel rather soon.
“You might not have understood me, Lazar. I intend to carry out the punishment myself, and alone.”

“Ah…my Prince…” Lazar spoke carefully, “Your father…he is not quite convinced that you have the necessary aptitude for reprimanding this slave. Your treatments so far have had little effect on him, therefore it was questioned whether you…used enough force.”

Great. They’re already mistrusting me. And are catching on, at that.
Shadow raised an eyebrow. “You imply that I am too soft.”

“Well, my Prince…”

“Then leave me alone, and after two hours I will present to you enough spines torn from this slave that you will never doubt me again.”

The tone in which this was said had them all swallow.

After a moment of silence, Lazar finally found out that not even a lizard could hold Shadow’s gaze for long, and he dropped his head.
“It will be ass you order, my Prince. I look forward to sseeing the resssults of your undoubtedly magnificent work.”

And with that, the trio left the chamber, leaving Shadow, a bound Sonic, a bowl of red-glowing coals, and the pliers gleaming in the firelight alone.

xxx

Sonic felt his heart hammering against his ribs. They had assaulted him when he was sleeping, pressuring a point on his neck until he lost consciousness and then woke up shackled in here.

Now he was alone with Shadow. He hated his vulnerable position, did not want to have his legs forced apart after the incident with the dingo, loathed being on display like this. And, even if he didn’t show it, he was also afraid.
Shadow had, once again, shooed out any audience. But did that mean the other hedgehog did not mean to harm him?

Sonic knew the way Shadow moved and he could see the slight limp nobody else had noticed. He had hurt Shadow. Badly.

And in terms of revenge, the Ultimate Lifeform could let Ms Kill Bill look like Barbie.

He tensed again, squirming slightly as Shadow passed by behind him, certain to feel the black one’s gaze travelling over his body. Sonic turned his face away as he felt heat creeping into his cheeks.
It was almost a relief when Shadow finally sat down on the table he was lying on, close to his face, but not looking at him.

“So, what should I do now?”

“Well, you’re supposed to torture me,” Sonic replied as lightly as he could, hoping the black hedgehog would not notice his false bravado.

“And indeed I think I should.”

Sonic felt like his blood had turned to liquid ice. “Look, I already told you, that other guy started it! It’s only because of this stupid collar-” he strained against his bonds futilely again, until a hand of Shadow on his back pressed him gently down again.

“Yes. I know. But we still have to make this look convincing.”

Now for the first time Sonic turned his head to look up at him, emerald eyes disbelieving. “You…you are not actually going to…?”

Rip my quills out, the collared hero couldn’t quite bring himself to say. It would have been as excruciating as a human getting his fingernails torn from his hands, the pain multiplied a hundredfold because there were so many more targets on his back, and multiplied again when the coals would be used to burn out the resulting wounds to prevent infection.

Sonic’s most distinguishing feature were the six large quills on his head and the two smaller ones on his back, of course, but only when you looked closer you could see that there were actually many, many smaller and finer ones in between, covering the back of his skull and his back down to his tail. Even the large spikes were actually made of a myriad of small ones, so tightly compressed that Sonic could slice with them through metal, if he wanted to. Normal Mobian hedgehogs had small spines only and they indeed did grow back.

“I’m not sure I have another choice.” Shadow’s voice was as calm as ever.

Sonic felt like his heart had constricted. The other one was actually going to do this. Was going to cause Sonic unbearable pain just so their little pretend-play could be kept upright. Was not even bothered by it. Was abusing his total helplessness when Sonic had submitted until now so willingly because he had thought they were…

Yeah, Sonic thought, his face still blank, what did I think we were? Friends? He wanted to scoff mentally, but he couldn’t. Because ‘Friends’ hadn’t really been the right word. Because deep down, when he had been chained in this room with total, sadistic strangers, waiting and hoping for Shadow to arrive to get him out of this mess, he had thought of the black hedgehog differently. Had thought how he had set his heart racing, had thought how calming it had been falling asleep next to him, had thought how he had enjoyed the other’s company more than he ever imagined he would, despite the circumstances.

I thought…I thought I might even love him.

And now Sonic turned his head away and squeezed his eyes tightly shut, refusing to cry and gnashing his bared teeth together so he would not give the other the satisfaction of a scream when his master reached for his unprotected quills.

His heart was already torn apart, so let his body follow.

To be continued...

xxx

Please review! :D Is Shadow going to do it? whaddaya think? ;)
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