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“I told you at the dock that Avenel is my pup,” I said, keeping my voice as steady as I could. I rested my hand on Avenel’s shoulder and squeezed it, more for my own comfort than his. “This is how he shows it.”
Everyone’s reactions were exactly what I’d predicted.
“You don’t actually force him to do that, do you?” Peter asked, indignation already sharp in his eyes. “This is just some kind of joke.”
Neil reached out and rested a hand on his leg as if to steady him.
“No,” I said, meeting Peter’s angry stare with patience. “It’s not a joke. Avenel is very much my pup.”
“After everything we’ve been working for?” Peter demanded. Clearly, he was only just beginning to work up his anger. “After all we’ve been through?”
“Peter, keep your temper in check,” Magnus warned him in a gentle voice.
Peter glared at Magnus for a moment before throwing his anger back at me. “You spent how long as Maldurik’s pup, enduring whatever he wanted from you, and the second you gained your freedom from him, you take a pup of your own?”
“Let me explain,” I began.
With my mouth still open, Peter barked, “Yes, explain. Explain how you can enslave a man just moments after gaining freedom from slavery yourself. Explain how you could be so much of a hypocrite that you would flee your friends in a moment of crisis to avoid Tybalt claiming you as a pup, just to turn around and do the same to this defenseless young man.”
I wanted to be calm and considerate of Peter’s views, of the views we all held, but Peter was veering dangerously close to insulting Avenel, and I was not going to have that. Especially not with Avenel now cowering by my chair and clinging anxiously to my leg as if Peter were threatening him with bodily harm.
“I never intended for this to happen,” I said, ferocity making me louder than I wanted to be. “Avenel came into my life completely by chance, and right from the beginning, this connection between us just felt right.”
“It felt right?” Peter’s voice rose in tone and volume, and his eyes went wide. “It felt right to take away another man’s freedom after having your own wrenched from you? It felt right to own another person because, what, because you wanted to fuck him?”
“Peter, calm down,” Magnus said with more force than his first warning. “You haven’t truly given Sebald a chance to explain.”
“What is there to explain?” Peter roared at Magnus. “We have been fighting like mad to abolish pupdom, to free young men like Gennadi and Avenel from the violent appetites of men who think they can do whatever they want to us.”
“It’s not like that,” I insisted.
Our friends were all beginning to squirm as the argument escalated.
“Isn’t it?” Peter demanded. “Have you not been paying attention? That is what pupdom is. It’s slavery, pure and simple. And you want me to smile and nod because you’ve found yourself a slave?”
“I wanted it. I asked for it,” Avenel said, barely audible. When everyone looked at him, he added, “Kliment and Nikandr explained it to me. I…I love Sebald. I want him to be my master.”
Avenel fell silent again, turning his face to hide it against my thigh. I could only imagine the courage it took for him to say those few sentences. I rested my hand on his head again. I wanted to invite him to climb into my lap, but the chair I was seated in wouldn’t have allowed it.
“Who are Kliment and Nikandr?” Neil asked.
Leave it to Neil to try to be logical in the face of Peter’s fury.
“They’re Jorgen and Hati’s new pups,” I said. “The two young men you saw with them at the dock. Kliment is a former merchant’s son, and Nikandr is a former nobleman. Their lives were turned upside down in the Dying Winter. Jorgen and Hati found them and made them pups.” I gave my explanation to everyone, meeting everyone’s eyes in turn, but I met Peter’s eyes in particular as I finished with, “They are extremely grateful for their positions with Jorgen and Hati.”
Peter huffed and shook his head. “I’m sure Jorgen forced them to tell you that.”
“Peter,” Neil gripped Peter’s leg and spoke pleadingly.
“They didn’t tell me, they told Avenel,” I said. “When the three of them were on their own, without me, Jorgen, or Hati monitoring them. I believe they are genuine. Just watch them for the next few days and you’ll see.”
“I will not watch them,” Peter said, angrier than ever. “I’ll do whatever I can to reach them and help them escape to freedom. I would do the same for Nikita and Efim if they were here. Which they are not. Because they are still captive pups who have no free will or choice in their lives.”
“Avenel,” Jace surprised us all by speaking up. “If Sebald gave you your freedom right now, would you take it?”
“No!” Avenel said, scooting closer to my legs as though Jace had threatened to take him away.
Jace said nothing, but looked to Peter as though he’d proven his point.
