Chapter Text
There were all sorts of rumours regarding the particular lord that was currently crossing through their land. Dark rumours, rumours that claimed he was a beast that fed on the minds of those who owned them and the bodies and love of the fairest in the land. It was whispered that if he was insulted, he made the one who insulted him watched as he devoured their family, leaving only their heads which he would use as decoration for his estate. They also claimed that he would take the one who insulted him and tie him to the back of his caravan and made him walk all the way to his estate on which - if the man in question survived the journey - he was impaled and left to feed the crows.
Those rumours were probably born from the fact that the lord never allowed anyone but his servants to gaze upon his face, always sitting hidden in a jeweled box that was carried around with ease by four silent slaves who bore the crest of a stag with a crown between its antlers on their silken clothes or in a large golden carriage from which he watched the world pass by. He thought that must be extremely lonely, but he kept that thought to himself.
The lord’s caravan was rumoured to be made of carriages of silver and was said to appear suddenly after the first moon of summer had disappeared from the sky, countless servants dressed in the finest of silks walking alongside a large army of soldiers dressed in gold armours with silver shields and swords. Q found that completely ridiculous as silver was much too soft to be an effective weapon and the golden armours surely tired the soldiers quite fast due to how heavy they were.
But lo and behold, the world proved him wrong when he caught a glimpse of the rumoured caravan and army while he was out gathering wood one day. He crouched down low and slowly backed away, hoping against all hope that no one else would notice the caravan and that it will move away before anyone else noticed it. But of course, he saw someone run back towards the village, screaming with joy that the Goddess of Luck had finally saw it fit to hug them all to her generous bosoms.
The idiot was happy because the same rumours that painted the lord like a beast stated that if he was impressed, he showered the person in gold, jewels and beautiful women while the village that the person came from got the lord’s protection and best cattle. And that was why the town elder begged and pleaded the lord to accept the party that was thrown in his honour, promising him that he would be marveled by at least one thing he saw that night.
“The man couldn’t be any more desperate for gold if he tried,” Q mumbled from his seat on the cold and quite uncomfortable rock at the back of the crowd.
How he hated crowds - or rather, this crowd. Was necessary for everyone to be summoned in the middle of town so that its leader could inform every one of the ‘wonderful’ news and of what they were supposed to do to make sure they’d be shown just how generous the lord could be when pleased? Couldn't the ancient piece of stupidity just send them all a letter? Oh, that's right; no one but him really knew how to read or write.
Of course he had tried to hide in his little house at the edge of the forest because he wanted nothing to do with any idea anyone from the town came up with, but they had dragged him kicking and screaming out of it. He didn’t understand why they insisted that he be present since they called him a freak and a witch and their favourite pastime was throwing rocks at him. Did they really expect him to do something for the town that hated him and he hated in return? Their stupidity truly knew no limits if that was the case
Why they called him a freak and a witch? Because he loved to read, wash himself more than once a year and invent things, of course. Things that were so complex, no one really understood how they could possibly work without the aid of a magic spell. Then again, Q was sure that everybody in that damned town found the concept of fire to be complex. He would be amazed if he didn’t find out they called a priest every time they needed to cook or heat up water. And when they caught wind that he actually used hot water to bathe himself, they dragged him in a church because it was Satan’s invention, that hot water.
“…and that person will be the freak.” The town’s leader finished saying and everyone turned to look at him, horrible smiles on their faces.
“I’m sorry; I was too busy trying to not hear your moronic idea in fear of my own intellect being damaged at the sound of it to get what you were saying.” The boy spoke, arms crossed over his chest. “Would you mind repeating the part were you said what you have the gulls to think the freak will do to help your imbecilic asses land in crates of golden coins?” That got him a slap over the back of his head from the nearest person and he managed not to flinch, although his glasses were sent flying into the ground. He dived after them, afraid that someone might trample them just to cause him more pain.
The town’s elder, a fat little thing that Q was sure was dropped on his head and lost his brain the instant he came out of his mother started stuttering, looking like he was having a seizure of some sort as his pudgy little hands hit the table. “Why can’t you be bothered to at least listen to what is good for this town, boy?”
“Why can’t you be bothered to refrain from being a complete dim-witted fat pig?” That earned him another smack over his head, one so hard that made the world around him spin and sent him on his knees to the ground, glasses falling once again.
He saw a boot heading for his face and he curled in on himself, holding his eyes shut tightly and hoping that he wouldn’t lose his teeth. But the boot never connected with his mouth and before he knew what was happening, someone had pulled him to his feet. “Now, now everyone. We mustn’t treat the poor boy in such a horrible manner.”
Great, he had been saved by Silva out of people. “Excuse me can I go back to getting my teeth kicked in? I’d rather have to go through that than know that you’ll expect me to pay you back in any way for your unwanted help.”
The blond hand man turned and offered Q his disgustingly sweet and obvious only to him smile. “Poor boy must have hit his head very hard if he is willing to be punished. Maybe now his strange ideas of witchcraft will finally let his mind be,” he said laughing, the whole town joining him in his amusement after which he proceeded to wrap his arms around him and pull him in a hug. “Don’t think I’ll let anyone put their marks on you but me, you freak,” he whispered in his ear and Q felt sick to his stomach. “Most respected elder, would you kindly repeat what task you had for our strange fairy here?”
It annoyed Q that no matter how much he kicked and struggled, the man acted as if the weakest insect in the world repeatedly flew against him. He also hated the angry looks he was getting from every woman in town, even the married ones. They all looked like they wanted to lick their beloved muscle-bound log to wash Q’s unworthy touch. However, as far as Q was concerned, he was the one in desperate need of a bath to get the stupid off of him.
“Ah, Mister Rodriguez, you are much too kind to the freak,” the old pig said and Q was ready to swear on his best invention that he blushed. Was there anyone in this Godforsaken town not in love with the disgusting waste of space? “And well, I said that we will have present someone who swore up and down that he could impress Lord Bond and that will be the freak.”
Q went limp in Silva’s hands and by some luck of the Gods he managed to slide out from the disgusting hug. “I really don’t like that idea.” Not that he actually believed the rumours about the lord eating people, but he was inclined to believe that the man might be crazy enough to kill whoever disappointed him.
“Oh, are you saying that your inventions are not actually that great?” The town’s elder asked, face made even uglier by his attempt at looking smug. He looked like someone had repeatedly bashed him with a log in the mug.
Of course that got right under Q’s skin and he jumped on a chair. “I will have this lord of yours gasp in shock and crawl out of that fancy box of his to see my creation,” he announced loud enough for the whole world to hear him. “He will kiss my feet and you will all realize that I am not a freak or a witch and that I am indeed a genius.” It was extremely childish of him to react like that, but it was how he felt.
Half the village started to laugh while the other half started to throw mud and rocks at him, their leader red in the face as he yelled at him on top of his lungs. “You foolish boy, shut your mouth before you get us all killed with your insanity!” He then grabbed Q by his hair and threw him back in the ground, kicking him in the ribs.
He was getting ready to receive more, but before anyone else could join in on a game they probably named ‘kick the one who’s smarter than us’, an animalistic shout ordered everyone to stop. Q peeked up and saw that everyone was looking somewhere behind them and when he pushed his cracked glasses back up his nose, he realized why. They were all staring at a massive golden carriage that was pulled by six black horses.
He realized who owned the expensive thing and that he might have been heard, but when he tried to bolt away before the lord could order his execution, someone grabbed him by the hair and forced him to remain where he was.
Everyone was silent and almost completely unmoving as the carriage door opened and out came a tall man with short blond hair and green eyes dressed in a dark blue uniform with a white sash across his chest and a heavily jeweled sword on his left, his face bearing a rather large scar on right cheek. As he started to walk, the crowd parted and by the time he reached the village elder, Q had almost managed to slip out of the grip without losing his scalp or too much hair.
“My lord has heard your claims,” the man said in a strong voice and rested his gloved hand on Q’s shoulder, smacking the hand that was tugging on his hair away.
“No, no, ignore him!” The village elder said, actually falling on his knees and starting to dust the man’s boots. “He’s the village idiot. Damaged in the head, really. He does not know what he says.” Everyone in the crowd started to agree, nodding their heads and adding more insults.
Q felt his body freeze up on him when the well-dressed man touched his shoulder, surprised at how kindly he looked down at him. No pity or disgust was to be found in those green eyes and the young man felt ashamed that the man’s glove was getting dirty because Q was bleeding from his forehead. It would seem that some villagers had managed to improve their aim; then again he had been their moving target since he was old enough to walk.
“And you wanted to present him to my lord and claim that he could amaze him?” His voice boomed and a few women yelped, even Silva taking a step back. “You would sentence your weakest to death in hopes that, by comparison, my lord would be amazed by something else and show you the bottom of one of his medium sized chests?”
Of course he’d also insult him, Q thought bitterly. “You give them too much credit, kind knight,” Q started saying with disgust. He tapped the man’s gloves, silently asking him to let him go before he started limping away. “They were hoping that your lord will simply due away with me.” He stopped and laughed, flinching when the pain of his split lip caught up with him. “They are dead sure that your lord is simple minded enough to be amazed by the dances of one of these floozy women.”
The town elder started laughing nervously, trying to get the well-dressed man to look at him and ignore Q. But that was kind of hard when even the birds of the sky had fallen silent, as if they too were curious of how much deeper Q could make his grave with his sharp tongue and lack of filters and any sense of self preservation. But the young man simply couldn’t help himself from pointing out just how dumb everyone in the village was since that was his favourite pastime.
“Well, ta for that because I will get your reclusive lord to kiss my muddy feet if it is the last thing I do,” Q announced, stopping right next to the golden carriage’s door, kicking the golden stag emblem that was on it. “And then no one will tremble before him or force people out of their homes in the middle of a very sensitive experiment that might actually blow up the entire village,” he was shouting at the village now and he knew the only reason why no one was throwing rocks and insults at him was because the rich lord’s knight was sitting by his side and that they did not want to dirty the loaded lord’s transportation.
“Is that so, little one?” A horrible scratchy voice came from behind the heavy curtain that blocked the view of whomever – or if the voice was any indication, whatever – sat in it and Q jumped back and tripped and fell to the ground before the knight could catch him, the entire village erupting into deafening laughter. Truth be told, he didn't think the lord was there if the knight spoke on his behalf and in hindsight, assuming that had been a really stupid thing to do.
“The little witch is scared of a carriage,” someone shouted and he turned to shout that they were all fools who needed to clean their ears if they missed the inhuman voice that came from within. But he once again fell silent when two arms carefully lifted him from the mud and he once again felt ashamed that the silken white gloves were now caked with mud.
“I am sorry, but I thought you were a boy,” his helper muttered and Q suddenly found himself wishing to push the man in the ground and cover his lovely suit in all the mud, dirty and animal droppings that he could find.
“I am,” he seethed out, hands fisted by his side. “They just think me too skinny for one and they are also dumb enough not to know that they should call me a warlock since that is the male equivalent of a witch.” He turned his angry glare on the villagers who continued to mock him. “Even though I am not! I am a man of science, you buffoons!”
He was guided to the carriage’s other side, where he was hidden from the crowd that mocked him so. He actually felt his eyes start to sting from those treacherous tears that trailed down his cheeks whenever the teasing got too much or the pain too hard. Well, he wasn’t going to let anyone see him cry and he tried to shrug the careful hands that were resting on his shoulders, only for the soft grip to turn hard, but not painfully so.
“My lord still wishes to speak with you, boy of science.” He was surprised yet again by the lack of mockery in the words. “Do not take my words as ridicule. They come after I compared your age to mine; I am a man of war and you are a boy of science.” He said carefully, distracting Q as they got closer to his lord’s vehicle since he knew the boy had heard his lord’s terrifying voice.
“More like an unwashed kitten,” the low growl came again and Q started to struggle with more might and determination. He did not like the vibe from the lord and he was slowly starting to believe that the rumours were not just rumours. “Do you want them dead?”
That question stopped his struggles and he tilted his head, narrowing his eyes as he tried to catch a glimpse of the one talking to him. “Excuse me?”
“Are you really soft in the head as your village leader claimed or are you deaf?” the voice asked annoyed.
“I am no softer in the head than you are, my lord.” Q grumbled, actually attempting not to sound like his usual condescending self. “But I would not wish death on any of them. Why should they be released from their stupidity while I get to drown in their blood? Let them live their lives in ignorance, cut off from the miracles of owning a fully functional brain while I bask in knowledge.” He would also feel bad if he was the cause of their deaths, another disadvantage of being capable of higher thinking.
Something that could be called laughing came from the hidden man and Q took a step back, looking up and expecting to be met by furious lightning since the noise reminded him of a furious storm. “I think you are a fool if you allow them to torment you still when you could scare them away with a few fire shows and threats of a permanent visit to the afterlife,” the horrid voice continued to say, Q’s attempts at running away being blocked by his back coming into contact with a well-toned chest.
“The man who brings death to those less fortunate than himself is the real fool,” Q replied, actually covering his mouth with his hands. This was one of the times where he wished he was born a mute.
“Such a brave and foolish dirty kitten you are, little boy.” A few golden of the golden clad guards with their faces hidden behind golden helmets stepped down from the carriage and flanked Q. “I will give you whatever you ask of me if you truly amaze me tonight. I will even crawl from my carriage on my knees and kiss your dirty feet which then I will cover in the finest of shoes.”
It really felt like he was striking a deal with the devil himself, Q though, although it was a strange thing to feel since the young inventor had reached the conclusion that no God or Devil could exist – just men with money, power and looks. Yet, because he was an inventor, he was curious by nature and the idea of his intellect being recognized by a lord of legends sounded too good to turn down.
“I’d like to know what would happen if, by some strange occurrence, I fail to amaze you?”
The unseen man took a moment to think. “I will burn down each and every one of their houses then tie you to a tree and leave you to them, promising the one who does most damage to you without killing you or touching you in a sexual way a vast estate and a low nobility title.”
“You can get them to beat me up without promising all of that,” Q said, gulping and shaking a little. “I refuse.”
“You cannot refuse this because I am ordering you to build me something!” The lord thundered, hitting the inside of the carriage door so hard that it split in two. And that really shouldn’t happen since gold was hard and heavy and not easy to break. The faceless guards were holding him in place and the man in the nice clothes held his head bowed low. “They will see that you cannot run away. And do not think you can kill them easily via poison or explosion or normal weapon. They are sturdy soldiers and you are nothing to them but a fly.”
“My lord, perhaps you are-” A soft female voice came from the carriage, only to be quickly silenced by a terrifying growl and something shattering, Q suddenly afraid that the woman had been hurt by whatever animal hid behind the golden walls of the carriage.
“Do not dare finish that sentence unless you wish to say that I am kind, woman!” He clearly took a couple of breaths to calm his nerves before the spoke again. “As for you, you filthy kitten… I will come to you when the fair is over. Do not disappoint me.” The commanding voice cut through him like steel and Q supposed he was lucky that the soldiers had a hold on him or else he would have fallen again.
He was dragged away after that by the soldiers, the carriage disappearing as fast as it had appeared and he tried and succeeded to keep his tears in check until he got home, no matter how many new scrapes and cuts he got on his feet by how he was dragged through just about anything, the men not caring when he flinched or when he yelped.
After they manhandled him into his house – how they knew where he lived was a mystery for him to ponder another time, he supposed – he limped over to the chest he kept by the foot of his bed and opened it, starting to search through his notes. He was sure he was going to impress the beast of a lord. He just needed to find the right contraption and make sure he didn’t smudge the schematics too much with his tears so that he could finish building it in time.