The Captive Prince (o/o) closed

Levi lifted a hand to rub his chin thoughtfully. For the sake of their progress with Johan, he hoped he was truly asleep and hadn't heard about the tests. "As long as he learns from this experience that he is not entitled to everything, however you go about it is fine with me. You may only have to be very demanding of him when it comes to a task. As for what type of job, I didn't have many specifics in mind. I thought perhaps cleaning the rooms, but I'm not sure how much of an affect that will have on him. You have infinitely more experience with slavery in your country than I do in mine. What sort of jobs did personal slaves have there?"

“Johan could stand to learn some humility,” Levi agreed quieter, glancing over at Johan once again. Even the sight of him brought anger bubbling to his chest. “The prisoners here often do hard labor. For Johan, maybe a combination of hard labor and whatever you deem appropriate to humiliate him. It is your call. But from what I know if you, and what you said earlier about your nature, I trust won’t be unnecessarily cruel?”

“Yes, That should work well. I do put my full trust in you with all of this, and I appreciate your willingness to help, my friend,” he offered Fiori a smile of gratitude. “I’ll find an overseer tomorrow. Someone, or even a group of people who Johan couldn’t overpower.” He pulled his other foot up into the bed to cross his legs. “And I think, for the first few days after he regains some strength, he should be restrained. I don’t trust him enough to assume he won’t try and weasel his way out of this as soon as he’s physically able.”

“That makes sense, I’ll look through my options carefully.” The overseer would need to be someone who respected Johan enough as a worker, but not as a former prince. Johan had quite a bit of physical stamina from his time in combat. The work itself would have to be chosen just as carefully. “In order to incapacitate him with a collar, it would have to be a lot stronger than the flimsy silver one you gave me.”

“It certainly would put him in his place,” he agreed, “Leather would be strong enough to restrain him, and a hook could be added for a detachable chain.” Just like a dog’s collar. He didn’t have to use a chain with Boris and Alexei. They were trained well enough to stay at his heel, without a chain, when he went for a walk. At this point he trusted his dogs more than he trusted his brother.

“If you want them you can have them,” Levi replied, taking a moment to look around the room at all the ornamental blades on the walls. Not all of them were actually supposed to be used in combat, but they were sharp enough to. The handles were mostly decorative to show his wealth. “We can wrap them and put them away in a locked closet somewhere.”

Levi nodded. “I completely agree. Leaving him with the least amount of weapons possible is the safest option.” He quieted to listen to the things Fiori needed, pursing his lips on focus to commit each thing to memory. “Alright. I’ll just have to make a day of planning everything out tomorrow. The only showy clothing we have at the moment is for the royals and nobles, but I don’t think you would want him to look that distinguished. I’ll meet with the couturier and see if there’s something he can design that’s more of what you’re thinking. Do you want him to wear any jewelry?”

“Well,” Levi took in a breath. There was a lot to explain about the jewelry, but he knew he could have to condense it down for a brief conversation. “Most jewelry is for fashion. Hair and hair jewelry are the main show of status. Rings are seldom worn outside of high nobility and royalty.” He lifted his hand to his face, grazing his finger over his lip piercing that had been tended to before the ceremony. “Piercings, however, are expensive and high maintenance, so they’re mostly a sign of wealth. Where the piercing is placed is, in essence, a wish to better themselves as a person.” As far as Levi knew, Ialdir had nothing to do with the practice. It was more superstition than prayer. “Every time it is taken care of, cleaned, and kept from infection, it nurtures the wish. I have a lip piercing for good speaking ability, for example. There are too many wishes to assign on a human body, so the piercings can mean different things among different people. If you’d like Johan’s appearance to be trophy-like, I might suggest a navel piercing. As far as I know, they are vastly unpopular in our modestly dressed culture. If a noble had a navel piercing, no one would see it anyway.”

“In that case, the piercing would show your wealth instead of his. They can be small jewels,” Levi added. They would have to find knew rings for the piercings with different symbolism than he had before. “Johan won’t be starting the hard labor until he’s recovered, I’m sure. Would it still be to risky to give him the piercing now so that it is healed by the time he starts the labor?”

“Understandable,” Levi replied with a considering nod, and a “It is completely your choice whether to or not. I have enough decisions to make anyway without thinking about Johan.” Navel piercings were also usually shied away from in order to prevent the possibility of infection. Levi understood Fiori’s caution in giving Johan a piercing there, especially now.

“Oh, Fiori.” A warm smile spread across Levi’s face. He hadn’t realized Fiori didn’t understood his implication from earlier. “I was talking about you. Ever since I met you, you’ve given me nothing but good advice. You would be very valuable with making decisions regarding the war and your country. You know your uncle and his tactics better than anyone here. Mordecai is a great advisor, but he knows very little about Usige. I would benefit greatly receiving opinions based on different perspectives.”

“Wonderful!” Levi’s smile grew wider at Fiori’s acceptance. “Oh, He’ll get used to you, especially as you get to spend more time together. He’s only cold to the people he doesn’t know very well, but I’m sure he’ll warm up to you eventually. I promise he’s not as bigoted as my brother.” Mordecai certainly had his assumptions of what Usigens were like, just as Levi once had, but it stemmed from rumors and misinformation.

Levi followed his gaze to Johan, who had attempted to shift into his side and failed. “Hah, That seems like a valid conclusion. From what I’ve gathered he thinks himself superior of everyone individually rather than entire races. If he truly hated Usigens themselves I’m sure he would have just killed me, himself, instead of cooperating with them.”

“He thinks you a beast because he knows you can overpower him. He’s one of the most skilled fighters in all of Nord Widona, but you’ve bested him in a fight before. Essentially, if I didn’t know any better, I would think he’s terrified of you.” He met Fiori’s gaze when it snapped back to him. “I wonder that same thing, myself. He wasn’t trained as heavily to be king as I was—am. But I have a theory.” He glanced back to his brother again. “If it weren’t for his war fame and battle skills he wouldn’t be as popular. He wouldn’t be known as anything except the second prince and maybe the surrogate father of the next heir, but only if his older brother somehow managed to get married to another man,” he murmured.

“He might not think he is afraid, or he might be lying to himself,” Levi echoed the soft laughter for a moment, and finished with a sigh. “He certainly has never been the most ‘important’ prince in the palace. And after Mikhail was born and I really started my studies to be the future king, my parents spent the least amount of their time with him. He spent a lot of the time in the kitchens, and talked to me about his conversations with Cora, one of the cooks, when we used to share a bedroom.”