The sun rose directly into my eyes, waking me up. I tried to lift my arm to shield my face from the sun but was still far too sore to do much of anything. I could hear Selyse shifting around, making random noises while she slept. Having the sun wake you up while being essentially paralyzed was frustrating, but not being able to move in general was the worst part.
“Selyse, hey, wake up!” I shouted, in hopes I’d break her from her slumber.
I could tell she heard me as she quit making sounds, and it sounded as her quiet snores faded.
“Selyse! I need your help!” I tried again, hoping she’d be awake enough to hear me.
She rolled over and looked in my direction while rubbing her eyes. She was still half asleep but trying to figure out what was happening. I continued to sit there with the sun shining in my face before she woke up enough to realize what was going on, running over to me.
“Master Thadeus, what’s wro- ohhh, the light, okay, uhh, one second.” She said, running to the door. She quickly threw it open and I heard her open another door.
She returned a few moments later with one of the much taller female Angel servants, pointing at the window.
“Oh no. Selyse, grab the blanket from the bottom bunk there and bring it to me. I’m going to use the ladder to prop it up to block this window for now. It should work.” she said, looking at me concerned.
Selyse nodded, quickly running over to the bunk to retrieve the blanket while the other one grabbed the ladder, bringing it to the window. Under the blank was a thick layer of straw, some flew onto the floor since Selyse was trying to rush. She brought it to the servant who had been standing there patiently. After being handed the blanket, she discovered a small gap between the very top of the window and the bricks which she had used to secure the top of the blanket while using the ladder to hold it in place over the window.
She turned to face me, walking slowly towards me.
“Master Angel Thadeus, my name is Elise and however I may serve you, please let me know. I have been told about the situation regarding you and want you to know that myself, Selyse, and the others will be available for you night and day during your recovery and after.” She said reaching the end of my bed, bowing.
I shifted my eyes towards her, making eye contact. She looked briefly before turning away.
“Sorry Master Angel, but it is not appropriate for a servant such as myself to make eye contact with her master unless given special circumstances.” She said, looking at the ground and sounding as if I would punish her.
“Elise?”
“Yes Master, what is it?” she asked.
“Elise, I request that you go fetch the others and bring them in here, so I do not have to repeat myself more than once.” I calmly stated to her. She nodded, exiting the room briefly before returning with the others.
They lined up in two rows of 3, with Selyse standing next to the bed facing them. I noticed they made sure to put the humans in the front as they were the shortest. They dropped to a knee, placing one of their hands flat on the ground in front of them, bowing.
“Selyse, stand next to them.” I requested of her. Despite not wanting to use these servants for much of anything, I was going to have to depend on them for the next few days or less. Up until this incident, I had no intention of using servants to do much of anything for me, but given the circumstances, I didn’t feel too bad about it.
Selyse nodded and stood next to them, being tugged at by another to enter the same position as them. She didn’t comply, which I had expected.
“Elise, I want you to close the door.” I stated as I didn’t want the guard down the hallway to hear what I was about to tell them.
She stood up from her position and walked over to the door. She closed it gently before returning to her spot on the floor. “Done my lord.” She said.
I tried to bend my head slightly in their direction, but my neck was still incredibly stiff. Since Selyse was the only one looking at me, she looked down at the others.
“Hey, Master Thadeus’ whole body hurts still and he can’t move. We need to move so he can see us better! Go to the end of the bed, or on it. There’s plenty of room for us all to sit around him.” She said, in a frustrated tone.
The women all looked up, realizing that she may have been right.
“Selyse, you are the youngest of us here, and unless Master-” Elise spoke up before I interrupted her.
“Oh, for the love of… shut up and get up here. Selyse speaks on my behalf too.” I stated, sounding very annoyed that they were making this difficult. Had I not been bedridden, it would not have been a huge deal, but I didn’t want to start off the day listening to bickering amongst them. They quickly got up, helping Selyse and the other two humans onto the bed before forming around me. Selyse found her way next to my head, with a big smile.
“Now listen, when it is just me around, I want you to act as how you’d act around each other. I do not require all the same fancy addressing that the other Angels in this forsaken kingdom want. I figured you would have caught onto that by now, especially with how the one next to my head acts. Although, tone it down a bit as Selyse sometimes overdoes it. Under normal circumstances, I would not ask much of you, but things are different right now, so I am going to rely on a couple of you to help me until my body can recover from the run-in with that Lich.” I paused, seeing if they had anything to say, or had any questions.
“My lord, do you require any sensual favors while we remain your faithful servants?” one of them asked, sounding as if she was thinking it'd help end the stiffness with sensual stimulation or something.
As I was thinking about an answer, Elise spoke up.
“Forgive us, Master Thadeus, we are not used to such a gracious Master Angel who wishes for us to be treated as equals. We shall do our best to adjust to the way you do things, while also keeping up the appearance that we are your slaves to do with us as you wish.” She said while sweeping her gaze amongst the others on the bed. She placed her hand on mine.
“With that being said, we shall do what we can to further assist our new Master as he has shown he will do what it takes to protect us from the monsters who once roamed this floor.” She said, quietly, but also with a grin.
I continued to explain to all of them how things would be while under my watch. They seemed surprised that I had no intent to use them for sexual gratification nor make them do all the heavy lifting while I sat around doing nothing, with the next few days being somewhat of an exception.
Once I had finished, I asked them if they all agreed to what we had talked about, receiving a nod from everyone. Selyse perched herself next to my head, humming softly to herself while touching my face. She appeared to enjoy the sensation of my soft feathery face against her fingers, as she continued running her hands through my face. I came to realize that she may have never had the chance opportunity to touch someone like me before, as such interactions were typically forbidden unless special permission was granted.
The next few days felt like months as I was just laying on a bed, with an occasional visit from the Healer to check on my condition as well as a couple of random guards that Gabriel would send to ensure that the girls were doing their jobs properly. During one of the random check-ins, one of the guards thought he had overheard Elise and a couple of other servants talking about how they spent their newfound freedom and brought it to my attention that my servants may be trying to plan an escape, to which I convinced the guard it was untrue and just a game they liked to play every now and again.
Not surprisingly, the guards believed what I said. They understood that doubting my words would mean doubting Gabriel himself, which could lead to serious consequences, even death. As Gabriel's right hand, I held the power to send them on missions or have them executed, making it incredibly dangerous for them to question my authority. Although I could have easily abused this power, I chose not to.
I spent quite a lot of time in bed, thinking about what could possibly come next for myself or for the females I had, in a way, freed. I knew that if they broke character in front of the wrong people, I may not be able to save them and that it could happen any day now as a couple of them did talk back to the guards here and there. They understood the risks I was putting myself in by giving them such freedom, but oddly nobody had reported the mishaps to anyone but myself. At least, I had assumed that as Gabriel nor any major guards had come to question me about them and their attitudes.
As I laid there, wondering about all of this, I heard the pitter-patter of bare feet running against the stone floor.
“Master, Master!” Selyse shouted as she came running into the room, holding something in her pants. She came in, appearing to be out of breath as she held something in her hand.
“What do you got there, Sely?”
“Gabriel requested I come up to his office, so I went up there. He asked me to hand this to you as they’re pretty sure in two days, you’ll be fully recovered enough to go back to active duty. I asked for an extra five sunrises, but the Master Healer said you’d be okay in just two, and they have a special assignment for you.” She said, in between regaining her breath.
She approached me on placed a sealed letter with Gabriel's marking on the back. It was an average-looking envelope, cream in color sealed with wax, and on the front said “Thaddeus’ eyes only.”. Selyse handed me a dagger from the table, which I very carefully opened. I quickly skimmed through the letter and realized that it was an interesting mission I was going to be placed on, and I understood why they needed me in the allotted period of time.
“Selyse, grab the others, there's an important meeting.” I quickly said.
She looked at me, nodded, and ran out of the room. I laid there, concerned about what may happen to them if I couldn’t pull any strings to ensure their safety, as this next task was both high risk and high priority on Gabriel’s behalf. After a few moments, they all returned to the room. While still incredibly stiff, I attempted to sit myself up so I could address them sitting up straight. To my surprise I managed to move sideways but found it difficult to sit straight up. Elise leaned into me as though she was going to hug me and pulled me forward a bit, helping me straight up.
“Thank you, Elise. That was incredibly helpful”
“Anytime m’lord. What is it that you wanted to tell us?”
I looked at them all, then back down at the orders in my hands.
“In the next couple of days, I am being sent on essentially a retrieval mission. There’s been a mishap that requires Gabriel and the other Arch’s to send their best men to retrieve an important package and some guards. Then after that, I will be relocated to another place that Gabriel reigns over; the High Gardens.” I paused, looking to see if they had any questions they possibly wanted to ask.
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“I will be placed around there to further protect whatever this package is. Now, I don’t know if I can bring you all with me, but I want to let you know that if I am able to, I will bring you all with me…” I looked around the room, motioning for someone to shut the door, as what I was about to say would’ve been considered an act of treason. One of the girls in the back quickly stood up, checked outside the door, giving a thumbs up, then quietly closed the door before returning to her spot and sitting down.
I lowered my voice level, “I will try to bring you all with me to further ensure that your safety and freedom continues to be my top priority. I cannot make any promises though as there is limited space in this new place, but if things go well, you should be able to come with.”
To my surprise, none of them seemed worried. Not even Selyse. They all just sat there with neutral looks before one of them spoke up.
“Master. We know you have the intentions for us, so we shall trust you in this as we know you’d never just abandon us and we know you will do what you can to keep us safe.”
The rest of them nodded in agreement.
I was taken aback by how quickly their hesitation shifted to trust. Especially since with me, their lives were at risk. They knew I wasn’t like the others though. Unlike the others, I had no intentions of harming them, nor running them ragged, or using them for my gratification. I wanted to do more for them, but given the circumstances, I could not.
I sighed, knowing that while I wanted to sit around for a few more days, I had to instantly get better. I looked at my hand, knowing I was going to have to heal myself, and knew that I could have done that the entire time to recover much quicker than allowing myself to naturally heal.
“What’s the matter, Master?” Selyse asked, sounding worried.
I looked at her, giving her a sincere smile.
“Selyse, Elise, and the rest of you. I want to thank you for taking such amazing care of me throughout how many days have passed. You are all incredibly amazing, but it’s time I quit messing around. I could have healed myself at any time, but opted to lay around instead to help myself relax, before having to go on any further missions.”
They all looked at each other, laughing lightly. None of them looked mad at me for spilling the truth. It was like they enjoyed the time they were able to spend with me. Selyse smacked at my knee playfully.
“You big jerk, you could’ve healed yourself this entire time?” she demanded.
“More than likely. Sorry to worry you all this way.”
They all looked at each other, and everyone but Selyse bowed.
“Thank you, Master Angel, for allowing us to help you somehow and for allowing us to have the freedom you’ve given us while in your care. We are not mad but are proud to serve under such a kind master.” Elise stated.
I looked at her, thinking about how it was odd to me that I deceived them to some degree, but they weren’t upset by it. But I shook the feeling off as I powered up the healing ability, focusing the energy on ensuring that anything potentially sprained, fractured, or broken was restored back to its once normal state. I could feel my entire body start to loosen up, as the energy flowed through every part of my body.
After a couple of minutes, I stood up. The servants backed up, giving me enough room to stand up so I could stretch and do a bit of jumping to ensure that I was still able to move with ease. To my surprise, healing myself worked far better than I expected. But it caused me to wonder if the Master Healer also wanted me to remain under bed rest for longer, as he could have also healed me to this point but chose not to.
“Interesting…” I thought out loud.
Selyse patted at my leg, trying to get my attention. I looked down at her.
“What is it?”
“Does this mean you’re going to leave a couple of days early?” she asked, slight tears forming in her eyes.
I smiled at her, nodding and gently rubbing my hand on her head. Her hair felt rough, suggesting that maybe she hadn’t bathed in quite some time.
“When was the last time you have all bathed? Sel’s hair feels as though she hasn’t bathed in who knows how long.”
Everyone looked at me, shrugging, indicating that it may have been quite a while.
“Very well, if there is a way for you all to clean yourselves, I ask that you all do so as I’d also like for you all to be clean as well.” I said, sounding stern.
The other problem I had was that I didn’t know if this floor had a place to bathe and if it didn’t, I would have to accompany them to another floor and babysit them. While the other servants were females like Selyse, there were slight differences between human females and angelic females in terms of what could be seen. Which, is why Selyse had to wear a cloth over her chest. Another thought I had was that Humans typically have a strong stench to them as our noses are far more powerful than that of humans. So if she smelt normal to me, then it also meant that myself and the others all smelt the same.
“Hmm. I suppose we all could potentially use a bath. Elise, can you smell Selyse?”
Elise looked at me confused, but sniffed around the group of us, before shaking her head.
“Everyone smells the same to me right now. I know the last time I took a bath was… well, I don’t remember.” she said, trying to count on her fingers.
“Hmm. Where is the nearest bath?”
“Well m’lord, we’d have to go down four floors, but the bathhouse is generally reserved for only those who are permitted such as yourself. For this floor, we’d have to get a bucket of water and give ourselves a spot-bath.” Elise said, sounding almost defeated.
“Excuse me a moment. Everyone, please remain on this floor while I go find out if I can reserve it for all of us.” I stated with authority.
I shuffled through the girls as they remained sitting on the floor, out the door, and started down the steps when I heard a voice behind me.
“Ah, Master Thaddeus, it is good to see you around and walking. Gabriel will be happy to hear that you are up and about. Where is it that you plan to go? May I be of assistance master?”
I turned around, seeing a guard in gold and white, suggesting he was a guard of the Holy Order.
“Ah, the perfect person to run into!” I exclaimed. For once, I was happy to see one of these guys. “My servants are filthy and smelling them displeases me. I’d like to know if I could reserve a bath for myself and them?”
The guard looked at me with doubt.
“As the right hand, I want to ensure that I maintain a certain standard of cleanliness for not only myself but for them as well. Do you expect the right hand to remain covered in filth and allow his servants to do the same?” I said, trying to sound convincing.
The guard instantly dropped to a kneeling position with his head down.
“Sorry sir, I did not think about it that way. I will reserve it for you right away and will report back to you as soon as I can.” He stated loudly, before quickly standing back up and running down the stairs.
I walked back into the room, clapped my hands together, and found myself staring at everyone not sure what to say. Given how loud that guard had been, I assumed that everyone had heard what was going about to happen. Thinking about it myself, I had only bathed one time that I knew of and it was pretty early on in my days here.
I walked over to where my armor and weapons were, thinking maybe they’d be covered in filth as well since I spent quite a bit of time in a swamp. To my surprise, my armor was spotless. I felt someone touch my side, which caused me to turn around.
“Master Thaddeus, while you slept, we took it upon ourselves to ensure your armor and weapons were clean and ready for your next mission. They were dirty and since you’ve done a lot for us, we took it upon ourselves to clean your gear while you slept.”
I looked at this, not knowing what her name was. Her feathers were gray, with a hint of silver mixed in. Blue eyes and about half my height. She had a scar on her head, indicating she may have been attacked at some point in her life and left for it to heal naturally.
“What is your name?” I asked.
She kneeled, looking down at the ground. “Master, my name doesn’t matter. Just know that I am happy to serve.”
I bent down to be at face level with her before lifting her head up to look at me in the eyes.
“I asked you for your name. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t ask.” I stated, trying to sound reassuring.
Her eyes adverted my gaze, and she didn’t seem too interested in telling me, or it was possible that she couldn’t remember her name.
“It’s fine if you do not wish to share your name with me. I will not pressure you.”
Elise tapped me on the shoulder, shaking her head, motioning for me to follow her. I stood up and followed her outside the room.
“When she was younger… she took an arrow to the head, causing her to forget who she is and because of her being well… a lesser, but could still perform her duties, nobody cared. Please forgive me if I’m out of line” she stated, body language suggesting that she felt uncomfortable talking about it.
I nodded, but my eyes ventured to the stairs as I heard the clanking armor running up the stairs. A few moments later, the same guard from earlier emerged from the spiral staircase. In his hands, he had a piece of parchment paper rolled up.
“Master Thaddeus”, he stated as he started to unwrap the parchment, reading it out loud. “Dear Master Thaddeus, under normal circumstances, your servants would not be allowed to bathe within the private baths reserved for all important members within Gabriel’s castle, but given that the right hand has requested a bath for him and his servants as one, I will accommodate this request. However, the servants of the bathhouse will not be provided as you have your own servants to bathe you and each other.
If these terms are acceptable, gather up your servants and make your way down here. You’ll be allotted a certain amount of time to come down here before this offer closes, which will be soon. So, you better hurry.”
The guard finished reading it, wrapping the parchment back into its original rolled-up form, and approaching me to place it in my hand. He bowed, then took off. As I turned around, Elise had already taken the initiative to gather up the rest of the group and formed a line behind me. I had no clue where the bathing area was, so I put her up front to lead us down the stairs into the right area. However, she ended up getting back behind me stating that it was forbidden for a servant to be hearding me around.
We quickly made our way down four floors, discovering everything was labeled. There was a guard outside the bathhouse who greeted us as we arrived at the floor entrance.
“Over here Master Thaddeus, we’ve been waiting for you. You’ve been given until sundown to ensure that you and… them, are cleaned to your expectations. You have about an hour, so I suggest you get in there.” He stated as he moved away from the door. Knowing that we had maybe an hour at max before sunset, I quickly ushered him aside.
Upon entering the room, I was shocked to see how large the bath was. It was enough for at least one hundred me-sized angels and we had it all to ourselves.
“I shall return in a bit sir. Your servants will clean up after you are finished.” He stated.
I nodded at him as the last of my servants came in, and they shut the door.
Selyse was the first one to get completely undressed and hop into the water, motioning for the others to follow her. They all looked at me as if they wanted my permission to get in.
“Well? This is for you too… hop on in…” I stated, trying to make them understand that this was for them too.
Elise looked at me, sliding one of her arms out of the rags and looking slightly embarrassed.
“Master.. if I may… could you turn around? I mean… if you don’t want to, it’s fine…” she stammered.
I nodded, facing toward the door to give Elise and the others some time to undress and get into the water. I wanted to show them that in private, I would respect their wishes, that it wasn’t a façade and that I really didn’t want to have the Master/Servant relationship with them. While I knew that I could not truly free them, the least I could do is to ensure that they are safe and comfortable.
Once I had determined they were all already in the water, I turned around and my assumption was kind of right. To my surprise though, all the servants had taken on a human form, which confused me as they were shy about watching them undress, but somehow were okay with the nudity. I looked over at Elise, who made eye contact with me and shrugged at her.
“My apologies master. We’ve had others watch us undress and it is something that we are uncomfortable with. Even if it’s you watching us. However, we are okay with… this… and uhh… if you want to… you know… our bodies are yours…” Elise, stated, sounding hesitant.
“No thank you Elise. I’d like for us to stay focused on ensuring that we come out of this smelling fresh. Please remain in your normal Angelic form as your human forms seem and smell clean.”
They all switched back to their Angelic forms, realizing that I was in the right. If we had ended our time there with their feathers not wet, it may raise suspicion, and we were already pushing my power as the right hand by requesting for them to be able to access this otherwise very private place meant more for only those of us approved.
As I stepped in, both Elise and Selyse came over to me with a scrub brush in hand. I tried to sit down, but they demanded I remained standing so they could ensure that I was cleaned. Selyse was much smaller than Elise, so she focused more making sure that my knees and below where cleaned, while Elise was able to reach up to my mid-chest.
After they finished washing me, they worked on washing each other which resulted in a little bit of splashing so I had to remind them that while I would enjoy splashing one another, our time was limited and we shouldn’t abuse this potentially one time event. Before we left, I ensured that everyone was cleaned up and placed back where it was originally found, before finally leaving. The window outside the door suggested that we had another half an hour or so before we had to be out, but I didn’t want to push the limits of what my power as the right hand could surpass.
We made our way back to up to our floor, with everyone but Selyse, still a bit wet. Looking back at it, I think the others had chosen a human form as human bodies were easier to dry, but they presented themselves as their normal bird-like forms the entire time leaving me no choice than to ensure that they bathed in those forms.
As the sun started to escape the view of the window, a few lanterns hanging around the room lit up, allowing the room to be somewhat dim and every returned to their room aside from Selyse who opted to sleep at the foot of my bed as if she was a house pet. In fear of kicking her off the bed, I suggested she came to my right side and sleep there. She didn’t hesitate, laying her head against my hand before quickly falling asleep. I laid there a few extra moments in silence, wondering what this mission could be.
But… that would be an issue for the next day. I closed my eyes and found myself drifting off rather quickly.