James plastered a wan smile on his face and struggled to erase the fear from his eyes. He could not bear to see that emotion clouding Justin’s eyes and besides, he had learned nothing sinister about Lord Joshua. All he had were strange words from a servant and his own uneasy feelings.

James felt an immense relief when he saw Justin’s bright smile return. He walked towards him and smiled again, a genuine one this time. He decided he would try to find out more about Lord Joshua later, for now he wanted to take advantage of his time left with the curly-headed angel.

He gestured broadly out to the expansive fields before them.

"Would you like to take a walk?" he asked.

Justin looked at him quizzically before repeating the word. "Walk?"

James moved a few steps forward and repeated the word while pointing at his feet, making sure not to break eye contact with Justin.

Justin laughed his melodious laugh and stepped forward. "Walk," he said confidently as he nodded.

They fell in step with each other as they walked in comfortable silence, both enjoying the feel of the warm sun on their bodies and the pure scent of the countryside. After a while they came upon a small clearing dotted with huge trees.

A perfect place to stop and rest.

"Sit?" James asked as he slowed down his pace and indicated the ground.

Justin understood and dropped down gracefully to his knees, then folded his legs underneath his body as he sat on the ground. James followed suit, surprised and pleased that Justin had picked up on his meaning so easily.

Once situated, James reached out a tentative hand and stroked the wing he knew to be injured with incredible care. "It is healing well. Much quicker than I expected," he said as his hand probed along the edge of the break.

Justin winced at the flare of pain that came with the contact but made no sound. James caught the look and edged closer to him. "I…I am so sorry. I did not mean to hurt…" James trailed off, leaving his apology unfinished as he caught sight of the bruises that still adorned Justin’s face. Bruises that were only now starting to fade. His heart contracted painfully at the thought that his very own father had been responsible for this damage.

Once again he found himself tentatively reaching out his hand toward Justin, only this time his fingers gently brushed against his bruised cheek, then lingered there. James did not speak, knowing that his voice would abandon him if he tried. He settled for letting his touch speak for him, hoping that it could communicate what he himself could not.

Justin looked at him with a gaze so intense that for a moment James found himself forgetting that anything else in the world existed. For that moment there were only those deep blue eyes and the soft feel of Justin’s skin underneath his fingertips. James found himself leaning forward, drawn to the endless depths of those eyes, wanting only to be nearer to them, to drown in them and discover their secrets.

He continued to inch forward slowly, as if drawn in towards Justin’s face by a force that he could not resist.

Did not want to resist.

A shrill call from a bird flying overhead jolted him cruelly out of his near trance and he sat back abruptly, letting his hand drop away from Justin’s face to settle in his lap. A flush of embarrassment overtook him and he found himself looking down at the ground, suddenly fascinated by the grass on which they sat.

‘What must he think of me?’ James wondered as he studied the sharp emerald blades beneath him.

As if he had heard his thoughts, Justin tapped James on the shoulder lightly. When James reluctantly looked back up, he found Justin looking at him, amusement shining in his eyes. James was about to say something when Justin pointed to a yellow flower nearby and gave him a questioning look.

James, not understanding, shook his head in confusion. Justin then pointed to it again and said, "Horse?" and smiled.

James laughed, his embarrassment gone as if it had never been. "No," he said. "Flower."

"Flower," Justin repeated, then pointed at the tree behind them.

"Tree," said James.

"Tree," Justin said, then looked around for other objects to find out the names to.

They passed the time in this manner, James teaching, Justin learning; both laughing until their eyes began to droop under the power of the afternoon sun. As they stretched their bodies down on the grass, Justin looked up to the sky and James noticed a shadow pass along Justin’s face. A shadow of sadness.

"You miss your home, don’t you?" James asked aloud, although he knew Justin would not understand his question.

Justin glanced at him and James could clearly see the sadness. It was more than just a passing shadow now, it overtook Justin’s entire face, making him appear tired and frail.

As Justin once more turned his face toward the sky, James whispered softly into the light breeze, "You will get back home someday, Justin. You will." Then he closed his tired eyes and gave in to his body’s yearning for sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun was low over the horizon by the time James again opened his eyes. He sat up slowly, his stiff body protesting the action, and looked around in confusion. It took only a moment for him to remember where he was and that he had fallen asleep out here with Justin. Glancing over to where Justin lay, he saw that he too was beginning to wake, albeit it at a much slower pace.

James cursed inwardly as he noticed the position of the sun and the cool sharpness in the air. He had not meant to sleep for so long. Damn it, half the day was gone now! He stood up quickly and watched as Justin did the same, then he turned toward the direction of the main house and said, "We have to go back."

Again, Justin seemed to understand him and they both began to walk back towards Lord Joshua’s manor. By the time they reached the front door, the sun was beginning to dip down toward the mountains in the distant west and the air had grown cold. They knocked upon the door, and, being allowed to enter, walked into the main room of the house where they found both Joseph and Lord Joshua sitting by the fire.

"Ah, there you two are. I was beginning to worry about you," Lord Joshua said as his eyes fixed on Justin.

"My apologies. We lost track of time while exploring your estate. It is very impressive," James said diplomatically.

"Yes well, as long as you are both safe, there is no harm done. We were about to have a drink before dinner. Would you care to join us?" Lord Joshua asked.

"Yes, thank you," James responded as he moved to sit in a vacant chair.

"I have arranged for my tailor to measure Justin for some clothing. Christopher will show him the way."

James turned and noticed for the first time that Christopher was also in the room. He had been so quiet and still, it was almost as if were a shadow instead of a man.

Christopher stepped forward and held his hand out to Justin invitingly. Justin turned towards James and questioned him with his eyes.

"Yes, go with Christopher," James said as he tried to smile reassuringly. The unease that he had felt earlier had returned with a vengeance, but he somehow knew that Justin would be safe with the dark-haired man.

Justin turned and followed Christopher out of the room, leaving James alone with his brother and the man who would take Justin away from him.

James grimaced as he was handed his drink. Despite his active participation in the conversation, he could not stop thinking about Justin.

‘Will you be safe here, Justin? How will I know?’ he asked himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Justin was returned in time for dinner, and as the meal progressed, James’ unease continued to grow. Between Christopher’s silent, brooding presence and Lord Joshua’s constant staring at Justin, James found he could barely eat.

Suddenly, halfway through the meal, Lord Joshua stood up, leaving a great portion of his food untouched. "Gentlemen, please excuse my rudeness, but I can no longer wait to truly inspect my new purchase," he announced.

James tensed at the man’s words but kept his mouth clamped shut. He felt a hand on his arm and looked down to see that it was Joseph’s.

"Again, if you need anything at all during the night, please see Christopher." As he spoke he walked to Justin’s side. "Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure doing business with you. Your money shall be ready for you tomorrow."

Lord Joshua looked down at Justin and held out his hand. "Come," he said.

Justin looked over at James, confusion evident all over his face. James gritted his teeth and forced himself to nod. He could not however, force a smile. The moment he had been dreading had arrived and he was not handling it well.

Not seeing the usual smile on James’ face appeared to make Justin even more confused and he stayed in his seat instead of rising as expected.

Lord Joshua saw the hesitation, but his impatience was far too great to be gentle. He leaned forward and grabbed Justin’s arm, pulling him quickly out of the chair.

This time, James did not even try to control himself. He stood up and in a low voice said, "Don’t treat him that way."

Lord Joshua whirled around to face him, not for one moment letting go of Justin’s arm. "What did you say to me?"

"You do not have to treat him so roughly," James said tensely.

"I can do whatever I want with him, or have you already forgotten that you sold him to me? He belongs to me now. You have no say."

James knew the other man was right. He looked down at Joseph, whose eyes were silently telling him to be quiet. He then looked at Justin, whose beautiful face now showed only fear. He had never in his life felt so helpless.

"Justin," he said softly, suddenly feeling as if he had failed the angel. His angel.

Lord Joshua took the near whisper as defeat and promptly began pulling Justin with him, half-dragging him as Justin resisted. Justin managed to turn in the grip and cry out, "James," in a voice so full of confusion and fear that James was compelled to move.

James felt Joseph’s restraining hand on his arm again, yet this time he shrugged it off and ran towards Justin. He placed his hands on Justin’s shoulders and stopped him.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lord Joshua yelled as he too stopped in mid-stride.

James ignored Lord Joshua and leaned in towards Justin’s ear. He knew that Justin could not understand him now, but he hoped that Justin would be able to remember the words and someday know their meaning.

"I am so sorry. So sorry, Justin. Your wing will heal and when it does, I want you to leave this place, to fly away and go home. Go home."

James felt Justin’s body being yanked away from his and heard Justin’s final cry. He watched as Lord Joshua dragged his beautiful angel away into the unknown recesses of the house.

He turned towards Joseph, whose face was sad with empathy for his brother. "He is gone," he whispered as he fought to hold off tears. "Joseph, he is gone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lord Joshua sighed in frustration as he took in the sight before him. His bed, usually kept immaculately clean, was already spotted with blood. It was much too early in the night for blood to be spilled, but the creature had been so uncooperative that he had had no choice but to lash out at him. So far he had done nothing but cry and pull away from him and call for that peasant that brought him here; that James. As if James could somehow help him. Lord Joshua silently laughed at that thought, then brought his attention back to Justin. The angel was now cowering on the far end of the bed and nursing his bleeding mouth. He looked exquisite.

As Justin continued to weep, Lord Joshua noticed that his tears appeared to glisten gold in the warm glow of the lamplight. Fascinated, and more excited than he had ever been, Lord Joshua began to crawl towards Justin, a smile of anticipation curling on the edge of his lips.