Robert is a pet, a human pleasure slave, and well past his prime.
So when teenage Duke Thomar of Aylian buys him via mail order, Robert first suspects a dreadful misunderstanding. The duke is young, handsome and headstrong, and the very last thing he needs while struggling to secure his reign over his planet is an aging bargain bin pet by his side.
Only, the more time Robert spends with Thomar, the more he learns that the young duke rarely makes mistakes. Unless, of course, Thomar dashes off on one of his mad adventures, which Robert increasingly becomes a part of…
‘The Pet and his Duke’ is a standalone m/m romance novel in the ‘Virasana Empire’ universe. Written by Rainbow Book Award winners Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus, it is a story of self-determination and love, and Happily-Ever-Afters in the most unlikely places.
Character Interview: Robert
by Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus
For a while now, Robert, the pet of Duke Thomar of Aylian, has taken an increasingly prominent role in the limelight. First only seen at the side of his owner, he now appears frequently on his own and is filling in for the Duke on more than one social occasion.
Who is this man who seemingly appeared out of nowhere and is now becoming the public face of Toraskah Palace? Is he just following the duke’s orders or does he have an agenda of his own? And how does he manage to stay this impeccably groomed all the time?
Our magazine has managed to secure a rare, exclusive interview, and Robert had graciously invited us into the ducal palace, which under his hand is finally losing the last traces of the invasion.
Interviewer: “Good morning … Master Robert? Mister Robert? What is the correct title here?”
Robert: “That would actually be just my name, Robert. I am a slave and a pet, and as thus I have neither a surname nor right to any sort of title. I keep saying so, too but many people have still taken to calling me Master Robert, which, honestly, I find a little scary.” He smiles indulgently. “I keep looking over my shoulder for a Guild Master who will want my head for the insolence.”
“Just Robert, then. Thank you for agreeing to do this interview with us. Or should we be thanking His Grace, the Duke?”
“His Grace has neither the time nor any interest in managing such trivia as whether I give interviews or not. So thanking me is appropriate.”
“So, what we hear is true, then? That His Grace does give you a lot of freedom to do as you please?”
“He does, yes. He is a very generous and kind master in that regard. He knows that he can trust me to always have his best interest at heart.”
“The populace seems to agree with you. He is quite popular with the people of Aylian. Do you find that surprising for a Duke as young as he is?”
“Not at all. The populace of Aylian wants what all citizens of the Empire want: to live their lives with minimal disruptions, safe in the knowledge that their ruler cares for them just enough to not overtax them, and to worry about the big picture so they don’t have to. That is the approach of the Emperor, and it is also the approach Duke Thomar has adopted. Frankly, he is very busy with wrangling our demon neighbours of the Aliaerean Empire, the Guilds and nobility from all over the Empire who wish access to the demon realm for trade and politics.”
Now with the relations with the Aliaerean Empire slowly normalising, Demons are becoming an increasingly normal sight on the streets of the capital. I expect they are even more common at the palace? Are they truly as peaceful as they seem now, or should we expect another attack?”
“That is really a question you should be asking the church, I am sure both Temple Belligra and the Verata will have a lot to say about this. But as far as I can tell, they are genuinely interested in peaceful trade rather than conquest. At least now that they have learned they can’t compete with the might of the Virasana Empire.”
“That is reassuring to hear. Now, let’s get back to you and your relationship with the Duke. Him being a noble of House Quetzal, I expect your sex life is … shall we say, a little on the kinky side?”
“If you are asking whether the Duke enjoys hurting me, that is a no. Are you familiar with the Gardening Manuals of House Quetzal?”
“Gardening? No, I’m afraid not.”
“House Quetzal grades their sexual exploits into four volumes, called the ‘Manual of Gardening for all Seasons’. Spring Gardening is all about foreplay. Summer Gardening is about anything which entails penetration. It mostly is a great collection of possible positions. Autumn Gardening is about what you would think of as kinky – pain play, bondage, that sort of thing. Winter Gardening is about all variants of sex which leaves one or more partners dead at the end. The Duke mostly sticks to the Spring and Summer volumes. Plus a few exceptions we both enjoy from the Autumn volume.”
“Isn’t that rather unusual for a Quetzal?”
“It is not for me to judge what my Master enjoys. My job is to make him happy. But may I remind you that our Good Emperor is a Quetzal, too? Does it seem to you like he would enjoy hurting his pets?”
“Well … no. Of course not.”
“And please don’t forget the cardinal rule of House Quetzal: ‘Follow no rules but your own’. So wondering if something is unusual for a Quetzal or not is moot anyway.”
“I see what you mean. Let me move on to another question our readers are surely wondering about: You are the Duke’s only pet and have been for nearly three years now. Do you think he will ever get more pets? And if so, would that be okay with you?”
“His Grace is young and can be quite a handful, so some days I wouldn’t mind having a co-pet or two. And I can’t say I would mind some company either. Or something pretty to play with, if you know what I mean.”
“Aren’t you afraid His Grace might loose interest in you? You aren’t the youngest anymore, and he might have you winterlisted… oh, wait, I get it! It’s called winterlisted because of the Winter Gardening Manual, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. And no, I am not afraid he would ever get rid of me.”
“You sound very sure of that.”
“Oh, I am.”
“What do you think will happen when His Grace eventually gets married?”
“I’m sure if or when he decides to get married, he will manage to find a spouse who won’t mind me.”
“So it looks like you will remain a fixture in the social circuit of Aylian. We know you have more obligations to take care of, so we won’t keep you any longer. Thank you again for answering our questions.”
Robert looked up from his latest romance novel as the door to the Ducal Suite opened to admit his master.
He was seated in his armchair at the burning fireplace, huddled under a woollen blanket. Early autumn in the capital of Aylian was usually pleasantly mild, but this year had brought an uncomfortable chill to Toraskah.
Thomar had explained that this was a problem caused by the Eigenrealität-bubble of the Aliaerean Realms leaking through the demon portal above them, messing with the climate. Whatever that meant. Apparently someone very important named Lady Beverly was working hard on correcting the issue, but it was all very complicated and would not be fixed before this winter, which promised to actually bring snow to the capital, a rare occurrence indeed.
All Robert had understood was that it was fucking cold, would get even colder, and would stay that way for a few months.
Blinking somewhat owlishly through his reading glasses, Robert watched his master carry a huge bowl filled with various types of fruit over to him. Thomar was home from work early and that usually meant he was so fed up with his duties that he was only left with the choice to either walk out or start shooting people. However, his smile looked decidedly indecent and made Robert discount that theory.
Thomar placed the bowl of fruit on the low sidetable next to Robert’s armchair. He pushed Robert’s feet off the footstool and inappropriately settled himself there, smiling up at his pet.
Robert carefully took off his reading glasses and placed them on the table with his book. His master obviously wanted something, and as usual, Robert wasn’t sure what it was.
“How was your day, my lord?“ he tried to gauge Thomar’s mood.
“Pretty nice, actually.“ Thomar drew a vicious-looking N’Ptalini dagger from a concealed compartment in his left boot, picked up a lima fruit from the bowl and started peeling it. “I was stuck in a meeting between Bishop Claudius of the Belligra and demon Ambassador Brassion for the last three hours and got to listen to them yelling at each other while entirely ignoring me.“ He dropped the lima peel to the ground, cut a fillet out of the ripe fruit and noisily sucked it off his blade. „I don’t think they have noticed that I left.“
“I see.“ It was of course exceedingly impolite for the Duke to slip away like that, but Thomar knew that perfectly well himself.
“So, I thought I’d come home and see how my favourite pet is doing.“ Thomar discarded the rest of the peeled lima and picked up a mango instead. Again his dagger went to work, this time with juice dripping over his fingers.
“I’m good, thank you, my lord,“ Robert replied politely. He was not sure where his master was leading with this seemingly innocent conversation.
“You do look a bit cold.“ Thomar eyed him thoughtfully, licking mango juice off his fingers. “I’ve been wondering if we should find someone to fix the palace’s central heating.“ He popped a piece of mango into his mouth and continued sucking on his fingers with obvious relish. “Not sure if it’s worth the effort if the climate is fixed by next winter though.“
“I’m sure we can make do until then.“ It was kind of hard to concentrate on the conversation when his master was such a pleasant distraction.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.“ Thomar discarded the half-eaten mango as well, along with the dagger, and started rummaging in the fruit bowl until he produced an already cut piece of melon. “And the cold has some advantages too, eh? Snuggled up under blankets, sharing warmth…“
Thomar bit into the piece. Melon juice ran down his chin and he spent some time mopping it up with his fingers and licking them clean.
Robert watched hypnotised. He was slowly getting an idea of what his master wanted but he felt it was safer to ask first. Only how to phrase that question?
“So… anything in particular I can do for you tonight, my lord?“ he finally asked, while Thomar picked up a handful of strawberries from the bowl.
“Hm… actually… yes.“ Thomar lasciviously licked the first fruit and bit off half of it. “You know… I enjoyed that afternoon on the first day of our vacation.“ He sucked the juice from the rest of the strawberry. “When you ordered me onto the bed and fucked me so hard I thought you’d split me in half.“
Robert gave an undignified, half-choked sound. Pounding his master hard while half-crazed with lust was one thing. Having his master talk about it and demand more of it was another thing altogether. Then again, Thomar was doing a great job of getting him to that half-crazed state again.
“You seem to need some inspiration…“ The next strawberry followed, this time including Thomar licking red juice off his lips with his terribly agile tongue.
By now, the blanket as well as the fire seemed way too hot for Robert’s liking. He felt heat pool in his groin as Thomar grinned up at him, sinfully sexy in his black uniform and that innocent face with eyes that promised pleasure as far from innocent as possible.
“You think you can repeat that performance?“ Thomar asked, turning his attention back to the bowl of fruit.
This time he reached for a banana, but Robert’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist before he could pick it up. Discarding any kind of careful considerations, Robert got to his feet and pulled his master against himself forcefully. He was rewarded with a breathless laugh full of delight. He covered Thomar’s mouth in a demanding kiss and tasted the unexpected fruit cocktail with Thomar’s own taste the cherry on top.
We are Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus, a couple currently living our happily ever after in the very heart of Germany, under the stern but loving surveillance of our cat.
Both of us are voracious but picky readers, we love telling stories and drinking tea, good food and the occasional violent movie. Together, we write novels of adventure and romance, hoping to share a little of our happiness with our readers.
Beryll
An artist by heart, Beryll was writing stories even before she knew what letters were. As easily inspired as she is frustrated, her own work is never good enough (in her eyes). A perfectionist in the best and worst sense of the word at the same time and the driving creative force of our duo.
Osiris
An entertainer and craftsman in his approach to writing, Osiris is the down-to-earth, practical part of our duo. Broadly interested in almost every subject and skill, with a sunny mood and caring personality, he strives to bring the human nature into focus of each of his stories.
Author Website: http://www.brackhaus.com/
Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011014541510
Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/Brackhaus
Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brackhaus/
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6427435.Osiris_Brackhaus
Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Osiris-Brackhaus/e/B00IVTRO2E
Very nice interview, and careful dodging of spoilers, nothing less than I’d expect from Robert. I’m very amused by the Gardening Manuals.