Chapter 6: "Listen, Darling..."

"Come," I requested Hin, leading him away from the rest. He said nothing and allowed me to pull him along by the arm. We were halfway to my personal rectangle- shaped section, when I stopped. I looked over my shoulder, and announced, "In order to clarify," here I gestured to Hin, "Hin belongs to me, personally. I will not tolerate anyone bothering him." Then I dismissed them all with a wave of my hand. 'This place was kind of fun in a way' I thought, 'I am king of my own personal Hell.

"Take a seat." I told Hin, gesturing for him to make himself comfortable on the floor. He sat with surprising grace. I then sat beside him, so so close that the outsides of our thighs touched. Clearly uncomfortable, he scooted to the left, attempting to put space between us, but I grabbed him with lightning reflexes, and dragged him back. I kept a good grip on his waist, and though he blushed and turned his face away from me, I could still easily whisper in his ear.

"I must speak to you about my escape plan, and other confidential matters. We must not speak loud enough that human ears can hear. So, I need you close beside me, for that reason. Got it?"

He simply nodded. 'He is used to putting up with difficult men,' I thought. I wondered how many had kept him enslaved up to now.

"I do not care what the others in this room think, and neither should you. If they suspect us of being, shall we say suspiciously close...to each other, then that will keep them far off track from the real reasons of our whispers."

I snuck a sidelong glance at his face, it was now expressionless, all business.

I then proceeded to give Hinhin a slew of information. I filled him in on how long I had been here for, what I knew about the building layout, the Romans who ran this place, and the goings on of the Roman Emperor. I told him about my vow, and most importantly, how all that info fit into my plan.

"But," I continued, "Now that you are here, I must change some things, as presence and abilities allow for me to take steps faster than I previously could." I looked him in the eye. "You and I will leave this place together. If possible, we will take Cadmus Brutus. He would make a good human servant. Freedom is on the horizon all we have to do is act wisely; and it will be a treasure we possess.

I looked at him meaningfully and said, "Of course, I expect you to agree. But, just in case you do not, I do have a little bit of leverage." I then indicated the blue glass bottle in my keeping.

Hin knew what it meant. The bottle in question was the vessel he was bound to; thus making me have control over him. But he was not the kind of djinn that granted three wishes. He was bound to serve for a specific time period. For the next fifty years from today, he was forced to serve me. After the fifty years were up, he was free and couldn't be summoned by me or bound to me ever again. He would even be able to walk up to me and snatch the glass blue bottle from my hand, if he really wanted, provided the fifty years had passed.

"You don't have to flex your muscles." Hin muttered moodily, "I don't enjoy this place either. Leaving here sounds like an improvement."

"Listen, darling," I whispered, "If we make it out of here with a servant and some currency, I promise I will take you to Naples. I know how you are fond of Herculaneum."

"Darling?!" Hin hissed through his teeth, "Don't call me 'darling'!"

"I will call you whatever I want, and you will keep quiet about it." I told him. "I am feeling jovial right now, but that could change. If you annoy me too much, I will get a wreath of rosemary and put it on your head."

He paled at my words.

For some reason, that I had yet to understand, all djinn had an aversion to rosemary. The smell made them nauseated and caused them to retch; forcing them to eat it, caused them to become ill.

"Tell me, Hin," I asked, "How exactly did you come to find yourself here?"

"Do you want the long version or the short version?" Hin inquired.

"I prefer the concise version." I said playfully, running a finger along the back of his bare neck. I smiled devilishly as the hairs rose on the back of his neck and the shiver ran down his spine.

"Would you kindly stop?" he asked. I could tell he was attempting to reign in his annoyance at me. "You are being very distracting!"

"I know you are, but what am I?" I goaded him.

"Urg!" he huffed in annoyance. "Listen..."

"Master" I reminded him. "Because I like the sound of that..."

"I am not calling you 'master'!" he hissed in a whisper at me.

"Fine," I said, "We'll compromise. Outside of my bed, you don't have to call me that."

The most devilish part of me, was rewarded with the display, as I watched Hin struggle internally with the desire to hit me and the absolute inability to do so. His face was red with anger, he knew that I knew what I had caused. But, because he was bound to me, he couldn't lay a hand in anger on me.

I thought it best to let him cool down before I started giving him a hard time again.

"Alright, Hin, alright." I said patting his shoulder affectionately, "Let's hear about how you ended up here."