Anyway, I'm rather proud of how this is going so far. I'm writing it to fill two squares on my trope_bingo card, virginfic and slavefic. It's called "The Silence and the Shouting" and it's Arthur/Percival in a steampunk-ish setting.
This is the beginning:
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Sunlight spangled the terraced courtyard, carving glittering rainbows out of the steps that led away from the manicured lawns and into the great house, a boisterous edifice visible far beyond the walls that protected it. Percival had seen it through the barred windows of the tram that had brought him through the city, unknowing it was their final destination until they stopped at the monstrous front gate. In hindsight, he was both glad and disappointed he'd failed to make the connection--the latter because he wished to be more astute than that, the former because he would have had time to ruminate on what was to come.
As it was, he knelt on the unforgiving stone, head bowed not out of obeisance but to better listen to a voice no one else could hear. The memory of his favorite lullaby was all he possessed of his mother. Such had been the case for the last fifteen years. His refusal to relinquish it played out in this silent daily ritual. No matter where he was, no matter what he was doing, he commanded the memory to sing for him.
Today would be no different. Just like yesterday. Just like tomorrow. Whoever purchased him--if someone purchased him--would never know of his mental escape to the only peace he had ever known.
