Give Me Your Hand
Siu gingerly rubbed his newly freed wrists, where the metal cuffs had left tender red welts.
"...I thought I was brought here to work as a reception attendant?"
The Head Butler looked down at him, her sharp gaze unyielding.
"For a slave, you certainly have a lot of questions. Your duties encompass everything I assign to you."
Siu let his hands fall to his sides. The Head Butler did not wait for a reply, merely flicking her fingers toward the servants waiting by the wall.
"Wash him down and get him into proper clothes."
The maid holding Siu's cloak moved first. Siu swallowed a quiet sigh and fell into step behind her.
At the far end of the corridor, a spacious washroom stood ready with a steaming wooden tub and stacks of fresh towels. The maid who had carried his cloak set it aside, turned, and reached directly for the collar of his shirt.
Siu took a slight step back.
"...May I bathe by myself?"
The woman glanced over her shoulder at the Head Butler lingering just outside. After inspecting the small, frosted transom window above the door, the Head Butler stepped to the side.
"Leave the door unlocked. The moment you are finished, call for them."
"Understood."
Once the women stepped outside, Siu closed the heavy door. His hand drifted toward the latch out of habit, paused, and slowly lowered. Through the thick wood, the muffled scrape of boots remained steady as they stood guard.
He wet a towel and wiped his face first, the rough cloth immediately coming away smeared with grimy street dirt. As he stripped off his coarse garments, dried bits of straw scattered across the flagstones around his feet. No wonder his skin had been itching the entire carriage ride.
Stepping out of his trousers, he glanced down and noticed an intricate crest marked on one side of his lower abdomen.
He scrubbed at it with the wet cloth, but the sharp, dark lines did not budge in the slightest.
The Anti-Pregnancy Brand.
The bill of sale the slave merchant had thrust before the Head Butler flashed through his mind. Siu gently pressed his fingertips to the mark. There was no pain, no swelling, not even a raised texture against his pale skin.
"Are you finished yet?" a voice called through the door.
Siu hastily grabbed another dry towel.
"Not yet. Please give me just another moment."
Lowering himself into the tub, the clear water turned murky almost instantly, and the raw scrapes on his wrists stung sharply as the water seeped in. Resting his forearms over the rim of the tub to keep them dry, he sank down until the warmth enveloped his shoulders.
Beyond the stone wall, the click of heels sounded and faded into the distance. Every time he closed his eyes to rest, the faint rustle of fabric outside the door made him snap them open again.
Unable to relax, Siu rose from the water after only a brief soak.
He pulled on the clean undergarments and soft indoor lounge clothes left out for him, then opened the door. Two maidservants immediately entered, armed with bolts of fabric and a measuring tape, while the Head Butler remained standing in the corridor.
"Head Butler. What is this mark on my stomach?"
Siu lifted the hem of his tunic slightly. The Head Butler glanced at the exposed crest and nodded with casual indifference.
"It is an Anti-Pregnancy Brand. Standard procedure for any male slave. Is this your first time seeing one?"
"...Even on a man?"
"Precisely because you are a man."
Siu let the hem drop back into place.
...Because I'm a man?
Giving brisk instructions for the servants to finish, the Head Butler turned and walked away down the hall.
"Please raise your arms."
One of the maids draped the measuring tape over his shoulder. Carefully steering clear of the raw abrasions on his wrists, she measured his arm length before jotting down the dimensions of his chest and waist. Beside her, the second maid took turns holding swathes of black and white silk beneath his chin.
"Black suits him better for the main estate."
"Let us use white for the bedchambers."
A length of white fabric draped across his shoulders. Where her fingers pinched the fine weave, the pale flush of his skin showed through clearly.
Siu looked down at the hem.
"...Am I meant to wear something like this?"
"We have no existing uniforms fitted to your frame, so everything must be tailored from scratch."
"Are the reception garments this sheer as well?"
"No, those will be fashioned from much heavier wool."
Even as she answered, the tape measure slid down toward his hips. Following her gentle direction, Siu widened his stance slightly. As the woman measuring his inseam stood back up, her fingers brushed against his elbow, only to freeze in place.
"Your skin... is remarkably warm."
The back of her hand felt like ice against him. Siu pulled his arm back instinctively, his gaze falling on her chilled fingers. Come to think of it, even inside the enclosed carriage, the female guards had spent the entire journey hunched over against the cold.
"Isn't it just lingering heat from the bath?"
"Even so, lingering warmth dissipates within moments in this room."
Siu glanced toward the window. A thick, crystalline rim of white frost clung tightly to the small panes of glass. A considerable amount of time had passed since he stepped out of the steaming tub, yet his fingertips remained comfortably warm.
While the woman wound up her tape, Siu stepped over to the sill. Pressing his palm against the glass, an intense chill bit into his skin. He started to pull back, then hesitated, leaving his hand flat against the pane.
If my body is really that warm, would this melt too?
He focused inward, and an odd sensation of heat gathered directly in the center of his palm. As he pushed that warmth outward against the glass, the stubborn frost directly beneath his hand dissolved into clear water.
Droplets rolled down the pane, splashing softly against the stone sill.
Siu pulled his hand back. A clean, palm-shaped print sat etched into the frost, while every untouched inch of the window remained caked in opaque white.
Even if frost melts from body heat... would it really vanish this fast?
"What... what did you just do?"
He turned around to find both maids staring at him with wide, startled eyes.
"Uh... good question. What was that?"
Siu placed his hand back against an untouched, frozen corner. When he simply held it there without thought, nothing happened. But the moment he gathered that distinct warmth in his palm once more, the thick frost liquefied in the blink of an eye. The moment he lifted his hand away, the melting halted instantly, leaving another clean border.
The woman holding the tape dropped it and bolted for the doorway.
"Head Butler!"
Moments later, the Head Butler marched into the room. Seeing the wet sill, she seized Siu's hand and turned it over. Stripping off her black leather glove, her cold, calloused fingers pressed firmly into his palm and along the joints of his fingers.
"Have you ever studied magic?"
"...Magic?"
"Clearly not."
The Head Butler barked an order for ice. One of the servants hurried to a water trough nestled in the coldest corner near the exterior wall, skimmed off a thin sheet of surface ice, and placed it into a shallow basin.
"Do it again."
Siu lowered his hand into the basin. The moment he channeled that warmth into the ice beneath his palm, its edges shrank visibly before their eyes. Before he could even adjust his grip, the slab had thinned so drastically that it slipped right through his fingers.
"Enough."
Siu withdrew his wet hand. The tiny leftover sliver spun sluggishly across the surface of the water before coming to a rest.
The Head Butler fished the remaining shard out, studied it for a brief second, and then fixed her gaze on Siu.
"Men cannot wield magic."
Siu stared down into the basin. Yet he had just melted it with a thought. And the frost on the window, twice.
"Then... what is this?"
The Head Butler offered no explanation. Instead, she glanced sharply toward the open doorway.
"Shut the door."
Once the latch clicked shut, she leveled a stern, imposing stare at the two servants.
"Not a single word of what you witnessed today is to leave this room. When this boy's garments are finished, you two will deliver them personally. Allow no one else to touch them."
"Yes, Head Butler."
"And you," she turned back to Siu, "do not dare display this before anyone else without my explicit command."
Before he could reply, an urgent knocking echoed from the corridor outside.
"Head Butler! All the Flame Stones in the Eldest Young Lady's bedchamber have frozen completely solid. Even the fresh ones we just brought up!"
The Head Butler yanked the door open. A servant stood outside, clutching a thick bundle of insulated cloth. Resting within the folds lay a glowing crimson stone, choked beneath a heavy, encroaching crust of white ice.
"The chill from her hands has already crept past her wrists."
The Head Butler touched the frozen stone briefly, then glanced back toward Siu.
Siu paused midway through wiping his wet hands against his trousers.
"Follow me."
With every flight of stairs they climbed, the temperature plummeted.
Rime frost clung to the polished wooden banisters, and servants hurried past in anxious silence, carrying cloth-wrapped crimson stones back and forth. Siu watched the stones as they passed. On the lower levels, they had radiated a brilliant, burning crimson light; up here on the upper floors, that fiery glow was rapidly dimming into a sickly, smothered ember.
The Head Butler halted at the end of the top corridor. A maid pulled open the heavy double doors, revealing a bedroom floor coated in a thick, shimmering blanket of frost.
Siu froze at the threshold.
Two massive stone fireplaces were roaring with dry logs. Yet closer to the bed, the frost lay so dense and opaque that the floorboards beneath were entirely invisible.
"Eldest Young Lady."
The Head Butler stepped quietly toward the bed. Rolling up his sleeves, Siu followed closely behind.
A cascade of long silver hair spilled across the white pillows. Her forehead was framed by a clean center part, and thick, elegant waves rested softly against her pale cheeks.
Siu's gaze traveled down to the hand resting limply atop the duvet. Even the tips of her slender fingers were encrusted in white rime.
The heavy duvet rose and fell with a faint, shallow breath. A long pause followed before the next breath came. Siu watched her pale, bloodless lips, holding his own breath in suspense.
Only after drawing a slow, agonizingly deep inhale did her heavy eyelids flutter open. A pair of faint, icy blue eyes drifted past the Head Butler and locked squarely onto Siu.
"...Who is that?"
"A new servant brought into the household today. I have assigned him to main estate reception and as your direct Bedroom Attendant."
The Head Butler gestured for the servant standing by the bedside to close the door.
"What you see and hear from this moment forth is never to be spoken outside these chambers."
The maids bowed their heads deeply. The Head Butler then nudged Siu forward a step.
"This boy melted ice with his bare hands."
The young lady studied Siu's face before slowly lowering her gaze to his open hands.
"How?"
"I... I'm not entirely sure myself yet. When I touch it and try to make it warm..."
Siu opened his palms, demonstrating. But as he looked down at her fragile, porcelain-white hands, doubt gripped him.
Is it even safe to try something like this on an actual person?
"Give me your hand."
The servant beside the bed immediately voiced her concern.
"My Lady. We do not yet understand the nature of his magic—"
"And what of the Flame Stones?"
The servant parted the cloth she held, revealing the crimson stone smothered under a solid shell of frost. The young lady glanced at it, dismissed it, and extended her trembling hand toward Siu.
Siu stepped right up to the edge of the mattress. Her freezing fingers curled around his wrist, her grip so faint it felt as though her strength might fade away entirely at any second.
She guided Siu's palm onto the back of her other hand resting on the duvet, then let her grip fall away.
Her skin was colder than the ice in the washroom basin.
Keeping his hand flat over hers, Siu carefully drew warmth into his palm. As he channeled that gentle heat down into the frigid back of her hand, the stubborn frost clinging to her skin melted into clear moisture, spreading across the space between their touching flesh.
Did it only melt the frost on the surface?
The young lady's slender fingers parted slightly, then curled back inward.
"...It is warm."
Without pulling away, Siu searched her face.
"Does it hurt anywhere?"
"It is far better than the cold. Do not stop."
Keeping his palm pressed against her hand for a few moments longer, a faint touch of natural color began to return to her pale fingertips. But closer to her wrist, her skin remained a ghostly, frozen white. Siu shifted his palm slightly higher.
The young lady watched the movement of his hand, then reached up and caught his wrist once more.
"Here as well."
She guided his hand to the upper curve of her chest, resting his palm over the fabric of her nightgown. The instant his warm palm made contact, a sharp, ragged breath caught in her throat.
Siu froze, looking up at her face in alarm.
"This is where it is coldest."
Just below her collarbone, a fine layer of frost clung to the sheer cloth. Siu gently cupped his hand against her chest. The young lady's fingers loosened from his wrist, and he began funneling that steady warmth into the hollow beneath her throat.
It melted far more slowly than it had on her hand. Each time he warmed a small patch, the bitter chill from the surrounding skin crept back against the edges of his palm. Siu considered spreading his fingers wider, but stopped; the area directly beneath his touch had yet to thaw fully.
Just a little longer like this.
The young lady shut her eyes and released a long, shuddering sigh. Siu waited for her next breath; this time, it came far sooner, deeper and smoother than before.
"Does that feel any better?"
"It is much better than before."
Siu held his focus, maintaining the steady flow of heat. A heavy, dull fatigue began settling into his forearm, and even when he relaxed his shoulder, an ache lingered through his muscles.
When his hand shifted slightly from the strain, her eyes fluttered open.
"Are you exhausted?"
"My arm is getting a little heavy. But I can still keep going."
The young lady looked at his arm, then closed her eyes once more.
Siu took care not to force the heat all at once. As the flesh beneath his palm gradually lost its biting chill, the frost clinging below her throat melted away in patches. Beside them, the servant holding the bundle leaned closer to the bed, her eyes widening.
"The color has fully returned to her fingertips!"
Siu glanced down at the hand resting upon the duvet. A faint, healthy pink had indeed seeped back into her skin. The young lady curled her fingers slowly, then spread them wide.
"That is enough for today."
Siu lifted his hand away, cradling his aching elbow with his other arm. As he glanced down at the damp patch on her nightgown where his palm had rested, the outer edges suddenly turned an opaque, crystalline white.
The frost was already spreading once more.