Note: This is a gay themed fantasy novel about kings and magic, love and war. Although I will often allude to sexual encounters there are no scenes of sexual acts for this is, by and large, a love story. This author claims exclusive copyright to the characters, settings, and plot. A side note to chapter ten: this was written specifically to honor one of the most beautiful men I know, Andrew Smythe-Edmonson, an RN and highly respected emergency room nurse. It was my gift to him for National Nurse's Week this year, 2003.
Dark Wishes
M.C. Gordon
Part Four: Devlin
Chapter Ten.
Gelemar noticed an immediate change in Frit after the unexpected confession that he was studying with the Master Healer. Now able to study openly in their cottage, Frit discussed bits of healing information with his lover on a daily basis. Gelemar had always known that his soul-mate had quick wits but was amazed at the speed with which he absorbed this new knowledge.
Frit often left healing scrolls about their cottage, reading from one while their meal cooked or another before they retired at the end of each day. Interested in the things which were dear to Frit's heart, Gelemar often glanced at the scrolls. One evening, when his lover had been summoned by the Master Healer, Gelemar picked up one of the scrolls hoping he would be able to grasp even a portion of what it said.
Instead of a healing scroll Gelemar found himself looking at the meticulously neat script that was Frit's own hand. Gelemar knew he should put the scroll down but was captivated by the first sentence he read and continued.
`I came into the world on a hot summer day, naked as a jay ... so thoroughly delighted with that situation that I have sought to maintain it as often as possible as the years passed. My childhood was uneventful, as childhood is for all who are raised in a mountain village so small that it has no name or cause for reputation.
I would be there still, languishing my life away with dreams of handsome men with perfect bodies, had not the mountain exploded and the village been destroyed. Fortunately, very few died and King Trelaine, when made aware of the catastrophe, sent his warriors to bring the survivors to Aolane.
Ah, sweet Aolane. It was here that I found a wealth of men such as myself; and here that Gelemar found me. No, he is not that perfect man that I often dreamed of. His hair is thin and lacking in luster. His stomach is, perhaps, a bit too large to be considered sexually appealing and his hairline shows definite signs of beginning to recede. But he loves me, and I he in return. And he makes my body sing when we ...
I really did not intend this to take that particular turn. My intent was to record this week in my life.
The King believes that each person should be allowed to pursue an occupation that is both suitable and pleasurable to one's taste and capability. Since I seemed adept at caring for animals, he saw that I was trained as an animal healer and I now spend my days caring for a myriad of creatures for the lords and ladies who reside in Aolane.
Firstday, usually one when I am busy dealing with imagined illnesses or injuries of the city's furry residents, was unremarkably dull. I fashioned powders to rid Lady Delana's kits of their vermin. It seems the mother had slipped out in the night and picked up the undesirable leaches and brought them inside to her litter of young. I like the lady because she is quite pleasant but had to laugh to myself at the thought of her horror when one of those tiny bugs jumped from a kit to her person. Lord Tid, anxious over the impending birth of a new foal, had me attending to his mare several times despite my assurances that the foal would not make an appearance for at least another week. Fortunately, the King came to my rescue when Lord Tid insisted that I insert my arm into the mare's uterus one time too many and she nipped at me. His Majesty, who has seen countless foals born over a period close to four hundred years, put the man's mind at ease.
Seconday I sent Gelemar into peals of laughter as I related the following tale. One of the residents, a year back, rescued an orphaned creature the like of which I had never seen before, nor had any of the Masters. It was the size of my thumb when he brought it to me and I devised a form of mother's milk for the mite, waking every two or three hours to soak a rag and coax the tiny thing to suckle. I was amazed that it survived and when it attained ten weeks of age I returned it to the man, whose name I do not remember although his son's name is Elian. The boy showed up at my door on seconday with the little thing claiming his mother believed it was about to give birth and seemed to be having a difficult time. The father had tried to help by grasping a tiny foot and attempting to pull the rest of the body free, unsuccessfully. I really thought I would not be able to contain myself when I examined the thing and realized that it was a male just entering maturity. The foot the father had been pulling was, instead, an infinitesimally small penis. While I was able to explain to Elian that his pet was not giving birth because it was a male, I found it difficult to tell the boy exactly what was happening and merely told him that the best thing he could do would be to take it home and let it lie on its back, attending to itself as best it could with tiny paws. Gelemar was delighted at the prospect of envisioning the father's face when Elian advised him the creature is a male. My darling has a devilish streak in him that I truly love.
Thirday was quite difficult and one must understand Aolane to envision why. The castle fortress itself is made entirely of stone but a small village has built itself around the fortress, outside of the walls. Most of the abodes there are made of wood and thatch. The King has them replaced with stone but more are built of wood for it has been a difficult year of drought and many flock to Aolane who have lost their livelihood. One old widow, with no issue, kept her cow in her hut and the beast kicked over a lantern during the night. The cow can hardly be held to blame because they are rather dull beasts and have no idea what they do most of the time. The fire spread quickly through the wood and thatch homes.
The guard raised the alert straight away and everyone helped to squelch it as quickly as possible. Few homes were lost but the damage to human and animal life was costly. I offered my services but it is difficult to save the life of a feline or canine which has been burned. The Master Healer saw me and, knowing that I wanted to help, summoned me to assist in saving human lives. I supposed that any hand in a bad situation was better than no hands at all and was grateful for any opportunity to assist.
Fourthday was a bit grim. The fatalities from the fire continued to mount and those of us with any training in healing worked endlessly to save lives. The King himself aided as he could in helping those who could not be saved by giving them release from pain in their final hours with his magic. Elian summoned me to look at his pet who fortunately suffered nothing more than a singed tail and was contentedly attending to his blossoming maturity. Gelemar spent the night comforting me in his arms for I felt a tremendous sense of sadness and uselessness over the lives we lost.
Fifthday the Master Healer himself summoned me. I went in great trepidation for he is the master of my craft and I was afraid he had found fault with me. Instead, he praised my actions and told me that I had done well considering that I had never been trained to heal people. And he asked if I would consider furthering my training to include that function. I was bereft of thought or speech.
The animals of Aolane must have sensed that something had gone awry of late because Lord Tid's mare went into labor, a breech birth, and I faced the difficult task of turning the foal lest both dame and foal be lost. The mare has always been high-strung and I do not doubt that my arm in her uterus, twisting and turning her unborn, made me an object of her dislike because she pulled away and jarred my shoulder ... nearly dislocating it. I sent a young apprentice to summon the King and he appeared shortly, touching the mare and putting her at ease. She delivered a fine foal, a jet black male with a single patch of white on his forehead and one white foot. Lord Tid was pleased. King Trelaine was pleased. And when I told Gelemar he promised to buy me a new ring for my ear.
Sixthday, which is today, I have to make a decision. The Master Healer wants an answer tomorrow.
Do I remain a healer of animals or do I move on and learn to heal people as well? Gelemar is well loved by our King and it would increase his standing with others. I realize, and my lover accepts, that I am not like most men, even those of us who choose men. I enjoy bright colors and jewels sewn into my tunics. I weep at mournful music. I have filled mine and Gelemar's cottage with fragrant flowers from my own garden. I still look at other men and wonder what it would be like to find pleasure from one of them, but I am faithful to Gelemar. All of these thoughts pass through my mind as I wait for my beloved to join me in our bed and make love to me. I need him tonight more than I have ever needed him before.'
Gelemar finished reading and placed the scroll back in its place. He remembered the fire and Frit's frustration with his lack of skill. He should have foreseen that his delightful love would put his mind and heart to work to rectify it and he swelled with pride at the man he had chosen to be his life's mate.
He was preparing for bed when he heard Frit enter their cottage. He felt his lover approach his back and was surprised when he tossed a small bag on the bed.
"I brought you a present," Frit said as Gelemar turned to face him.
"For me?" he queried. "It is I who am supposed to bring you gifts."
"The present is from the Master Healer," Frit responded. "He called all of the healers and students together to announce that we should encourage the use of these," he added as he emptied the bag and several fish bladders fell to the bed. "He believes they may aid in stopping the spread of certain illnesses."
"But you most emphatically refused to consider using one," Gelemar said.
"If they will prevent one of us becoming ill, then I will agree to their use."
"Then I suggest we test one now," Gelemar replied taking his lover in his arms.
Chapter Eleven
Devlin found that he enjoyed studying at Aolane very much. The other students were friendly and helpful and his roommates made him feel comfortable from the first day.
Dulva was the youngest son of one of the High King's many noblemen. A studious lad with sun bleached brown hair, Dulva's dream in life was to become a master mason. He spent most of his free time sketching pictures of the castles he hoped to design and build one day.
Pistach was a spindly, dark-haired boy with deep green eyes whose only desire was to be an artist. Their room was covered with drawings he made of his new friends, and several of himself in which he reduced the size of his nose and increased the size of his muscles in order to improve his appearance.
Kuyo, from an even smaller and more remote area than Caern Arvis, Glencoe Village, was a little runt of a fellow, quiet and shy. The Master Archivist often teamed Kuyo with Dulva for special assignments because Kuyo had a firmer grasp of mathematics than most of the teaching masters.
Devlin, new to the archives at the advanced age of seventeen, had no idea what grasped his imagination or what field of study he wanted to pursue. He had thought to study animal husbandry but the myriad of ideas available left him dumbstuck and uncertain.
The archives were a constant bustle of activity from dawn to dusk. Students and apprentices flowed in and out of the beautiful building Fanna had designed, with its separate sections for different fields of study. The music room was the first on the right down the first corridor to the left. Next to that were the artists, then the historians. The right corridor led to the mathematicians, masons, and healers. Continuing down the main corridor were the administrative offices which housed all of the vast contents of the archive which had been accumulated through the centuries.
Interspersed along the corridors were the rooms that housed young men and women interested in becoming master farmers or fishers, animal caretakers for the endangered species sanctuary, and breeders of livestock.
And so, Devlin chose to study a bit of everything, hoping that one would catch his interest and make his Da and all of Caern Arvis proud of him. With the aid of Dulva, Pistach, and Kuyo, he was able to put the recent unfortunate incident and trial behind him and concentrate on his future.
Knowing his nature, he was not surprised when one of his fellow students caught his eye and left him with a rather difficult to conceal bulge in his breeches. As he had not yet reached the age permitted by the High King he did his best to keep his urges under control; not always with great success since there were many occasions on which he retired to the `necessary' to take care of business.
Trelaine was often in and out of the archives, King of Elanen and ultimately responsible for the well being and achievement of each student. His heart ached for Devlin but his own proscription forbid encouragement and he had never, in either of his existences, asked one to surrender to him, discounting that distant and small part of him that had been Ilafrain. He set firmly in his mind that he would not do so now. Xoachin, Karandal, and Fanna had all come to him of their own desire. And if Devlin did not express an interest in him when attaining full manhood, then he would quash the love he felt and continue his busy but lonely existence. The garden held those he had loved beyond life and he was content to sit and speak with them.
The private castle garden had become Trelaine's refuge. He had expanded it slowly through the years and it now had twisting cobbled paths leading to the massive oak tree that shaded the small area where the graves were located. Trelaine tended to the garden himself and knew each blade of grass and leaf of plant. Rose bushes appeared at random, yet to study their placement one could see their pattern that led from the castle entrance to that special corner of the garden. Iris raised their pointed leaves toward the sun. Ivy and multi-colored wildflowers spread out in the shade beneath towering oaks. Doves and sparrows wandered through the garden in search of bread crumbs which the castle staff provided for them.
Trelaine sat and pondered his current frame of mind. For some reason he failed to comprehend, he had fallen in love with the lad from Caern Arvis, descendant of an exiled family. Strange indeed were the twists and turns of the heart, for Trelaine seldom had contact with the boy. Yet he found his dreams filled with the vision of wheat colored hair and golden eyes.
He had finally been forced to admit to himself that his heart was on a useless quest and beckoned for Gelemar to join him. Gelemar had been waiting quietly at the edge of the garden, summoned earlier and waiting until his king was ready to speak.
"Old friend," Trelaine began, "I would like to ask a favor of yourself and Frit."
Chapter Twelve
Frit busily tended to the necessary occupation of keeping his and Gelemar's cottage neat. He had long ceased to fret over his lover's habit of leaving things lying hither and yon. Gelemar was one of the King's men and as such was constantly busy. While Frit's responsibility as a healer of both people and animals was of great importance, it occupied a small amount of his time: his reputation not yet having spread beyond the walls of Aolane.
Satisfied that everything was finally in its proper place, he turned his attention to their clothing. Three days of drizzle had forced him to hang their newly washed gowns and tunics over drying racks in front of the fireplace. He preferred fresh air and a soft breeze but would not complain because the rain had lowered the stifling heat which had settled in of late.
Taking up a healer's scroll, he settled in his favorite chair, content to sip a cup of hot mulled tea and study. The treatise on the use of specific herbs to treat varied illnesses and fevers held his attention so thoroughly that he barely noticed the knock on the front door. Laying the scroll carefully aside, he pulled his gown closer about himself and answered the knock.
"Frit, I was wondering if you could spare me a little of your time," Devlin said when the door was opened.
"I always have time for you," Frit replied. "Are you ill or in any way injured?"
"No, nothing like that. I need your advice and guidance," Devlin said.
"Give me your wet cloak and take a chair near the fire. You may move one of the drying racks if you need. I will fetch you a cup of tea and then we can talk."
Devlin moved the end of one rack and arranged a chair close enough to the fireplace to be warm without feeling much intense heat.
Frit returned shortly with a cup of tea for his visitor and settled back into his chair. "My attention is yours," he said. "What advice can I give you?"
"I reached my age of majority yesterday," Devlin began, not at all sure exactly how to broach the subject of his concern in spite of the fact that he had considered the situation a great deal in the past weeks. "I am now of legal age to experience a man."
Frit was mildly amused at this small confession. "There should be many who will be willing to grant you that ... experience, Devlin," he said cautiously. "There is much about you to recommend you as a partner, or a lover."
"I have been approached about the possibility," Devlin continued, "but there is one in particular who interests me and I do not know how to let him know that I would like him to be the one."
Frit tried hard not to smile. For all his months in Aolane, Devlin remained naïve in many ways. "Is this someone who has captured your heart?" he asked.
Devlin blushed deeply and replied, "No. Not my heart, and his belongs to another. But I find him appealing in both nature and appearance. He is kind and gentle, quick of mind and generous of spirit."
"He sounds like someone I would like to know," Frit said. "My dear young friend, if you are hesitant to approach such a paragon of virtue perhaps I can do it for you. I would be willing to ask him if he will take you to his bed."
Devlin looked at the cup in his hands as if it were the most curious object in the world before asking very softly, "Then would you consider asking yourself if you would do that honor?"
The room was filled with an unnatural silence.
Frit's first reaction was one of unbelievable delight, followed quickly by shock. "Devlin," he said, "I do not think you fully understand the kind of man I am. Gelemar would be a better choice for he takes the lead always when we ... experience."
"I do not desire Gelemar," Devlin said quietly. "He has become as a father to me with my own Da so far away. It is you I desire," he added, "to teach me how to please a lover."
Frit found himself facing a great quandary. He had had no lover but Gelemar for all his affectations, nor was he one to determine in which direction the private moments of his life with his lover would go. A thousand thoughts passed through his mind. What would Gelemar think? And yet his lover was not averse to a moment's dalliance with another. Devlin was handsome and desirable and Frit had known a moment of release now and then thinking of him but could he actually do what this boy asked of him?
The moment decided itself when Devlin set his cup aside, rose from his chair, and crossed to where Frit sat in a state of near confusion. Devlin gently removed Frit's cup from his hand and sat it on the hearth. Taking Frit's hands in his own, Devlin pulled him to his feet. Before an objection could be made, Devlin placed an awkward kiss on Frit's lips, his first as a man.
Frit realized that he was lost and leaned into the kiss as Devlin's hands released the cord that held his gown in place.
. . .
"Devlin visited today," Frit told Gelemar that evening after they had finished their evening meal and were relaxing by the fireplace.
"That explains the gleam in your eyes," Gelemar responded, leaving his lover speechless. "He asked me last week if I would object to his approaching you. I hope you taught him well. Perhaps, with his curiosity satisfied, he will now realize that the King seethes with desire for him."
He rose from his chair and went to stand before his love. "Did he leave you with energy enough for me?" he asked.
To be continued.
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