This is my sixth gay erotic novella on Nifty and the second about young Henry Atwood. His earlier adventures are chronicled in `Henry in the Outfield' in the section High School. Rothenia is not a real place, although I wish it were. It is in fact an updating of Anthony Hope's creation of Ruritania, depicted here as a post-communist accession state of the new EU. Rothenia is a mixed nation of Germans and Western Slavs, with the Ruritanian Germans a minority. It is in the context of that problem that this story is acted out, and it is a problem in which Henry and his friends find themselves very much involved. There is no university of Cranwell (the unnamed university of Matt and Andy's student years) and a resemblance to any real university is simply generic. There is a University of Cambridge, of course, but no St Mark's College, which is a purely fictional creation. I have no axe to grind about Cambridge's admissions policy, swinish as St Mark's was to poor Henry ...
The Michael Arram stories are now beginning to appear together at: http://www.iomfats.org/storyshelf/hosted/arram
This story contains graphic depictions of sex between young males. If the reading or possessing of such material as this is illegal in your place of residence please leave this site immediately and do not proceed further. If you are under the legal age to read this, please do not do so.
II
Henry spent most of the morning brooding in the common room. It took three consecutive mugs of coffee for him to come to a decision, and he was well wired and pretty twitchy when he got to his feet and crossed the field again to Temple House. This time he went up to the top floor, to the house prefects' common room. There was only one boy there.
Hey, Bounder.' David looked up and gave a ghost of a smile. Henry continued, Nasty bruise on your rather classically chiselled cheekbone, mate. How did that happen?'
David shuffled his feet guiltily ... not an easy thing to do when sitting down at a work desk. Then he gave a faint grin, `Walked into a door, Outfield.'
Henry sat down next to him, deliberately close so that their thighs were actually touching. He did not like what he was about to do. He put his hand on David's and held it. The other boy's breath caught, and his brown eyes looked a little wild; but he did not move his hand away.
Why did you get in a fight with that maniac Burlesdon, Davey?' David flushed red at the affectionate use of his name and mumbled something inarticulate. It was about me wasn't it?'
David looked in Henry's eyes, `I couldn't just let him get away with it, Henry. Knocking you down like that and calling you a queer.'
Henry gave a little laugh. `But I am a queer. The point is that I have a boyfriend who can take very good care of himself and me, if he wants to. It wasn't necessary for you to jump in was it?'
`He's an evil bastard, Henry. The thought of him attacking you, was more ...'
`Davey, you're not my boyfriend ... but you'd like to be. Davey, be honest with me.'
David looked indecisive and scared. Henry knew he was doing a harsh thing, but it had to be done, or worse things would follow. Finally, David looked down, a tear appearing on his cheek. He nodded.
You're gay too.' Another nod. Davey, that's all you've got to do, acknowledge it. You don't have to come out, and I won't tell anyone.'
Tears were streaming down David's beardless brown cheeks now. But I do love you Henry. You're all I can think of. It's cracking me up, it's ...' But he didn't finish, because Henry closed with his mouth, and kissed him. He caught David's eyes, wide with shock, before they closed in ecstasy. He massaged the other boy's lips with his, before taking him round the back of his head and pushing his tongue past his lips into the wet paradise beyond. David's tongue met and licked along his own. Henry broke off. David's chest was heaving and Henry had to admit he looked very desirable, flushed and sexually aroused. Henry put his hand on David's erection through his trousers and massaged it gently, tracing the shape of his cock. It seemed quite a handsome organ at first acquaintance. David closed his eyes and moaned. Henry unzipped him and pushed his hand inside, finding the slit in his boxers and gripping the hot and hard penis within. He began gently stroking up and down. Oh God. Oh God.' David was moaning under his breath. Henry picked up the pace. David's mouth was slack and his head was back.
Henry released his cock, and engaged again with David's mouth. As he broke off the second time, he asked gently, `Do you love me, Davey?'
`God ... do I?' was the breathless response.
`Where did you get the cannabis you put in Burlesdon's room?' Henry asked just as gently.
`It was ... what?' David looked poleaxed.
`It wasn't yours. Where did you get it?'
`No, I ...'
Henry disengaged with the boy. Do you lie to those you love, Davey?' David sputtered. Henry carried on remorselessly, You found it in another boy's room, didn't you. You planted it in Burlesdon's bedside cabinet, and then you tipped off the housemaster.'
David had rallied, and he began to look defiant. `The guy's a cunt, Henry. He couldn't get away with what he did to you. He should have been expelled. The school will be better off without him.'
`Davey. It's not your decision, and for all that Burlesdon is a cunt, it'll do nothing for the state of your soul to get rid of him in this way. And how well do you know him anyway? God knows the problems that some kids bring to this school with them. So you've got to go to the housemaster and tell him what you did.'
`Henry, no ... I can't! It'll be me that's expelled.'
`Nevertheless, that's what you'll have to do, because if you don't, I will.'
David's defiance was gathering pace, `Then it'll be my word against yours Henry.'
Henry looked grim, `Davey. Look at it this way. I've got no history of friendship with Burlesdon, as the head of sixth knows very well. If I come out with this story it's more likely I'll be believed than a boy he beat the crap out of last week.'
David looked distraught, `But what will they do to me Henry?'
Henry took his warm hand, and stood, making David stand with him. `Tell the truth, or as much of it as you can. It'll be hard, and it'll get round. There will be punishment, but believe me, nothing like the punishment that you'll suffer in the long term if you try to go through with it. Davey, you're a good kid, this sort of weight on your conscience will destroy you. For your own good, Davey, you gotta do this.'
David looked down, and tears were coursing down his cheeks once more. `OK. But only for you Henry ... oh God, if only you could love me, the way you do Ed. It breaks me up. But please go on calling me Davey, it makes me feel as though I'm special to you.'
Henry couldn't stop himself, although he knew it had been better if he had, `You are special to me, Davey. You're a friend.'
`How in fifty three kinds of fuck did you get him to cough up?' Ed marvelled.
Henry shifted in his seat in the block. Now he had to confess to Ed, he was nervous. `Well ... er, I, sort of ... seduced him.'
Ed looked stunned. `You what? He's gay? You actually seduced him ... went to bed with him?'
`No, no ... not that far, but I touched him up and wanked him.'
Ed looked at Henry as though he was a stranger. `How did you know he was gay? ... I didn't pick it up.'
`It's not you he's fixated on, Ed. He's been following me around with cow eyes for six months now.'
`Talk me through it.'
`You're not angry with me?' Henry looked timorously up at his lover.
`I'm not pleased with you,' Ed retorted a little gruffly.
`I had to get him to confess ... it was the only way I could think of doing it, I knew he goes weak at the knees around me.'
`Tell me you didn't enjoy it,.'
Henry took a deep breath and lied, `It wasn't like that. Rudi was going to be expelled and discredited for something he didn't do. There was a lot more at stake than my virtue.'
Ed looked less severe, `I suppose. Just tell me in advance next time.'
David went like a lamb to the slaughter, and told his story. He refused to say in which room he had found the cannabis, saying only that he had found it round the school. He gave as his reason that he had been in a fight with Burlesdon, had lost and just wanted vengeance. He was not expelled because there was no implication that he had himself smoked. But he had the humiliation of losing his house prefect's badge, and the agony of his parents being summoned to school. Through it all, Henry held his hand, at least metaphorically, and the weekend that he was finally released from suspension of privileges, Henry and Ed discretely whisked him away to Trewern.
They were sitting out in a favourite spot in the churchyard that Saturday, an unseasonably warm day early in March. The sky was a fresh blue and little white clouds were scudding across it. Hang round with us, Davey,' said Ed, and they'll work out you're gay too.'
What's left that can humiliate me, guys?' David replied ruefully. Besides, maybe it is time I faced up to it ... and you don't mind me lusting after your Henry?'
Yeah, I certainly do,' Ed said, with a cheerful sort of snarl. But we're learning, me and Henry, that gays don't quite work to the same frame as your heteros. There's Will and Oskar for instance.' David raised an eyebrow. `They're friends of ours, they live in Strelzen and they work for a media company there. Oskar and Will fell for each other in a really big way some years ago, and they were really deeply into each other, but for some reason that no one would explain to us, Oskar blew it big time. Not that he cheated on Will, we were told, but he did something really unforgiveable. Anyway, Will and he split, and that looked like the end of it, and you'd think that they'd hate each other for the rest of their lives, but no. Will got off with his present boyfriend, Felip, and they're very happy. But the thing is that Will forgave Oskar and they're still close friends, though they don't do sex and stuff, and Oskar's got his own boyfriend now. That's the thing, see!'
David wasn't quite getting it, `What's the thing?'
`Gays can fall out of love but stay friendly, it's not like heteros when they fall out ... like my mum and dad for instance. They hate each other like poison after the divorce. The idea of them kissing and having a drink together, like Oskar and Will do, is not conceivable. It's a different dynamic.'
Henry was a bit relieved now he was hearing the fruits of Edward's reflection on gay love and faithfulness. It seemed that his straying from the path of strict righteousness was being somehow accommodated.
The three boys wandered into the church and Henry gave the guided tour. Ed and David humoured him, and David at least found Henry's enthusiasm very fetching. His eyes lit up when he was totally engaged in explaining something. David was by no means over Henry.
As Henry was pointing out some Anglo-Saxon remains in the nave, the vestry door banged and an amiable old gentleman emerged blinking into the church.
`Ahoi, Dr Mac!' Henry shouted gleefully.
Ahoi! Prosim, Hendrik!' the old man replied, nach sei faust!'
`What's all that about?' David asked, puzzled.
`Hello, Dr Mac, this is our friend David from school. David, this is Dr Mackenna, the churchwarden. Dr Mac, he wants to know what that was all about?'
`I was telling him not to shout in church. Henry was in holiday in Rothenia last year, David, and began picking up the language. Now it so happens that I was in military intelligence during the war and worked with the Rothenian and Czech resistance, so I have a facility with Rothenian, which I haven't quite lost. Henry's learning it as a personal project, and he's got quite a talent.'
`Yeah, more than for the French I'm supposed to be doing for A Level. Pity they don't do A Level Rothenian, isn't it?'
Indeed,' said Dr Mac, But you can get Rothenian state radio on the web, so I'm told, which is good practice for Henry, and he's bought some books from Amazon.deutschland. All in all, Henry could survive as a tour guide already I'd say, and he has friends in Rothenia he can e-mail.'
Yeah, there's Nikki Baltasar and Fritzy zu Terlenehem. Really good mates. We miss em, don't we Ed?'
`Especially Fritzy ... they broke the mould after they made him. Wish we could go back there this summer, but it doesn't look as though Henry's dad can get an exchange in Strelzen twice in a row.'
Henry looked sad. `Strelzen's totally amazing, Davey. The sun shines every day. The city's more beautiful than you could believe, and the people are kind and helpful, apart from tram conductors.'
Dr Mac cocked a bushy eyebrow. You might perhaps not want to go there this summer, however.' Ed and Henry looked at him, puzzled. The old man continued, I don't know if you've been following the news recently, Henry, but there's a constitutional crisis brewing. President Maritz is being forced out of office by a coalition of former communists and nationalists. It's beginning to look messy, and there were riots in Zenden two days ago.'
`No. I hadn't heard. It's not made the main news here.'
The BBC is not what it once was,' sighed Dr Mac, but I still listen to the World Service, and that's a bit more international. There was a feature in the Times last week ... I'll give it to you or your father on Sunday. Bye boys.'
They said goodbye, and Henry looked at Ed with a troubled expression. `I hope Fritzy and the guys are OK.'
Ed raised his eyebrows. `We'd better get in touch. Damn. It's a pity your Dad is so against the web isn't it?'
They went back to the rectory and looked at a new strategy game that David had brought with him: `Imperial Ambition', a sort of empire-building game based on eighteenth-century Europe. Henry laughed to find that Ruritania -- the old name for Rothenia -- was one of the possible sides to play. They gleefully clicked on the Ruritanian icon, and, as King Henry the Lion, soon found ways to subject Europe to their rule, at least at Beginners level.
As Ed was building up the Ruritanian army for a massive onslaught on Prussia, he constructed a new general. Hey little babe ... look who I got!' Henry and David looked over his shoulder at the character screen. It's the Field Marshal Count von Tarlenheim. We've got Fritzy in the game!'
David looked at them curiously. Henry said, `Our friend we mentioned, Fritzy zu Terlenehem, he's fourteen now, and he's the prince of Tarlenheim, direct descendant of the famous Field Marshal in this game.'
David was impressed. `How did you meet a prince, for God's sake?'
`We were in Strelzen last year on an exchange. Dad was looking after the Anglican chaplaincy during August. The director of music in the church there is Will Vincent -- y'know, the Will of Will and Oskar. Well, he's an influential bloke in the local media, and he introduced me and Ed to little Fritzy, and we got on really well. Will's ex-boyfriend Oskar is Fritzy's big brother, but he resigned the title to Fritzy. We don't know why, but there was some sort of scandal about it.'
David said, `Well that trumps me. The only titled bloke I've met is an earl.'
Oh yeah,' said Henry abstractedly as one of the Ruritanian armies occupied Silesia, who's that?'
David looked puzzled. `But you know him too.'
`I do?'
`Doesn't the gossip from Temple House ever reach you guys? It's Rudi Burlesdon. He's the twelfth earl for God's sake. Why do you think the Head was so cagy about expelling him!'