(Editor's note: One NuChin year is equal to approximately 2.33 galactic standard years. NuChin rotates on its axis in 30.35 galactic standard hours. It has minimal axial tilt and therefore has only slight seasonal weather variation. Its unbroken cloud cover made some suggest that attempted settlement, despite its otherwise terra-compatible ecosystem, was not a wise move, and was partly blamed for the disaster that followed.)
People spoken of in this story:
Cavon Son of Lord Srotyr
Srotyr Lord of NewTown
Chi-Da Teacher, NewTown
Ti-Lung Maternal uncle of Cavon
Yue-Sin Armourer of NewTown
Yue-Lin Son of Yue-Sin, childhood friend of Cavon
Loa-Lech Childhood friend of Cavon
Po-Wei Court Attendant, NewTown
Hu-Wi Stable master, NewTown
Hi-Tui Chief Guardian of Gate, NewTown
Ba-Nol Metal smith, friend of Cavon
Wi-Su Chief Engineer, NewTown
Win-Som Fianc‚ of Cavon
Win-Bui Father of Win-Som
Xi-To Field Worker
Do-Si Guard
Zo-Lo Field worker supervisor
BOOK 1
WEEK ONE
FIRSTDAY
I opened my eyes to brilliant light. I jumped out of bed and looked out the window. Never in all of my 6 years had I seen daylight so bright. It hurt my eyes. Looking up the clouds were thin, The One was close. It would not rain today. It made my birthday stand out for another reason. It was also the day I left childhood and commenced on the path of manhood, the day I would leave the close care of Mother for that of Father. It was a big day. Tonight I would bathe with Father for the first time, even though I had the weekly bath with Mother as usual two nights previously, SixthDay, in preparation for Godday. It was also the last day of school, not that there was anything left for me to learn there. For over a year I had been helping teach the other boys, for I had exhausted the resources of the teacher, as well as spending extra time teaching Mother. This was extra special, as I loved Mother to obsession. She was intelligent, eager and still young enough to learn being only 13 years old, but women did not receive an education so all teaching had to be done in secret while we were on walks in the town and around the fields. I taught her mathematics and reading using sticks drawing in the dirt, carefully rubbing it all out when we had finished, and now she was continuing herself by reading Father's Book whenever he wasn't around.
Today though was not for Mother. It was my last day of childhood, to be spent with my childhood friends. I rinsed my face in the basin in the corner, combed my hair, and ran out to eat my morning rice. Then out into the street, running to find my friend Loa-Lech. Together we dashed through the early morning market, "Pshawing" the pretty servant girls getting the days provisions. One busty maid lost her footing on the mud covered boards while trying to dodge us, falling in a messy heap so that her breasts bounced within her blouse. Loa-Lech screamed out, "Look at that pair! Couldn't hold one of `em in my two hands!" and gestured his hands suggestively. I made an inarticulate noise and imitated the hand actions. I really didn't know why Loa-Lech and the other boys did these things. I did them because they did, so maybe they did them just because others did and there was no real reason. But that did not stop me doing them with gusto and joy. There was no thought in Loa-Lech's head to stop to help the luckless girl, he just laughed and continued on his way, racing amongst the stalls. I felt uncomfortable and did stop, but the girl just grinned grimly and waved me on. I dashed on between the tables of fruit and vegetables, chickens and siedens screaming in cages hanging from hooks, pigs and slimchuis tied to stakes.
Colours glowed, voices were louder, everyone seemed to be smiling and laughing. The brightness of the day was reflected in everything, even the hollow sound of our hard leather shoes on the boards. Loa-Lech skidded to a halt on the recently laid black surface of the Town Square, waiting for me. This black was the most recent of the new wonders that the king had been introducing over the years. As always the idea had its critics, saying it would soon become a slippery-slide of mud and horse dung, but the preceding innovation, suspended boards with drains underneath for the market, had been so popular that there had not been much resistance. This time though the critics may have been correct, for even after only 3 seventydays it already had a coating of the predicted substance. However, it was great for sliding, though you paid with a very smelly pair of trousers if you lost balance.
Up one of the cobble-stoned streets on the other side of the square and we arrived at class. Chi-Da was already there, and greeted us as we, sweaty and panting, came in.
"Good morning Cavon, good morning Loa-Lech. The One has put on a fine day for your birthday Cavon. My present will be that you have your last day off. Take Yue-Lin with you. Teach him that theory you were explaining to me about right angled triangles and squares, see if you can prove it to him."
Chi-Da was a nice man. He was my maternal uncle's wife's great uncle, and we often had long talks about mathematics. He liked hearing my ideas and concepts. I introduced to him, and he had made part of his regular teaching, the concept of squares and square roots, the sum of the angles of a triangle and many others. When I was young enough to have my mother come to collect me he always complimented me on my adeptness with maths. Now he was giving me a day off with my best friend, whom he knew very well had a full grasp on my right angle triangle theorem. Before he could think twice we were out of the room and on our way to his house. Yue-Lin was different in appearance to most people. His face was squarer, his eyes did not slope down, his skin browner, his hair had a bit of curl. Not that anyone worried.
We collected his bow and my knife (neither of us were supposed to have weapons, but his father was the chief armourer for the local garrison and he allowed us to have them as long as they were never seen within the town). We waved to our friend Hi-Tui, the guardian of the town gate. From the gate we had a view of the main valley, blinkered by the walls of the small side valley in which the town was situated. In a straight line ran the permanent road out of the town, continuing as a temporary road through the recently exposed flood plains on the near side of the river, then over the bridge and the far flood plain, already sprouting green of rice seedlings. Often hidden in mist the far side of the valley was clearly visible rising in the distance. But this was not our destination. Instead we turned right onto the permanent nearside valley road and after another thousand paces or so found a track angling off to the right between two fields. We stopped for a while to speak to the field workers tending the sein crop, its tall wide leaves half hiding them from view, before continuing the 150 paces into the first of the forest canopy and started to climb. This area had been left untouched because it was too steep to use and the king had ordered that the trees not be cut, saying that otherwise the mud of the hills would be washed down and would destroy the crops. The woodsmen complained bitterly about this as it meant they had to travel further to find good timber, but the king's word was law.
It was our first time in the forest since last autumn and we were making our way to a secret place, a pool formed by a natural, hot water spring, presumably arising from the same underground heat source as the hot water of the town. It did not flow anywhere, it just sat there, steam rising from its surface. But the forest was a wild place and the chatter we had kept up from the moment of leaving the schoolroom stopped as we made our way single file up the remnants of the steep path we used last year. It had probably been a wild pig path, but there were no pigs so near to town any more and every year the path was getting more difficult to follow. I led, my knife undone in its sheath ready to draw, and Yue-Lin followed his crossbow loaded though with safety on.
A sudden explosion in the bushes had our weapons up, but it proved to be only a couple of frightened wild siedens panicking upwards on their short leathery wings. We smiled at each other in unspoken relief and continued. I had not paid close attention to Yue-Lin for a while. He was now taller than I was, I thought, and looked stronger. He was also becoming a man, even though he was a good 3 seventydays younger than I was.
It took a little while longer than usual to find the pool and the level of brightness suggested late-morning by the time we were putting down our weapons and sitting against the rock wall behind it. It was this steep wall protecting our backs but leaving a good view of the surrounding forest that made us feel secure enough to relax when we were at the pool. Even so, we laid our weapons out ready for use as one never knew when one would meet a giant lizlion. We then proceeded to do something that was only condoned within the family group. We undressed, hanging our sweaty clothes out to dry on the branches of a fallen tree.
Before he undressed Yue-Lin said, "I have changed since we were last here."
"So have I."
"I have some hair on my body."
"So have I."
"My dick is bigger."
"So is mine."
My know-it-all replies caused him to stop talking and proceed to take off his clothes. Then I saw what he meant. I had changed, so I wasn't just trying to be annoying with my replies. There was now dark hair growing in my groin area and my dick was maybe 3 times as big as before, but when Yue-Lin was naked in front of me I understood why he had thought to comment. He had hair not only in his groin, but also on his chest, belly, arms and legs, and his dick was at least double mine.
"Does your dick get hard and feel good when you touch it?" he asked.
"Yes." I replied.
"Have you thought what it must be like having someone else touch it?"
"No." Yue-Lin looked at me expectantly. "But we could give it a try," I finally added.
"Okay."
We stood close to each other, our young dicks already standing up stiffly. Lin-Yui's felt very thick in my hand as it slid back and forwards within its skin, and mine was giving me a quite marvellous sensation somehow different from when I touched it myself.
"Have you ever gone on for long enough to make it explode?" he asked as he started to pant.
"Yes, of course."
"Let's do it now then!"
He started pulling me faster and soon the wonderful sensation spread through me causing all my muscles to tighten, but I did not stop pulling his dick and after a bit his body tensed also and he grunted once. We looked into each other's eyes and smiled, then I became aware of a wetness in my hand.
"Did you piss on me?" I asked, somewhat offended.
"No! That's what comes out when you do this. Hey, you're dry, didn't it happen for you?"
"Yes, it did. But nothing ever comes out."
"Oh, I remember. That used to happen to me too. But after a bit all this liquid stuff comes out at the end. Its much messier!"
"Oh. Maybe that won't happen to me?"
"Maybe. But it happens to my Father also"
"How do you know?" I asked surprised.
Yue-Lin caught himself, as if realising he had said something he shouldn't have. He gave me an appraising look. "You won't tell anyone?"
"You know I won't."
"Okay. I do this with Father in the bath."
"You are bathing with your father already?"
"Yeh. Mum said I was too grown up to be with her any longer, and even though I wasn't six she wanted me with Father."
By this stage they had edged their way into the hot water. "What does your Dad's dick look like when it's hard?"
"Like yours I guess, but a bit longer. It's not as thick as mine. His sack is smaller than mine too, but bigger than yours. His balls are like sieden eggs."
"I wonder what my father's will look like?" I said, thinking that I would find out that night.
Yue-Lin led the way out of the water. Our heads were as wet with sweat as with water and what had seemed balmy air when we undressed now felt pleasantly cool. I lay on the softfern patch where we usually cooled off, but instead of lying beside me Yue-Lin organised me so that I was on my side with my lower leg bent up at 90§. He then lay down with his head on my thigh, inserting his own under my head as a pillow so I found myself looking close range at his dick. It was certainly a more interesting sight than the breasts of the wench in the market place this morning, and I could feel my dick getting hard again. Yue-Lin's swelled in front of me also, then I felt something warm and wet around my dick. Looking down I saw it was Yue-Lin's mouth. He let my dick out to order, "Suck me!"
"Where did you learn this?" I asked.
"I do it for Father. I always wonder what it must feel like as it always seems to feel good for him."
So I cautiously took Yue-Lin's dick into my mouth, careful with my teeth. It tasted interesting, but there wasn't much time to think about it as my body filled again with the sensation as Yue-Lin moved his mouth back and forward on my dick. At the same time as my body spasmed in delight he started pushing his dick in and out of my mouth, almost making me gag. Soon though he also tensed, then his dick started to shrink down. I fell asleep with his dick still in my mouth.
We both woke at the same instant. Something had pulled us from our post-orgasmic sleep. Yue-Lin grabbed his crossbow and passed me my knife as we backed against the security of the rock wall, ears alive. Then a bubble broke the surface of the pool with a "blorp", and we both realised that that was the sound that had woken us. It wasn't an immediate threat, and we laughed at our edginess. Probably being undressed made us more worried about being found, but the bubble was still strange. We had never seen one come up from the pool before. Another "blorp" and a nasty stink, different to the usual sulpher. We dressed hurriedly and made our way without our usual caution down the steep track to the fields. Safe amongst the familiar we started to talk softly, avoiding the curious ears of the field workers. Two topics clambered for attention, what we had done together and the bubbles in the pool.
"You know we mustn't talk about what we did," said Yue- Lin.
"That's obvious. But with me leaving school it's going to be difficult to be together."
"We'll find time now that we know."
"I guess so. Where do you think those bubbles came from?"
"Maybe a monster was under the water," Yue-Lin said, chillingly.
"Not likely cause it would have eaten us."
"Yeh, I guess. I really don't know, but I don't think I want to go back to find out."
"Shame, I like it there."
"We'll find somewhere else we can do things," Yue-Lin said knowingly.
The topic was dropped. I left Yue-Lin at his door and slowly made my way home. It certainly had been a different day. On arriving home I found Mother to give her a kiss then sat down with her to lunch.
After eating she asked, "How was your last day of childhood," smiling.
"Good. Chi-Da gave me the day off so as I could teach Yue-Lin about my right angled triangle theorem."
"That's the one about the square of the two sides added together being equal to the square of the long side?"
I nodded.
"But you told me that Yue-Lin already understood that."
"Yes. Chi-Da knows that too. He was just giving us a day together."
"Ah. He's very nice, Chi-Da. I was playing with your theorem today. It works every time, though I couldn't test it with numbers that are fractions. How can you multiply one fraction by another?" Mother asked.
The explanation took some time and left me feeling tired. Mother had a little trouble grasping the idea, but when it clicked she was good, multiplying 3 5/8 x 2 3/7 and all sorts of other funny combinations in her head. It left me feeling very sleepy, and though I had thought I would have trouble sleeping during the siesta as I had slept after what Yue-Lin and I did together and with the excitement of the upcoming evening bath, I fell asleep instantly and for much longer than usual. I awoke with Father standing over me, hand on my shoulder.
"The bath is ready. Time to wake sleepy one. You must have used lots of energy fighting lizlions." He smiled warmly. He was already wearing his bathrobe, a long robe made from soft lizrab skin that revealed a bit of hair where it crossed high on his chest. It was held together by a tie of lizrab. Father was a very handsome man, with strong white teeth always showing in a smile. His hair was dark and curly and his jaw strong. He was very powerful. I loved sitting on his lap at night as he told stories, snuggling close to his strength and man smell. Over the last 6 seventy days I had also come to love seeing him in his bathrobe, the hair peeking out of the V. One night I had noted he was in a very good mood. It was bath night and he was in his bathrobe, heading for the door, when I pounced on him. I wrestled with him pretending I was Xen-Li, fighting the giant lizlion and he was happy to fight back. Xen-Li defeated the lizlion, and I knew Father would allow me defeat him, letting me sit on him as he lay on his back on the floor. In truth I had been hoping that his bathrobe would fall open. I didn't know what I would see underneath, but I was very curious. Unfortunately it didn't, but while he was on his back he bent one of his knees and the robe fell back to reveal his leg. Having never seen an adult's leg other than Mother's I was surprised by how much dark curling hair covered it and the massive size of his thigh. Having gained victory I started to set about tying him down with pretend ropes around ankles and wrists, hoping that from the foot end I would be able to see further up his robe, but he rolled me off instead so that my head was cradled on his arm. We stayed together like this for what seemed an age as he asked me about my day, what I had learnt at school, quizzing me on the more complex mathematics. When he finally sent me away I rushed off to my room and for reasons I did not understand well started pulling at my dick. It was hard, I had realised as I had run away, though I didn't know why. I had wondered if Father had noticed. Closing my eyes I again saw his thick hairy thigh and for the first time felt the sensation swelling over me.
Now, especially after today, I knew a lot more about the sensation. I had discovered that it wasn't something exclusive to me, as I had thought possible because I had never heard anyone else talk about it. I did not realise it was sex though. I followed Father down the wooden outside path to the bathroom with a sense of anticipation. He opened the paling door and ushered me inside. The bath was steaming, the hot water rolling over the top of its wooden sides into the overflow tray as fresh hot water pushed up from the underground source into the bottom of the tub. It smelt of bath time, of sulphur. Both lamps had been lit. Fresh soap was in the holder, and the oil bottle was full. Father sat on the bench.
"Stand here," he indicated a space in front of him. "Take off your robe and let me see my boy."
I had never undressed in front of Father, and I felt self-conscious. Also I knew my dick was hard, and after what I found out today I didn't know what he would think of that. But he put his hand out for my robe and I saw there was no evasion. I slid out of my robe and handed it to him, at the same time trying to turn away. He hung it on a peg, then turned back to me.
"Face me my boy," he ordered. I turned. His eyes examined me from head to toes. "Ah, I see we are growing up. And lusty too!" The last was said looking at my dick.
I had no reply, in fact did not understand. He then stood and turned his back on me as he took off his own robe, taking his time to hang it on the peg next to mine. His back had a light coat of hair similar to what I had seen on his thigh. All of him was covered in fur except his backside. Muscles half disguised by his comfortable life were outlined in his legs and chest. I felt my dick twitch. He turned around and I'm sure my jaw must have dropped. I now knew what other boys felt to cause them to cry out "look at that!" in response to sights of female body parts. His chest seemed massive, his belly powerful. His dick was much bigger than Yue-Lin's, and seemingly alive. I wondered briefly if he would ask me to suck it like Yue-Lin's father asked of Yue-Lin.
"What do you think of your father?" Father asked after a bit.
"He's beautiful!" This just fell out.
Father seemed nonplussed. It was obviously not what he was expecting. I think I remember that his dick twitched a bit, but this could just be the distortion of my memory by time.
"Thankyou. You are rather beautiful too. But what I meant was who do you think I look like?"
After swallowing on a very dry mouth I eventually came out with, "You look like a big version of Yue-Lin."
"That's your friend, no? The son of Yue-Sin, the armourer."
I nodded, mouth too dry to speak.
He watched me for a bit, then looked down. "Does his dick get harder than this?"
It was then that I noticed that his dick had swelled to triple the size it had been, but it was not really hard and drooped down, though held away from his balls.
I could only nod.
"What do you do with Yue-Lin?" he asked in an open manner, his dick, where my eyes were still focused, twitching.
Father's questions were never something that one ever had the option of refusing to answer. Nor could I lie, for he always knew. So stumbling over words that seemed stuck to my tongue I explained what had happened today, even to what Yue-Lin did with his father when asked how Yue-Lin knew about such things. I had thought he was going to be angry but instead at the end of my confession he called me to him. His lips were lifted in a warm smile and his eyes glistened as he took me into his massive arms. I felt his dick squashed against my belly as he held me tight, my face buried in his chest. "My son," he half moaned, "I have lots to tell you." Maybe a few moments, maybe an age, passed before he said, "Let's get into the bath before we get cold."
Without thinking I said, "Can I sit on your lap?"
He looked down at his lap, at his swollen dick (no harder than before) and looked back at me questioningly.
"I'm still small enough," I said with an innocence that was in truth only 25% fake.
"Okay, we can give it a try." He climbed the steps and lowered himself slowly into the water trying to make the exodus of water over the top of the tub gentle so it did not splash into the room. He sat shoulders leaning against the wall of the tub and feet supported on the opposite bench in the shape of first 3/4 of a W. I climbed in after him mounting him like a horse, legs spread around his powerful belly. Vaguely I could see his dick floating upwards in the water before my bum landed on it. It was still in its half hard state and by chance its head ended up pushing against my anus. Father made no movement, but I though I felt it pushing harder against the opening. Father made a strangled swallowing sound before saying, "Lift yourself up a little." As I did he reached between my legs and pulled his dick up, then indicated me to sit down again. "That's better." I felt surprisingly disappointed, but enjoyed the sight of my dick resting against his. It made mine seem so small.
"We have lots we to talk about Cavon. Look at me. Other than Yue-Lin whom do I look like?"
I had never thought. He looked like Father. Reluctantly I closed my eyes and visualised each person I knew one by one. Like Yue-Lin, Father also did not have the slope of the eye, and when his skin was next to mine, as it was now, his brown made my brown look yellow. I thought of people of our town, then the few I knew from outside. My eyes opened in wonder. "You look like the King!"
Father fixed my eyes for 30 secs before replying. "The King is my Father."
"How! Your father died when you were a child!"
"That is the story. The truth is Mother was the King's mistress. It was she he loved, and he married only so as to achieve the crown. But he made sure that Mother was cared for and under no threat. He visited frequently, spent lots of time with me. He taught me things only known by him. But I was illegitimate and I could never assume his name or have a title."
My mind had been racing. It should have been in overload but was in fact running at peak. "Then I am the grandson of the King."
"This is the other thing I must tell you Cavon. Don't ever think that this is something that makes me love you less, but I am not your father."
"What!?"
"My friend, Ti-Lung, had a sister. His sister was indiscreet and became pregnant to a childhood love. You know the punishment for this and Ti-Lung was distraught. I tried to find a way to help. Father had always been upset that I could not take a place in the realm because of my birth, and because of my birth I could not marry into a noble position. Of course you know that the Queen is your mother's cousin. So I suggested to the king that I had found a way out of my lowly status. Spare the life of Ti- Lung's sister. I would marry her and declare that the child was mine, and in return I would be ennobled by acceptance into her family. As the pregnancy had been kept secret it did not require much more than a premature delivery for you to become my son."
"I'm not your son!" I cried in despair.
"By blood no, but in my heart you are more than any son can be to a father. Hold me!"
I fell forward onto to him, crying into his neck. He had no trouble supporting my weight, straitening his legs so I could lie out flat. Somehow during this his dick found its way between my legs, but I only became aware of it as my sobbing died down. It was still in its semi-tumescent state, and when I became aware I squeezed my legs together.
"Careful!" said Father. "Sit up again." He brought his knees back up and I resumed my previous position. He again got me to lift so as to pull his dick out from under me. "Look at this," he said, indicating his dick. "It used to be as lusty as yours, but now this is the best it can do! Hold it and see."
I took its might in my two hands. It was bigger than Yue-Lin's by far, but it was squashy, and it bent without any problem. I wanted to leave my hands on it forever, pull it up and down within its skin like I had with Yue-Lin's, but knew better so took them away.
"Cavon," said Father, "it has never entered your mother or any other woman. Your mother is a wonderful, intelligent lady, but she was not a virgin so I could not. I love her like a sister, and we have a better marriage than many others I know, but as you know we sleep apart."
We looked into each other's eyes for a long time. Eventually I said, "Father, it makes no difference, I still love you. I respect you for what you did for Mother. If others knew they would say that you did it for self-gain. I don't think that's true, is it?" I said hopefully.
"You are a canny lad," Father replied. "In truth the elevation in status was only important as a means of gaining the approval of the King, to help persuade him to hide the situation. I did it for Ti-Lung, and because I knew through him that your mother was at heart a very good person who did not deserve to die for one mistake."
"Is it common for women to be executed for becoming pregnant?" I asked.
"No, most of the time the man accepts responsibility and marriage occurs before the birth. But in the case of your mother the man was denying responsibility."
"Who was he?"
Father looked at me, his features briefly stiffening. "He did not want to know you. I am your father. And he is dead anyway. Of fever, I think now 4 years ago. It is best that you don't know his name. Now, it is time we got out of this bath or we will dissolve. But first it is tradition that I wash you on your first birthday as a man. Turn around and sit down again." He sat up straight while I was on my feet, so that when I sat down I was on his thighs. I lifted and moved back so that his dick was again pressing against my anus, but this time he did not ask me to move. After dipping his fingers into the tub of soft soap he asked me to put my head under the water to wet my hair. He then leant forward and lathered my hair and massaged my scalp, moving his strong fingers from there down to my back. I leant forward to put my head under water and he went with me to rinse the soap out, but down below the pressure of his dick on my anus was increased. Soapsuds ran over the edge of the tub. Then he got me to stand and with fresh soap washed my buttocks and between my legs, applying counter pressure with his big left hand spanning my groin to stop me falling, running his slippery right index finger around the rim of my anus and even slipping it inside to make sure I was clean.
The back of my legs clean he then asked me to turn. He rubbed my arms and chest, moving down to belly. More soap and he lathered my balls and rigid dick, pulling back the skin to clean the head. Almost as soon as he touched me I could feel the sensation building. He seemed to notice and quickly moved down to my legs. "Now, out you get while I wash," he said as the last of the soap was removed.
"Can I wash you sir?" I asked hesitantly.
He looked at me seriously. "Not tonight Cavon," he said after a pause. "Lets make this something special for birthdays. On your birthday your present is that I wash you, on my birthday my present is that you wash me. How does that sound?"
"But your birthday is two seventydays away!"
"Patience my boy, I will still be here."
As I stood cooling off and letting most of the water evaporate I watched father wash himself. After his head was clean he stood so as he could wash everywhere else. My eyes were glued to his dick, still half way up, as he washed, fascinated by the site of the swollen head appearing out of the skin. He was aware of my gaze but did not rush. Rather he ran his hand up and down a few times and closed his eyes, then rubbed soap between his legs and downwards before going back under the water. He forced the stopper back into the water inlet then stepped out of the bath. The skin of his dick was still pulled back and my eyes fixed on its head again. I had already dried myself. "Put your robe on and run and get dressed. I'll join you in the meeting room," he said as he started working the drainage plug out.
He slipped the catch on the door after I went out, but after faking returning to the house I stealthily returned and put my eye to a hole I knew was in one of the timbers near the door. He had not let the water out, and was instead standing on the steps leading up to the bath pulling at his dick, an almost pained expression on his face. My hand instinctively went to my dick. My sensation came rapidly but I managed to keep my eye open so I saw his body spasm as white liquid dripped from his dick that was harder than any time previous. He grunted with the contraction, then stood still. Terrified to be caught but afraid that if I moved the noise would draw his attention, I waited.
"Ti-Lung!" whispered from his lips then he lowered himself to wash his dick in the bath water before moving back to the drain plug. Though I wanted to stay watching I decided that I had to use the noise of the draining water to cover my retreat.
It certainly had been a momentous day, but it wasn't to stop yet. I took my time dressing. My mother had laid out the robe and accompaniments for a formal occasion but I was unfamiliar with exactly how they all went together as she had always helped me before. Tonight though I had to do it myself, and I wanted it to be right. I experimented with the robe, the position of the cape, the correct way to tie the belt. Finally satisfied I made my way to the sitting room. Mother and Father were already there, standing close together taking rice wine by the fire. They turned to me and I could see the pride in both their eyes. I must have got it right! Father then handed me a small cup of rice wine and both he and Mother held up their cups. "To your manhood!" Father said. Not sure what to do I held up my cup in silence, then took a sip. It burnt my throat and I choked. Father laughed as I coughed and my face burned. "Ah Cavon," he sighed through his laughter, "I'm not laughing at you. It is so wonderful to see you arrive at this day, and I remembered that this is exactly what happened to me when I took my first cup of rice wine. And don't forget who was laughing at me was the King, so you can imagine how much more embarrassed I felt." Mother was also laughing, her hand hiding her mouth.
Dropping all decorum I put down my glass and ran up to both of them. I fell to my knees and put my arms around them both, burying my face in the space that separated their thighs. "Thankyou," was all I managed to say between tears of happiness.
My mother bent down to lift me up. Father let her speak, which surprised me but probably reflected his awareness of his not being my father by blood. "No, thankyou Cavon!" she said in her soft, musical voice. "We couldn't have asked for a better son!"
We walked in silence to where the carriage was waiting to take us to the town hall. It was the usual town work cart that had been cleaned and fancied up, for Father never maintained a carriage. We sat on gold painted chairs as the driver urged the horses into a walk. As we approached the hall the number of people in the street increased. They were field workers and some poorer freemen, all out to see me! They parted to allow the carriage to stop at the door and formed a guard for our entry. Father and Mother urged me to walk in front. People touched me as I went past, stroking my shoulders and head. I looked at Father as I didn't know how I should respond to this. Understanding my unspoken question he nodded, which I imitated, nodding my thanks to all. Applause from those around the banquet table sounded as I passed under the decorated entrance, accompanied by stamping and some whistles. All the gentry had been invited to celebrate my passing into manhood, and an invitation from the Lord was not to be turned down.
I was seated at the head of the table, between Father and Mother. Father indicated for me to sit, then to everyone else to do the same. He spoke briefly, thanking all for their attendance, and for the traditional presents that were arranged around the stuffed lizlion, the symbol of manhood, that had been placed behind us. Two sharp claps started a seemingly never-ending procession of servants carrying trays of succulent roast slimchui and pig, decorated with vegetables and greenery, rice fried with festive spices, finally finishing with a massive sweet rice cake topped with sugar and decorated with candles. It was a feast as I had never seen. And all for me. I was served rice wine like all the rest. This time I managed to drink without choking. Maybe too much for I started to feel funny and drowsy. Silence accompanied the meal, but as people ate their fill they left the table and the volume of voices rose, till the hall was filled with laughter and shouting. Days of celebration were rare, and everyone seemed to be feeling the effects of rice wine, with glowing eyes and reddened cheeks and a joviality that I had not seen before in these people that I had known all my life. Music, started by a disguised signal from Father, indicated the start of dancing, with everyone forming the long line of the traditional coming of manhood dance before breaking into more informal sixes and eights of common dance. I danced with Mother and Father, but was also pushed towards Win-Som, a woman who had only achieved that status recently. Too elated to feel concerned about the significance of this I danced till the night ended and again mounted the carriage for our trip home.
During this Father explained what I would be doing the following day. I tried to pay attention. My stomach was distended to the point of pain, my head high with rice wine, my legs jelly from exhaustion. I attempted to hide this as I politely kissed Mother and shook Father's hand. Boldened by the rice wine I was about to turn this into an embrace such as we had enjoyed before bathing, but his rigid arm informed me that this action was not something for public viewing. Even if the public was only our staff within our entrance room.
"Goodnight my young man," Mother called as I left the room. I carefully took off my formal clothes leaving them draped over the chair in my bedroom before putting on my nightshirt. I cleaned my teeth with the piece of frayed bamboo left out by my servant and washed my face clean of the grease of the meal. Finally I knelt by the bed a prayed to the One, thanking him for such a wonderful day, before crawling under the fur bed cover. I was asleep almost without any thought, the unaccustomed effects of rice wine.
SECONDAY
I woke before light had dawned. I felt my way to the door and down to the kitchen to get a lighted taper, returning more rapidly by the help of its light. My candle lit I prepared myself for my first day of manhood. I pulled up my loose filsal trousers and put on the matching shirt. Over that was to go my tailored lizlion coat, waterproof and warm, but that would wait till I was ready to leave. By the time I arrived in the kitchen Father was already there, eating his morning rice. He had already served a plate for me.
"Good morning Cavon."
"Good morning Father."
"Glad to see you up early. Obviously a lad who can hold his drink," he said proudly.
We ate in silence as was correct. On finishing Father said, "Now clean your teeth, and I will meet you in the stables."
I arrived before him so went over to his horse, Trugo, and scratched his nose. Trugo snorted in greeting. Light had commenced outside but the clouds were at their usual heavy level today so it was still quite dim in the stable. Father came up to where I standing at the head of Trugo and put his left hand around my shoulder as his right arm embraced the horse's neck. He pulled me close, enveloping in the warmth of his love, giving me confidence to face the day that was coming.
Father mounted Trugo then leant down to pull me up behind him. I tried to put my arms around him but my coat was making everything very awkward, bunching up in front and keeping me at a distance so that I could not reach around him and the lizlion of his coat gave no purchase for my fingers. His coat had been tailored for riding with a number of flaps forming its skirts rather than a continual sheath like mine. He suggested that I undo my coat then slip my hands between the flaps so as I could grasp his thighs. My arms could not comfortably grasp his thighs, so instead I curled them closer where they gripped his belly. To my surprise my left hand encountered his swollen dick and gripped it reflexly. Father grunted what seemed approval so I didn't let go. He twitched Trugo's reins and he obediently made for the stable door held open by the stable boy.
It was fascinating riding down the town's cobbled streets, Trugo's shoes making metallic clicks with every pace. I had never been on a horse, and therefore had never seen things from this elevated viewpoint. It gave a sense of power, one that I would one day inherit from Father, though I was already feeling a sense of power as my left hand squeezed and stroked his dick through the soft filsal of his trousers and it twitched and moved in response. The continuous wooden frontage of houses with their doors opening direct onto the street seemed so small from my new vantage point. When we were about a minute from the town stables he said, "Let go now my boy, or I won't be able to talk to anyone sensibly."
I knew what he meant, as I thought about how I was going to manage to get my coat closed before my hard dick was obvious. I managed it, slithering down and clasping my coat at the same time. Father didn't seem to have any problems, though I think his face was looking a little flushed. As I turned to complement Hu-Wi, the stable master, a new horse caught my eye so that my formal "Good morning" came out rather rushed. It was a beautiful stallion standing proudly on the end of its reins that were held by one of the stable boys. I looked at Father and by his smile realised that this was my birthday present. Thinking to hug him (how quickly this instinct had appeared when previously all physical contact outside of the privacy of our home had been forbidden) I turned the nascent movement into a formal bow of gratitude. He nodded in acceptance and dismissal and I raced over to introduce myself to my new friend. I took his reins from the boy and reached up to scratch his neck. "What's his name?" I asked.
"Kito, my young Lord," replied the stable master.
"Hello Kito, I am Cavon." The horse snorted in acknowledgment and I stared him in the eye. My mind, ever leaping into the future, saw me proudly riding him from our family stable, all my friends squashed against the wooden house fronts in envy, but then it saw the loss of the intense pleasure I had experienced riding behind Father on the way to the stable this morning. I looked up at Kito and realised that I would have to grow into him before I could bring him home so I could hope for a few seventydays of respite from the loss of repeats of this morning's pleasure.
With confidence refreshed I called out, "He is beautiful!" to be met by the happy smiles of Father and Hu- Wi. It was then I noticed the new lizlion riding coat hung up beside the Kito's stall. My questioning eyes were answered with a confirmative nod and I jumped up in joy.
"Okay Cavon, back up here. I wanted you to meet Kito, but your first duty today is sword practice."
Happily I ran back to Trugo and used Father's proffered arm to lever myself back up behind him. As soon as we had exited the stable my hands were back under his coat searching for his dick "Hey!" said Father quietly. Chastised, my hands pulled away as if burnt. "Its okay, just slow down, not so obvious boy." We turned into a quiet lane and Father reached inside the front of his coat. "Now try," he said. My left hand encountered his to be guided inside his trousers to his waiting dick. The sensation of its bare skin against my hand was magic and I immediately began examining it in earnest. "Steady, just hold him, or I'll fall off!" A slight drizzle had started but I didn't notice I was so warm with contentment. Too soon, even though it was on the opposite side of town from the stables, we arrived at Yue-Lin's house.
Yue-Sin, Yue-Lin's father, was expecting us and met us at the door. "Now go boy, Ez-Ki will pick you up before lunch," said Father after complementing Yue-Sin. I slid down, again quickly bringing my coat together to hid the evidence of arousal.
"Good morning Yue-Sin."
"Good morning, my Lord."
It was strange, but good. Yesterday this man had called me Cavon. I was just a friend of his son. Now in one day I had become his lord. Remembering yesterday and what I had learnt from Yue-Lin my eye strayed to his groin. His filsal trousers were pulled high so that his dick and balls were outlined in a pouch. I knew that they were nothing in comparison with Father's, but Yue-Lin had aroused my curiosity. Then I wondered about Father leaving me with this man knowing what he knew about this man's activities with his son, but Father had already gone and Yue-Sin was respectfully showing me into his house. "He wouldn't try anything because of my status," I thought, with more regret than relief. But he did observe the bulge my still half- hard dick was making in my trousers, revealed by my `carelessly' letting my jacket fall open.
Yue-Sin was a barrel of a man. He had a massive chest and thick, though short limbs. Skill and strength made up for his lack of reach and he was a formidable fighter. His dark hair was closed cropped, as was his moustache. He was about 19 years old, and Father said he was on the decline from his prime. I was sure that Yue-Lin would be a worthy successor.
"My lord Cavon, I know you have had a little experience with the bow and knife. The first is more a hunter's weapon, or a foot soldier's, the second is for assassins or close work. Where I would like to start therefore is with the sword, the true weapon of lords. If used well you should never need your dagger, though a dagger is not something one would ignore as a backup. I will admit that daggers have more value for people with longer arms like Lord Srotyr or Yue-Lin, but for you and I they have problems. Later I will design a sword for you, but if its okay I will wait to you have undergone your growth spurt so that we only have to do it once. In the meantime we will begin training with simple wooden replicas. They are safer (you end up bruised rather than cut) and because their movements are crude they are actually more difficulty to control than a well-balanced sword. Once you learn to control wood control of a real sword will be so simple your only thoughts will need to be in the area of tactics."
During this speech he had periodically scratched at his balls, at the same time repeatedly eyeing my dick that was elevating instead of going down. I wondered if Yue-Lin had spoken to his father, as I had spoken to mine, about our actions by the pool. There was no doubt that the pouch in his trousers was growing. "Adulthood is not what I was expecting," I thought. We were quite alone in the weapons room, and any noise that occurred would be taken as part of training and ignored. "But he knows I would tell Father, and his life would be forfeit," my thought processes continuing along the lines of physical force being use to make me comply. "All he would need do is ask though, and I would be happy to oblige." I certainly was very excited. He took an indirect approach.
"My Lord Cavon. I see you have a problem there that must be distracting your attention. Would you allow me to help you with it so that we can proceed more calmly."
"What do you propose?" I asked.
"I think I will have to demonstrate. Nothing will happen if you don't wish, but I need your word that you will say nothing to Lord Srotyr."
"Given," I replied briefly, feeling very noble.
In response he stripped. Naked his body was even more impressive than dressed. His muscles were well defined and hard. His chest was broad and solid, and his belly, though big, looked as hard as rock. As was his dick, which was standing up at 60ø elevated by balls pushed forward by his thick thighs. He was a little older than Father, but appeared younger. Also in contrast to Father, his only hair was in his groin. "What I propose is that I lubricate my arse and your dick with that massage oil, I will then bend over the table like so and you will fuck me till you don't need to any more."
"And you, Yue-Sin?" I asked. His eyes questioned my meaning. "How will you get satisfaction?" I felt very adult and formal.
"Don't worry me lad," he said, dropping back to the Yue- Sin I knew. "I will cum all over the floor a number of times before we finish! Shall we continue?"
I had lost my elite confidence, didn't know what he meant by "arse", "fuck" or "cum", though I knew I was soon to find out. All I managed was a nod. It was enough.
He gently took off my clothes. "Let me suck your little lizlion for a bit first," he said kneeling in front of me and using the grip he took on my buttocks to push my dick in and out of his mouth. "Fresh from last night's bath, probably washed by Lord Srotyr's own hand," he spluttered gleefully. Feeling me start to tense he stopped and applied the massage oil as he had described. He bent over the table and said, "Grab my arms to give purchase, then enter me slowly to give me time to adjust. You're not very big so it shouldn't be too difficult."
I now realised arse meant anus. Knowing what Father's finger had felt like when he put it inside I could see the attraction for Yue-Sin in what we were going to do. I took a few goes to get things lined up, then my dick slipped inside him without difficulty. He got me to hold still for a bit and then said, after giving his "arse" a bit of a wriggle, "Fuck me for all your worth!"
"I sorry sir, what does "fuck" mean?"
Yue-Sin laughed gutturally. "It means move that little dick of yours in and out of my arse as fast or slow and as deep as you want until you cum."
"Oh," was all I managed, but promptly applied the instructions, surprised by how wonderful it felt. Yue-Sin started groaning so I asked, "Am I hurting you?"
"No, you most certainly ain't! But if you could spare one of your hands for my dick I would be obliged."
With my left hand I held his dick while my right still gave purchase. Yue-Sin began his own fucking movement, pushing his dick (that I hadn't noticed he had oiled) in and out of my hand, increasing the penetration of my dick in his arse. Soon I was tensing prior to the sensation, and Yue- Sin was tensing under me. He cried out then grunted and I felt an increase in wetness in my left hand, but soon the sensation overtook me I didn't notice much more of what he did. I rested on him, panting a bit as he was blowing underneath me.
"Now don't pull out boy," he said between breaths, "just move slowly till the itch builds up again then go for it. The second time is always better!"
And in fact the second sensation was more powerful than the first, and as by the noise he made so was his. I had now worked out, in the small part of my thoughts that were functioning rationally, that "cum" meant "the sensation". Even so, the sensation even on the second time did not match that I achieved watching Father through my spy-hole last night, or the loving warmth of holding his dick as I rode behind him on Trugo. It still felt good though. I closed my eyes and could clearly see Father standing on the bath steps, left hand holding the base while his right hand stripped the shaft of his partially hard dick.
"Had enough," Yue-Sin asked after a bit, "or have you enough for one more time".
Thinking of Father had made me quite hard again so I replied, "One more time if it's okay with you."
"Let's go!" and he began pushing his dick again through my wet, encircling hand.
At this point I realised that his dick had never softened even though it had jettisoned a copious supply of fluid each time he had cum. This time took a lot longer for both of us, and we were breathing too heavily for words, sweat lubricating the smooth junction of our bodies, by the time we had finished.
"Enough," I called, pulling out. My dick felt battered to the point of no recovery and was quickly softening. Yue- Sin was still rock hard. Looking back I am amazed at his sexual stamina for his age, at the time though I did not realise sexual ability always reduced with age despite the knowledge of Father's problem.
Yue-Sin grabbed some wadding used for weapon cleaning and first wiped me down then himself. He took me in his arms and kissed me roughly on the lips after saying, "You're not a bad little fucker, you know. We'll have to try this again!" He instructed me to dress, then suddenly became formal. "Lord Cavon, it's now time to learn how to use your second weapon of the day!"
I felt weak, but took the proffered wooden sword. Yue- Sin had dressed, but his dick was still sticking stiffly forward inside its pouch. "Doesn't it ever go down?" I asked, ignoring his mock formality.
"It will with a bit of distraction, my lord" he said as he launched an attack on me without warning. I tried to defend, but was "dead" in moments. "Just keeping you on your toes, so you don't think I'm always so easy," he said with a sardonic smile on his face.
Then began solid drill work, thrusting, parrying, Yue- Sin standing by me, correcting my line, making sure the point of the sword was always lifted so as to be ready, my knees always bent in a prepared crouch. By the time he called a halt my arm was more exhausted than my dick had been. "That's enough. Now I want some simple stretching before I rub you down," instructing me to hang from an exposed rafter that he lifted me up to. The rub down to my surprise was a very professional, and after what had passed between us, quite impersonal, massage, followed by a hot tub to remove the oil and further relax my muscles. I suspect it was because he knew Ez-Ki was arriving soon that he did not join me in the tub (though he didn't cover me with towels so he wouldn't see my body while he massaged me and he did stand watching me from when I undressed till when I was dry and putting on my clean clothes, though after what had already passed between us I couldn't really complain) nor let the massage become personal. Tubs were an exclusive domain of nobility and the rich, so Yue-Sin, and therefore Yue-Lin, was lucky to have one. It was installed at the cost of the local men of wealth because Yue-Sin was the trainer of all their sons, who couldn't be sent home wet and cold with the cooling sweat of a hard work out.
A knock at the arms-room door announced Ez-Ki's arrival. Yue-Sin quickly embraced me before allowing entry, whispering that he looked forward to our next lesson. Father had organised a roster of weapon, horse, then day off for my mornings, with the afternoons spent learning the administrative side of his position. God-day was naturally free.
Ez-Ki brought me to Father. He was seated at a table outside the back of the tavern despite the light drizzle that had continued to fall, talking with a man who looked like an artisan by his dress but proved to be the town's chief engineer. He had been supervising a wall repair near the tavern that explained the state of his dress and the location of the meeting. Father had already been to inspect the work. "Thankyou Ez-Ki," said my Father, dismissing him, and indicating for me to sit by his side on the bench. After Ez-Ki had left Father said, "Wi-Su is going to tell us about possible methods of cleaning the square. He is an intelligent man and a good designer, and a week ago I set him the task of finding a solution to the growing problem."
Wi-Su started nervously, probably because he knew he was indirectly criticising the idea of the King, but his confidence built quickly as he warmed up. "Hot water is going to be the best thing to soften it, but bringing it by the bucket is going to take too long. Once softened it can be scraped with wooden scrapers, but there is no where to scrape it to."
"Now Wi-Su," said Father, smiling, "you only ever bring up problems when you have solutions. What are you suggesting?"
Wi-Su smiled. "You know me well, my lord. I propose that a pipe be sunk similar to those used for baths, then water by directed to enclosed troughs like the water supply that will spill into a trough that will run the length of the square. I suspect that a hot water source will be found closest to the northern end. The trough running the width of the square will be closed at its southern end, and will have holes bored all along its length at decreasing height so that water will be spread equally along the top of the square. At the low end we can then construct a drainage system similar to under the market to remove the water and filth. It will need to be constructed in stone so that the debris can be pushed down towards the town wall and out into the fields."
"That sounds like a very big job Wi-Su."
"Yes my lord, it is. But the filth will be an ongoing problem, that I believe will be best and most easily controlled by a regular schedule rather than attacking it haphazardly when complaints get loud enough. I would think you would be looking at maybe one half seventyday for completion of the construction, then the cleaning would take a team of field workers no more than a day I would think. Chipping it away with hoes would I believe take twice as many workers at least 10 days. You can see that soon the time would be made up, and also the square would be out of action for less time, and be useable all year round."
"Yes, I see your logic. But how can you confirm it? What do you think Cavon?"
"Sir, if you took a group of maybe three workers and let them work with hoes for a day, we could then calculate how long it take to clean the whole square by this method. As to the construction, I assume there is a record of how long it took to prepare and install the troughs for the water system, as well as the cost of the timber. The drain could be similarly based on the cost of building the market system with an added cost for the stone work."
Father was looking at me with a smile of pride on his face. "What do you think, Wi-Su?" he asked in a serious tone.
"My lord, I think the young lord shows amazing insight. With your permission I will undertake what he suggests and report next week."
"Permission granted. You may request the workers from the southern fields. That land is fallow at the moment and they are on loan to other areas. Three can be spared once the rice crop is planted. Report in 4 weeks after these workers have become available. By the way, why three Cavon, why not one."
"Sir, one person will work very hard as he knows that he will be judged by his work. Two will work as a team, each motivating the other to keep going. We're talking of a large group of field workers working here though if the plan is put into full effect. In a big group everyone slacks off thinking they will not be seen and someone else will do their share of the work. Three working together may approximate this so that a reasonably close estimate of real time can be made."
"I like your logic. "Wi-Su?"
"My lord, the next time you set me a task do I have permission to approach Lord Cavon as an adviser?"
"We'll see, though if your not careful you may not have a job Wi-Su!"
Seeing Wi-Su's look of fear, and realising that he had not seen Father's phrase in the jovial tone it was intended, I said, "Don't worry Wi-Su. With my program of weapon training and horse lore I will not have time to take over from you. I know Lord Srotyr respects your work and your position is not in jeopardy." I looked at Father to be greeted by a beaming smile. "But one thing you didn't mention. To get the sludge out into the fields, where it will in truth act as a very good fertiliser, you will have to breach the town wall in some way. This could act a potential weakness in case we are under attack. What are your thoughts?"
Wi-Su was nonplussed. He had been rescued only to be thrown to the lizlions. "My lord, I have none at the moment. May I have permission to think on this matter and present when we meet next week?" he asked meekly.
"Of course," said Father, still smiling broadly. "Now go, and ask Ez-Ki to come to me." Wi-Su bowed his way into the tavern and soon Ez-Ki was in his place. "Bring Trugo," he ordered, then said quietly to me when Ez-Ki was out of earshot, "Don't do anything till we're in the little laneway out of sight."
We walked to where Ez-Ki was waiting for us with Trugo. I mounted behind Father and, after dismissing Ez-Ki, he urged Trugo to a slow walk so I wouldn't have trouble keeping balance. At his word though my arms slipped around him, my left hand finding the waiting gap in his trousers and his already hardening dick. I sighed contentedly, the source of his manhood in my loving grasp, I think echoed by Father, and though I was now quite secure and we were clear on the opposite corner of the town from home Father did not encourage Trugo to move much faster as we headed for lunch and the siesta.
Mother was waiting for us at the dining table, having been warned by the stable boy who Father had sent saying that he would see to Trugo. When he took of his coat I realised that the reason for this somewhat unusual action was that his dick was still fiercely pushing out the fisal of his trousers even though I had stopped giving it attention when he had requested. I had thought that he felt harder than last night. "Now I have bought us a little time to regain our composure we can use it for your first lesson in horse lore. It's a bit arse about," he grinned at the crudity of his expression, "but you will learn how to take a saddle off before you put it on." By the time I had concentrated on the intricacy of the series of ties and the order for releasing them, and of course questioning the reason for the large number and suggesting alternatives, both of us had recovered sufficiently to enter. Before we did though Father took me in his embrace. As much as I longed for the feel of his arms around me holding me against his strong body I pushed away. He looked at me almost in disbelief that I would deny his direct request. "Sorry Father, I mean no disrespect," I said quickly. "I have worked hard to regain my composure while I learnt about removing a saddle but it will only take moments to return to the state that required the lesson in the first place." Father eyed me with fire in his eyes saying nothing, but after a bit it died and he nodded. "Cavon, what I was going to say was that you made me a very proud father today. The way you comforted Wi-Su when you saw he was distressed for no reason, but then reminded him in the same breath that you are truly his superior, was the height of the art of being a ruler. And now you have done the same to me! And you are quite correct. I am sorry for my anger when you pushed away. To my benefit I did not express it, but should have known that anything you did to contradict me would have a very good reason. I guess I have become arrogant and am accustomed to being obeyed. Your intellect and maturity humbles me." In response I said, "Father I want to hold you now more than before. It tears me in two. Maybe after lunch you can find an excuse to see me to my bed?"
As I said Mother was waiting for us, full of questions for me as to my first day. Father told the story of Wi-Su, of the pride of the logic of my answer, how he could see that in a very short time he was going to be quite dependent on me. Mother smiled her happiness behind her hand, I looked meekly into my food, eyes feeling heavy. Next thing I knew my mother called out and I was pulling my face out of my empty rice bowl. Father came to my aid, cleaning my face with my serviette, then suggested he see me up to bed.
"Good tactic," he said quietly after shutting my door.
"No sir, just fatigue I'm afraid," I smiled.
He took into his arms and held me tight against him. In return I hugged him as tight as my weary arms were capable. "You can never know how much I love you," Father said softly.
I found some extra strength and squeezed. "It is returned many times over. My greatest pleasure is to be with you." I said quite honestly.
I could now feel his dick firm up against my belly, just as mine was rigidly pushing into the area of his thighs. Finally Father broke the hold, looking down at the swelling in his pants. "I'll now have to go direct to bed. I'll come and get you when I wake." He had his hands down his pants in the action of scratching his balls to obscure his aroused state as he opened the door, telling my servant who had been waiting nearby to tell the Mistress that his Lord was going direct to bed and that he was then free to go to his siesta as I would not be needing his help. I slept quickly and deeply, but not for that long.
Two days of remarkable events had turned my world around. I now knew about sex and cumming, but still felt quite at a loss about sex between men. Sexual union between man and woman was a concept I had been aware of, being the necessary prerequisite for having a child. It was the same as with animals that I had witnessed many times, but I now knew that what I had been feeling for Father for the last six seventydays had been the stirrings of what drove a man and woman to sexual union. I had thought that sexual union occurred sort of like a duty thing, like one bowed to the King, not aware of the strong passions that truly drove it. So why do those strong passions drive me towards men rather than women? And why towards Father? A boy surely doesn't normally feel what I feel for Father for their mother? And why do other men share those passions? Now that I was aware that what I felt was not unique to me, and included others, even mature men like Yue-Sin, I could recognise Father had the same feelings for me as I had for him. Why did he hold back? If he is going to leave the door ajar why not open it completely? And why did he whisper the name of Ti-Lung after he had cum last night (I realised I had included Yue- Sin's crudity in my thoughts and smiled, but it was much quicker than "the sensation" and I didn't have any other word)?
Ti-Lung was Father's friend from childhood and Father still visited on a regular basis despite the fact that Ti- Lung was the lord of a town on the Yan-Se river, three days horse ride away. Now I knew he married Mother at the request of Ti-Lung it told me that his relationship with Ti- Lung must have been very close. Three days ago I would have said that this reflected friendship like I had with Yue-Lin, and now I would say the same thing but mean something quite different. (Life is quite confusing!) But what I felt for Yue-Lin was nothing like what I felt for Father and thinking about what we did yesterday had no effect on me, and despite the fact that thinking about what I did today with Yue-Sin, the image of his powerful frame and ever hard dick made my dick get quite hard, the emotion wasn't there. Though, logically that didn't mean that Father could not have feelings for Ti-Lung similar to mine for him. Maybe when he looked at me he was in fact looking at his memory of a young Ti-Lung, who after all was my uncle. Yet Father had specifically said he loved me personally, and Father did not lie. And besides, Father did not have his own father in competition with all other comers like I did.
But why did he not relax so we could enjoy freely on a physical level what we had emotionally? It seemed so simple. Yet life always seemed simple, and adults had ways of making that simplicity complex. Maybe it was complex. Looking at the risk Yue-Sin had taken today was possibly an example of that. He already had his wife to satisfy him sexually, and as that did not appear to be enough he also had his son who was much more developed than I. Why then take the risk of exposure and approach me? Unless danger was an excitement of its own? Now that's getting too far from my understanding! Or maybe it is power. Yue-Sin is obviously very aware of my position. That sex between men is never spoken of suggests that there must be some taboo against it. Possibly Yue-Sin thinks by have sex with me he is corrupting me, and this is a way at hitting out at Father. Why would anyone want to hurt Father?
Somewhere during these mental meanderings I fell asleep again, to wake to the soft touch of Father's lips on my forehead. He was seated beside me on the bed.
"Wake up Cavon. Time to go."
I smiled up at him, reaching up to catch his handsome face between my two hands then seemingly floating up to place my lips on his. He was surprised, then relaxed his lips into a soft kiss. I fell back content, one hand on his arm he was using to support himself on my far side, the other on his thigh. "I'm very happy Father."
"So am I, my son. It is wonderful to have you in the adult world, in my protection."
My mid siesta ramblings surfaced as I looked lovingly into his eyes. "He does not let things go any further because he is protecting me," I thought. "If only he knew!"
"Let's go before problems surface," the loving smile still present glowing down on me.
"Okay."
Mother was still asleep. The stable boy had been allowed to saddle Trugo, and Trugo was eagerly awaiting us. Before mounting father put his hand inside his coat and did something, then looked at me. "We forgot to bring home your new coat," he said.
"It's okay. I'll just undo this one again." I mounted behind Father and as soon as the stable boy had turned my hands were inside his coat to find his trousers loosened, waiting for me. Like a lizrab down its hole my hand dove in, but found only hair.
Realising the problem Father said, "Uh. I'm sitting on him. Wait till we're in the lane." There he lifted himself in the stirrups, slipped a hand inside his trousers and delivered his dick to me. He had to stretch it as it was quite soft and small. I held it tight so it did not escape. Seeming to hear my almost-thought-of question he said, seemingly embarrassed, "I masturbated after siesta so he would stay under better control."
"Masturbated?" I asked, not recognising the word.
Even more embarrassed he replied. `"Ah, you know, like, touch yourself till you achieve orgasm."
I almost asked `Orgasm?' when I realised that it must mean "cum". I contentedly cuddled in behind Father's jacket, finding that my left hand was free to fiddle to my hearts content without causing the distraction even slight movement caused this morning. It was interesting examining Father's limp dick, noting how even at rest the head was quite big, how the skin slipped backward and forward easily. I felt an urged to examine his balls, and was skewing myself to achieve further reach with my left hand when Father said sotto voice, "Whoa! I'll let you have a feel of them in the court office. Here you're making a show!"
Realising I had got so involved that I had forgotten where we were I sat up straight and lost hold of his dick all together. The Town Building was in sight so I didn't bother trying to regain a grip, rather turned my thoughts to what the afternoon would teach, mainly in an attempt to soften my dick. Father never said much about his afternoons. I know he settled disputes between towns folk, made judgements on wrongdoers, but he never spoke of individuals. He said that people deserved privacy, even in their errors if they were not too severe.
By now I had become quite good at slipping off Trugo at the same time as pulling my jacket together. Father dismounted leisurely and hand Trugo to Po-Wei, the Town Building's assistant, asking at the same time, "How many cases have we today?"
"Only two my lord," replied Po-Wei with his eyes correctly on the ground.
"Difficult ones?"
"No, I don't think so my lord."
"Good! Give me a while before you come in with the robes."
"Yes my lord," bowed Po-Wei.
Father and I entered by the Lord's entrance at the front of the building into a meeting room. Behind this was the dressing room. The meeting room was empty. "Through here Cavon," he said, leading me into the dressing room at the same time as loosening his trouser tie. He let them drop to knee level giving me free access.
I lovingly examined his balls, moved them around within the relaxed sack, felt their texture and size, committing them to memory. They were certainly bigger than Yue-Lin's, but softer. Feeling I had taken enough time, rather than having lost interest, I let go and stood straight. I tipped my head up and this time there was no surprise, Father met my lips in a gentle kiss. He then readjusted his trousers and began telling me about the room. There was a peg for his lizlion jacket, and a new one beside it for mine. There was a basin of water, two sitting mats and a small lacquered table with writing equipment and rice paper. Illumination was provided by the new roof light, a clever flap in the shingled roof to allow day light to enter, another concept introduced by the King.
Looking up the roof light I said, "The King has had many interesting ideas. He must be a very clever man."
"He is indeed a wise man, but he does in fact have some assistance to arrive at his discoveries."
At that moment Po-Wei knocked at the door. At Father's call he came in carrying two sets of robes. I was instructed to observe how the robe was organised, where the ties were, where the arm outlets. Like outdoor robes it was designed for arms to be kept inside out of sight (and wetness) except when needed. My robe was a smaller duplicate, but in cream rather than deep burgundy. Father lead into the hearing room. Po-Wei, bringing up the rear, showed me where to sit (I was to be an observer only and was placed in the corner) then brought in the first case.
Both cases for the afternoon seemed so petty, a chicken that was stolen, or maybe just went astray and fell into the neighbours cooking pot, an insult levelled by a man against the wife of another that was maybe just swearing into empty space. I admired Father's gravity in handling them, not letting them see the minuscule nature of their problems, pronouncing his judgements with wisdom and allotting fitting punishments. The fowl issue was straightforward - the chook had to be replaced, but I found the second intriguing. The profaner was ordered to spend his non-work hours as an unpaid servant for the offended lady for a week, to not see his family or go home but rather to sleep on the floor of the hut by the door to protect against outside dangers. He had to provide his own food. It seemed fair, demeaning but not cruel. Mother said that Father had a reputation for being a wise, good judge of people and their characters, and rarely was their any significant complaint about his rule in the town. If new evidence did arise that showed his judgement was incorrect Father was not afraid to re-open the hearing and do what ever was necessary to correct the situation.
This did not take long and in less than an hour we were handing our robes back to Po-Wei. Father looked at me. "There's nothing urgent for the rest of the day. What do you think we go for a ride around the estate?" he asked. "Specially seeing this is your first day."
"That would be marvellous, sir," I replied.
Father handed me my coat and then put on his. Before he closed it he made a show of undoing his trouser tie, though not loosening them. His smile was a glowing fire. "Let's hope they don't fall down before I get onto Trugo! But don't reach in till we're out of the town. We'll be on the main street all the way to the gate."
I nodded. The morning drizzle had turned into light rain. Po-Wei was standing holding Trugo when we came out (though I'm not sure how he had managed to get him so quickly) and we pulled up our hoods to keep rain from entering our coat's collars. Having my coat open was obviously a bit of a problem, but I wasn't going to miss out on what was on offer for anything.
Father stopped and spoke to various town folk on the way down the main street, introducing me to those I had not met, informing all that I had entered adulthood. The last was Hi-Tui, the gate watchmen. He was also in charge of all those who watched from the walls and Father would always expect a report of anything seen in the last day.
Hi-Tui never had any fear of Father, though he never faltered in respect. This was reflected in his answer to the usual request for report of observations. "Only someone who entered yesterday as a boy and is leaving today as a man, my lord!" he said, somehow managing to have the appropriate head bow and smile at me behind Father at the same time.
"Yes, that's a wondrous thing, is it not! Thankyou you Hi-Tui."
Outside the gate we made an immediate right turn. "I often inspect the town wall before going out into the fields, when there is time." After we had moved out of sight of Hi-Tui he slipped his hand inside his coat then said, "Okay."
The first thing my hand found was his. He held it tight for a bit before introducing it to his dick, not quite as soft as it was before. Returning both of his hands to the reins he encouraged Trugo into a faster walk. The wall consisted of tree trunks cut into sharp points, cleverly fixed together so nothing external could be cut or damage them, buried in the ground and angled outwards to make it harder to scale. The logs were obviously of various ages. It had always seemed enormous when I was on foot, but on horseback it was less impressive. Still I could not see anyone being able to reach its top to clamber over it. Not that I had ever heard of any threat made against it. Every now and again father would stop and mark a notch in an aging log with a small axe.
"What are the walls protecting the town from?" I asked.
"To understand the walls you have to understand the region. 20 years ago when the King was young and had not yet ascended the throne this area was rich in agriculture. But it was on the fringe of the realm and was often raided by small, mobile groups of tribesmen taking lives and animals. Frequently enough that though none of our neighbours coveted the area it was starting to decay. The previous King set Father a task, I think in part to test his worthiness to rule. That task was to reinvigorate the region. After exploring he decided that what was needed was a secure place where people could live and where animals could be stabled at night. Also a local authority had to be instituted. You know the King is a clever man with many new ideas. He realised that if a few houses were built, even if a local lord was installed, raids would continue unabated. He also knew that none of the nobility of the realm would be tempted to come and rule anyway. So he had two problems. He put his solution to the then King for his agreement, because it wasn't a cheap solution, but he thought it is one that would pay for itself quickly. The King agreed.
"The solution rested on a number of points. One was the easy defensibility of this location. The strange, rectangular cut out shape of this small valley off the river valley with its sheer rock walls, the tops of which are difficult to access, made it safe from rear attack. The second was the natural hot spring. Father suspected that this was just the small surface of a larger underground body of water, and its presence could make this a comfortable place to live. He then designed a town, something never previously heard of. He first laid outlines of all the principle buildings and the streets of the town, then allowed room for expansion to decide the position of the wall. All the floor of this side valley was forested, and was cut to supply the logs for the wall. Wall complete construction of the buildings began. First was the lord's residence. Father figured that this had to provide a level of comfort that made up for its distance from the King's court. He conceived the idea of sewer trenches and of the hot tubs. Initially he had thought to use tank water like in other parts of the realm but the low rainfall here could make that unreliable. He puzzled over this for weeks, roaming around the hills, till he came upon the spring that supplies our water. He then saw the solution. A channel was dug to the edge of the cliff at a point where there was a natural vertical chute in the rook. The tank was built at the base of this chute and overflowed into a number of smaller calibre pipes for distribution along the streets. The canal external to the town was a liability he recognised - it could be easily damaged or poisoned. The tank supplied a stand-by if this happened, as he made sure that the inflow could be diverted into the waste system if necessary where the overflow went anyway to keep it rinsed. The area at the top of the cliff could be accessed only with difficulty anyway, and would require inside knowledge to recognise its importance.
"Sewer lines were dug and lined, and brought through the wall using the grilled, shallow opening which you know well at the lowest point. It was another area of weakness, but an unattractive one for any would be pilferer and easily defended! The lord's house was to be modern luxury. Hot bath, running water, sewer. You take if for granted but there is nothing else like it in the realm. It was built at the back to have good drainage and increased safety as it was to be the last bastion of defence in case of an invasion that breached the walls of the town, and so was built strongly from stone. When it was complete he lived in it, bringing mother, as his wife would not leave the luxury of the KingsTown, to stay with him while the rest of the town was completed. I was born here. Everything else was made from the abundant timber of the area. Finally streets were paved with river stone to reduce the mud that plagues all towns. When completed the King gave the area to Me-Lin Wong, a distant relative of the then King's wife, as a fiefdom. He jumped at it of course and for 10 years the area thrived. By this time Father had ascended the throne and the strength of his rule made the realm more secure, and the need for constant vigilance had diminished. Then Me-Lin died, and his son, Me-Wei, became lord. Unfortunately he had been spoilt as a child and lived only for pleasure, and consequently the area started to decay. Town maintenance was neglected, fields left uncultivated, and then he stopped sending the required tribute to the King. Father put up with this for some time, as he knew it would be difficult to persuade other reliable men to take Me-Wei's place, then my marriage occurred. I was asked if I would come here and readily agreed. Me-Wei and all his family were ordered to attend an audience with the King. Father knew Me-Wei well, knew that he would use any dishonest trick to thwart the justice he was going to administer, knew that this would cost him dearly in soldier's lives and would continue to do so until Me-Wei had died. Fortunately Me -Wei and his family never arrived at the King's residence.
"Some say that Father orchestrated his assassination, but knowing Father as well as I do, though he would not hesitate to remove scum like Me-Wei, I doubt if he would hurt Me-Wei's innocent family. Nothing was ever found; neither stray horse nor body of man or beast; of the whole retinue, and the event remains a mystery. All of Me-Wei's remaining portable wealth was missing though, and Father suspects that Me-Wei read the situation and rather than face punishment fled into the wilderness to build himself a new life. When it was realised what had happened I was immediately placed in the town as caretaker, and when it was declared that Me-Wei wasn't returning I was anointed the Lord of the region."
By this time we had come to the junction of the wall with the sheer rock of the cliff. We turned back for a bit, then headed down a path between fields of neatly cultivated vegetables. My education continued, moving onto an introduction to agriculture. I learnt about the cycle of land use, plants that liked the dryness of summer versus those that liked the constant dampness of winter. In truth a lot was familiar territory and Chi-Da did include biology in his classes, but I was quite happy sitting behind father and what he said did relay some additional information and give a practical slant on Chi-Da's theory. Too soon the light was fading and we were riding back through the town gate. Father slowed Trugo for the leg through the town, finally asking me to do up his trouser ties. Reluctantly I let go of his dick that had been in my grasp for so long and carefully tied his trousers. Our coats were wet so we hung them in the stable before going inside to clean up for dinner.
It was my turn to tell of the events since we last saw Mother. After the traditional silence of dinner we took rice wine cross-legged in front of the sitting room fire as I recounted the afternoon. Mother expressed her happiness at my ongoing learning, smiling into her hand almost constantly in pride. Soon though my eyes were starting to get heavy and I begged permission to retire. I was in bed, and had just fallen into sleep when a knock sounded at my door.
"Enter," I called.
Father's servant appeared in the open door. "My lord requests your presence," he intoned.
Puzzled, I sought Father in the sitting room. It was empty, so I made the trek deeper into the house to his chambers. I knocked on the door in trepidation, as I had never been here before.
"Yes," sounded Father's voice.
I cautiously opened the door and put my head round through the gap. Father was sitting at a desk. He was wearing an embroided white silk robe that he was holding together with his left hand. A pen was in his right and he continued writing for a little before looking up. "Ah, Cavon my boy!" he exclaimed warmly, letting go of the robe. It fell open to reveal his bare chest. "Come in. You don't need to knock. Just come in. There's nothing to hide between us!"
I came in and shut the door. After 6 years without seeing any more of Father's body than a bit of bare thigh on one occasion I had been feasted with vistas of his bare skin since last night. "Thankyou sir. You sent for me, sir?"
"Yes, but please drop the formality. There is no formality between us in these chambers."
I nodded, then took this as permission to look around the room. It was large, with the desk at which Father was seated near the back wall on the left. There was a door in the wall to it's left, and another in the wall to its right. The walls were lined with cloth hangings, decorated with paintings and tapestries. The floor was covered in rush matting. A combustion stove sat in the middle of the room, and there was also an open fire in the wall opposite the desk. In the right hand wall was another door. All were closed except that to the left of the desk, but I could only see a portion of wall through it. Several large closets were situated around vacant areas of wall.
"You've never been in here," said Father in response to my gaze. "I'll show you around but I wish to talk with you first. Come and sit."
I sat on the matting in front of the desk.
"I have a suggestion I wish to make. You are not obliged to take it up in its entirety, but one thing is essential. The personal liberties that we have taken with each other outside of these walls must stop. We run the risk of scandal." In response to my fallen face he said, "Wait till I finish. We cannot go back on the closeness that has developed so rapidly between us. It would cause us both pain and there is no need for that. In these chambers we can have the freedom to express ourselves, but this will not be of much benefit if you remain sleeping adjacent to your Mother's rooms. We will now be sharing the same hours, so I would like to suggest that you move into these rooms with me. This was designed as the parental suite, and has two bedchambers. One can be yours if you wish."
He did not need to ask my answer, it was written clearly in my smile. "So, I'll show you around," he said, standing. The desk had hidden everything below his waist and I had assumed he was wearing trousers, but to my surprise and pleasure I discovered he had nothing on other than his robe, that did not have a tie. "But first embrace me."
My arms reached under his robe to try to encircle him. "Anything is okay?" I asked.
"Anything we wish."
So I let my arms explore down his back to his buttocks, then let one hand slide around to find his swelling dick. For the first time I was able to explore it in comfort, slide the skin up and down. Father tensed but did not ask me to stop. With one hand he lifted my chin and kissed me softly on the lips. "I'll show you around now," he said as he broke his embrace. First he walked into the room to the left of the desk. "This is my bedroom." It was also lined with hangings, had a door out to an enclose courtyard and contained only a large bed. "It backs almost directly onto the cliff wall - separated only for ventilation. The cliff wall is quite wet, and special drainage channels were dug at its base to take away the water. Still, it can be damp, which is why I keep the stove burning at all times."
The next door revealed bathing facilities. A basin with its own supply of hot and cold water with a glass(!) mirror on the wall in front of it, a tub, smaller than the one in the washing room but big enough for one person, and a further door leading into a toilet. The bench containing the toilet seat backed onto the cliff, and a tank for water sat beside it for flushing away the waste. The washroom was truly luxurious. The final door led into another bedroom, but other than wall hangings it was empty. "This has not been used since we moved here. Tomorrow I will have the servants move your bed and possessions in for you."
"Does that mean I will sleep one more night in the other room?" I asked, feeling intense disappointment.
"I guess," Father replied then paused for dramatic impact, enjoying seeing the pain in my face for the pleasure of relieving it, "unless you want to sleep in my bed."
I jumped on him and hugged. "I'd love to, of course," I cried.
"Get your immediate personal gear then."
I raced out, grabbed my clothes for tomorrow, my pillow, my comb and a fresh bamboo for my teeth. When I got back Father was standing at the basin. He had taken off his robe and was cleaning his teeth. He interrupted to tell me to hang my clothes in the closet and put my comb in the wash room. After depositing the comb I kissed his bare shoulder.
"Now, remove that childish night gown. Its warm in here always, and men don't wear clothes in bed." I complied without hesitation. Father paused to look at me then said, "One thing that I should have said. We cannot hide away here all the time. It would not be fair to your Mother, and even though our servants are discreet even they might start to talk. So we must spend as much, or more time in the communal rooms as we ever have. Understand?" I nodded. "Good! Now into bed, I won't be long."
I scampered under the bed cover after putting my pillow right beside Father's. Soon he joined me. We lay embraced initially, forehead resting on forehead. I was unable to resist the free availability of his dick and was soon playing with it again. Father kissed me on the lips, followed with, "Now leave it alone for a while boy or neither of us will get any sleep. Roll over."
I slotted myself into the curve of his body, luxuriating in his warm presence, his embracing arm, his hand that cupped my balls and hard dick. "Goodnight Father. I love you."
"Goodnight Cavon. I love you too." He said and gave my dick a squeeze.
I fell asleep quickly, as content as I can ever remember being. I woke at some time during the night. Father had rolled away, lying on his back snoring softly. There was enough light from the dying fire in the main room for my dark-accustomed eyes to make out a large bulge lifting the bed cover in the area of his groin. Cautiously I slipped under the cover to discover what it was, to find his dick, harder than at any time I had touched it to date, lifting the bed cover. It felt marvellous in my hand. It still bent, but it was much less squishy. Father's snoring paused and he rolled on his side away from me. Frightened that I had wakened him I remained very still, but his breathing continued with a slow regularity. I slipped back up to the pillow, contemplating these newly found facts, both that Father's dick was hard while he was asleep and that it was much harder than when he was awake. I cuddled up behind him and was soon asleep again.
THIRDAY
Father kissed me lightly on the forehead, bringing me awake. I smiled up at him, then joined my lips to his in a long kiss. When Father got up I noticed that his dick was quite hard, as it had been during the night. "Is you dick better?" I asked.
"No. I just need to pass water," he replied.
"Oh," feeling disappointed. "May I feel it while it's hard?"
"Sure, but not too long. I really need to pass water."
He stood in front of where I was sitting on the edge of the bed. His dick, sticking straight out, seemed massive now it was hard. I wrapped my two hands around it then started pulling backwards and forwards. A drop of clear fluid glistened in its eye. To touch it was slippery, not like urine that I thought it might have been, and I started rubbing it around the smooth skin of the head.
"Steady there!" exclaimed Father.
So I stopped, satisfying myself with a close examination of its swollen head. Having it so close to my face led to the next obvious step, and before Father could react its head was in my mouth. It tasted different to Yue- Lin's, better, though it stretched my jaws something awful. I ran my tongue around a bit leading to a "Whoa!" from Father and he pulled away.
"I'm busting," he said, leaving me to watch his hairy back as he exited.
I followed him into the wash room as I needed to go as well. My dick was just as hard as his, but this was nothing unusual so I couldn't say it was related to my full bladder. I watched him pass water, fascinated how his dick sagged as his bladder emptied. "Maybe there is a connection between the bladder and the dick, and the dick swells because it is full of water," I thought. I suggested this to Father.
"No, it is full of blood," he replied, "though when you look at mine you would think it was as you suggested."
"How do you know?" I asked.
"I have seen a man have his dick cut off as punishment. Blood came out."
"What did he do? I have never heard of this type of punishment."
"He showed his hard dick to a woman in public."
"Why would he want to do that?" I asked. By this time it was my turn at the toilet. My dick did not go down as I emptied my bladder, ruining my theory.
"It excites some men to do this. This happened in the days of the old King. Father dropped this kind of punishment when he became king as the man who was punished died afterwards nearly every time. That's why you haven't heard of it."
"Oh."
"I have a room just outside where I take my breakfast rice. You will not need to dress, just a robe, as no one will be there," Father said after washing his hands. "We can clean up after eating."
After the morning rice I had another treat - watching Father shave. Something else I had never seen. "Will I have to shave?" I asked. It looked complicated and dangerous scraping a sharp knife across his face.
"Yes, when you've matured a bit more."
Eventually we were both ready. "Now remember, hands to yourself when we are outside this room," said Father.
"How will I hold on behind you?"
"Grab something else, but not my dick!"
"Okay." I lifted my face for a kiss that Father bent down to give, warm and tender. Our coats were hanging outside the door, brought in from the stable by our servants after they had dried. We both needed them to hide our arousal.
Life had become a continuing surprise for me since I reached adulthood. Waiting for me in the stable was a small pony! I thanked Father formally as the stable hand was present, though wanting to hug him. The stable hand helped me onto the pony. "Now you will only need to hang onto your reins," Father said smiling after we were in the street.
And I was holding on. I felt very nervous, sure I was going to fall off, even though the pony sedately followed Trugo on his way to the main stables. "You'll get used to it quickly. When you're a bit bigger you can transfer to Kito, but for the moment this little lady will allow you to get started."
I was left in the care of Hu-Wi that morning to learn the basics of horses. Father was going to call past on his way home for siesta. Unlike Yue-Sin, Hu-Wi treated me with full respect. He was a man in mid years, slim and wiry. His hair was quite white in spite of his years and was worn long in a pony tail. He had a wispy white beard. He first gave me a guided tour of Kito, showing me all the good things to look for in a horse, comparing Kito with other horses in the stable. It seemed Kito had all the good points, and I realised I had received a magnificent animal. I wanted to grow on the instant so I could ride him, but had to settle with the pony, which I must admit was a sweet little animal.
"What will happen to this sweet pony when I am big enough for Kito?" I asked Hu-Wi as he led me around the yard on the pony's back explaining the use of knees for guiding. I feared he would say that she would be killed for meat.
"She will go onto to teach another young man, my lord Cavon. She is a sweet tempered, intelligent beast. Her only fault is her size for otherwise she is a fine steed."
"Good," I said, giving her a hug. "Does she have a name?"
"Of course my lord. It is a tribute to your nature to ask. Most young men don't care, they seem to almost resent her as she is not their horse. Her name is Lika."
"Okay Lika, I think it is time you and I did this solo!"
"You feel ready, my lord?"
"Sure am!"
Hu-Wi handed me the reins and I walked Lika for a bit, the pushed her into a slow canter. Lika responded beautifully and soon she was dodging back and forward between the obstacles set up in the centre of the yard.
"You learn quickly, my lord," said Hu-Wi.
"Thankyou Hu-Wi. But I have no reason to accept praise. I have two very good teachers."
"Two teacher's, my lord?"
"You." I paused for effect. "And Lika."
"Ah yes, my lord. You have noticed! Lika is a wonderful teacher. I must tell Lord Srotyr how quick you are. I have not had one other young man notice that before!"
"And, of course, you did not tell them, though I hope you complemented Lika in private!"
"Yes, my lord. She is a fine steed and deserves every reward I give her."
"What does she like?" I asked.
"She likes carrots, my lord, and if she can get it, sugar."
"Ah, the lady has a sweet tooth. Do you think I am good enough to ride out to meet Lord Srotyr, Hu-Wi?"
"On Lika I would think so, my lord. She does not spook easily. But if its okay I would like to see if you can stay on if she were to take fright."
"Yes, of course."
"Now take hold with your knees, my lord. It is with your legs that you hold onto a horse, not your arms. Your arms are for your sword, The One forbid that there is ever need to use it." Hu-Wi then made a gesture to Lika and she lifted her front legs into the air.
I hung on for all I was worth, and managed to stay on despite all Hu-Wi had Lika did. I was pleased to dismount though.
"Excellent, my lord. I would like to show you some details about grooming before you go."
"Certainly, Hu-Wi," I said, following him on wobbly legs. I was sure that my legs would be as sore tonight as my arms were last night. But I was happy, and looked forward to surprising Father by coming to meet him. Hu-Wi showed me how to rub down a hot horse by grooming Lika before letting me re-saddle her. Soon I was riding sedately towards the Town Building. I was only part way down the street when Father turned in to the other end
He let me come to him, then said, "I can see you've have learnt a lot in a short time. You now sit well. Let me talk with Hu-Wi before we head home." Father dismounted and entered the stables, handing Trugo's reins to me. Soon he returned, a dazzling smile lighting face. Just his smile melted me inside. "You know how to make your Father proud Cavon. Let's go home."
I followed behind Trugo. Lika liked following the big stallion so there was no effort needed on my part. We left the horses in the care of the stable hand and I followed Father inside. Just like Lika, I liked following the big stallion, hardly aware of my aching legs as I floated behind, still alight from the warmth of his smile. Inside our rooms he corked the drainage plug of the bath and unplugged the hot water. "Undress and lie on the bench here Cavon. I'll massage your legs."
Father undressed as well then firmly massaged my legs and buttocks with a sweet smelling oil. "How are your shoulders?" he asked.
"Starting to stiffen."
Before getting me to roll over he massaged my shoulders and upper back, then after rolling he dug his strong fingers into the front and inside of my thighs. My dick was throbbing stiffly above this, but Father did not touch it, even though my right hand was gently stroking his swollen organ when it was in reach. "Now, into the bath with you, soak some heat into those muscles."
"Do you use this bath often?"
"It is a habit I have developed. I bath every night. I only use the large tub on GodDay for appearances as this is more convenient, though sitting up to one's neck in the big tub is pleasant."
"What is it made of? The surface is so smooth."
"I believe it is shaped from the resin of a tree found on the other side of the mountains, then painted over with alum which for some reason makes it water proof. The basin is the same."
"It feels so nice sliding up and down on it."
"It does," Father replied as he left the room. After a while he returned. "Now its time we got to lunch. Kneel, and I'll make sure all the oil has come off your back and legs." He soaped his hands and rubbed down my back and legs, once again running his finger around my anus and letting it slip inside. This time in response to the pleasure this gave I pushed back on his finger so that it penetrated further. Father cooperated and I think his entire finger entered. It felt exquisite, but all too soon he took it out. "Rinse the soap off and get dry." He washed his hands in the bath, plugged the inlet and unplugged the drain, then stood in the entrance of the wash room watching me. His dick was wonderfully swollen, though not a shade on what it had been like in the morning.
Dry, I gave him a hug, then reached up to pull his head down for a kiss. He met my lips willingly, his mouth relaxed and a little open. His tongue slid along my lips, seemingly requesting entry. I complied and his tongue explored a little inside my mouth for a moment before he suddenly pulled his mouth away. He did not let go of me, squeezing me tight against him. "Can I lick your dick a little bit," I asked. He did not reply, but his arms loosened their grip enough for me to slip down. The varying moods of his dick were fascinating. It was swollen, almost as long as when it was hard in the morning, but quite malleable. I rolled back the skin then gently ran my tongue around the flange of its head. I took the head into my mouth and was caught by surprise as the sensation built up rapidly in me to climax. I was not even touching my dick! My body tensed but I took care not to bite down of the wondrous organ in my mouth.
Father lifted me, holding me at arm's length and looking at my dick. It was still hard, and as usual nothing came out. Seemingly satisfied, though I wasn't sure what he was looking for, he held me again and said, "Get some clean clothes on. You don't want to lunch smelling of horse! I need to use the toilet so I'll meet you in the dinging room."
Mother was in the meeting room, kneeling over her embroidery, when I entered. I told her that Father would not be long and sat close along side her, telling her about my morning. When Father entered, looking a little flushed in the face, we sat at the dining table. Grace was said, and we ate in traditional silence. After completing the meal Father briefly told Mother of the complements Hu-Wi had expressed about me. I blushed, and defended myself by saying that any compassion I had I had learnt from Mother. Mother hugged me warmly before we separated for siesta. On entering our room Father kissed me, wishing me a good repose, then turned to his bedroom. "Can't I sleep with you?" I asked to his retreating back. He faced me, nodded without saying anything, and I tripped after him. He undressed, his dick quite as small as I had seen it, and got under the cover. I slipped my naked body, less tense now the desire that had built in it since my time with Yue-Sin the previous day had been released, into the curve of his, twisted my head to kiss him again, and was quickly asleep.
Father was not in bed when I awoke. Worried that he had already left I ran naked into the main room. He was seated at his desk, his white silk robe open as it had been when I entered for the first time last night. "Ah Cavon, you are awake. Put on your robe and join me." In response to my puzzled look he pointed to one of the closets. In it was a deep blue version of the robe he was wearing.
"Thankyou Father!" I exclaimed, thrilling at the sensation of the smooth silk against my skin.
"Thank your Mother, Cavon. It is she who did the embroidery."
The image was of flowers and leaves in red, yellow and green. It was beautiful. "I will."
"Look at this with me." I joined him at the desk. In front of him was a map that, on scrutinising, I realised was of our town and the immediate surrounds. "We have a problem that will become urgent within a year or so. Though Father allowed room for expansion within the walls of the town, the area is so rich that it has been able to support many more people than he could have guessed. We need to expand the town, but this needs to be done in a way that will not jeopardise our security. We have been at peace with the Kingdom of Wingso ever since father became King, but there is no guarantee that this will last while a new wall is built. Also, the town gate is a major structure and is still in good condition. It would be shame to build another."
By this time I was sitting on Father's lap, my new gown lifted from under me so my naked buttocks were against his bare skin. I had never seen a map of the town, and it was interesting to see how everything slotted together, the same but at the same time different from my street level understanding.
"Look at this for me while I'm away and let me know what you think."
"I can't come with you?"
"You'll be better resting your legs. I don't have much to do and will be back soon. Tomorrow we can go for a long ride. I want to inspect our most recent fields."
"Okay." Father dressed. I got up to kiss him good bye, then went back to the map. The side valley was drawn as a perfect rectangle. I hadn't thought of it before, but it was a strange shape for a natural structure. Everything else around was made up of weathered slopes and curves. I knew that the walls sloped up gradually where the side valley joined the main river valley, not reaching a significant height for some 100 paces. The town wall began some 600 paces back from that. An idea came and I drew a quick sketch on a piece of rice paper, looked at closely to see if there were any obvious faults, then put it aside, filled with a happy anxiety to explain it to Father.
I passed the rest of the afternoon with mathematics. I had had a new idea, about numbers that only divided into themselves. I was curious to see if there was any pattern, so one by one I checked every number up to 100. I could not see a pattern, but wrote them out neatly for later contemplation, filing them in a drawer in my desk. It took up a long time but Father still had not returned. I wandered out to see Mother, had tea with her and talked about numbers. I ran back to get the list I had just written out, but she could see no pattern either. We both wondered where Father had gone, though it was not unusual for him to head out into the fields to solve problems the overseers were unable to solve.
I had just returned to my room to wash up for dinner when Father came in. "Run me a bath," he said. His clothes were quite grubby. I looked at him questioningly after complying. "A man fell down a deep hole in the new area. Quite a strange hole, we can look at it tomorrow. I helped get him out."
"Was he hurt?"
"Yes," replied Father, taking off his clothes in the washroom. "Broken leg. I set it for him, but it was a bad break I think he will always be lame. We will visit him in the morning to treat it further." He sat on the edge of the bath waiting for it to fill. His face looked drained,
"You look tired," I commented after a while.
"Not so much tired as upset. I feel it deeply when a man is injured doing work for me. I almost feel his pain myself."
"A hot bath will help. Would you like me to massage you?"
Father smiled. "I don't know if your hands will be strong enough to make much impression, but why not."
Like father had when he massaged me, I undressed. Father lay on his belly on the wooden bench. I got the oil, but could not apply much force from ground level as the bench was quite high. "Jump up and sit on me," said Father, "you will be able to apply more pressure."
Sitting on his buttocks I rubbed the sweet-scented oil into his shoulders. The muscles felt tight and tense as I dug into them with all my force, but slowly they did begin to relax. I moved gradually down his back, enjoying the feel of his powerful body under my hands, but also fascinated by watching my rigid dick slipping down the crack between his buttocks. When I had moved all the way down to the bottom of his calves he asked me to slip back up again, pointing to an area of his mid back that was troubling him. As I slid along his oiled thighs my dick seemed drawn to a target of its own, slipping into the crack of his buttocks. It was pushing against an obstruction, but this suddenly disappeared as I reached higher up his back on his direction. I had entered him! Not quite sure what I should do I kept massaging, but keeping my dick quite still.
"Now your in you may as well fuck me," said Father to my surprise.
"Are you sure?" I questioned.
"I'm sure. It will give me pleasure."
So I lay on him and started to move rhythmically. I took a while to finish, but Father did not complain, though nor did he moan and groan like Yue-Sin. When I finished, lying panting on top of him, he said, "Now we'll both need a bath."
He entered first and I followed, facing him, legs intertwined. Father's face had relaxed, and was looking at me contentedly. "Did you enjoy that?" he asked.
"Yes Father, very much."
"Hmm. I'm pleased. Would you like to wash me?"
"Yes, immensely!"
"I'm all yours!"
Rubbing soap into every crack and cranny felt wonderful. I specially enjoyed washing his dick, even though it was largely unresponsive. Father then washed me before we dried and dressed for dinner. He gave me a long pensive look as we left our room. "This is all happening much quicker than I would have imagined," he said with his hand on the door handle. "I thought I was stronger."
BOOK 2
CHAPTER 1
Cavon looked up from the page he had been writing. Bright sunlight shone through the windows of the low-level flier. It was skimming over endless blue ocean on its way to the first island he was due to audit this trip. He had set the flier speed to slow to give him time. Its auto- guidance and roof of solar cells meant he had to pay it no more attention until he arrived at the island. It just skimmed over the water surface on its ion cushion without causing as much as a vibration. He had wanted the time so as to re-capture his childhood. He had decided that to do this he must use the tools of his childhood, but his hand was now cramped by hours of unaccustomed writing. It was taking much longer than he thought it would, but time was something of which he had an abundance. Pages of his tight hand littered the small bench he was using as a desk. "Maybe I should have just dictated to the computer." He often found himself thinking aloud on these trips. After 10 years (galactic standard, not NuChin) on this planet he was starting to feel that he was loosing contact with his early years. The only physical things he had left were the three recordings of Father with William, but these were not really part of his life, and a note left for him by Father. They were part of his past though. William had introduced him to this job on this remote planet, one that no one else had wanted and which had been vacant for so many years prior to his taking it up that it had become notorious throughout the civilised galaxy. Most of the problem lay in the fact that one had to pay for one's passage to and from the planet, and the salary being offered was not enough to compensate for such a cost. William had organised for him to be left here, on Planet T7G8. A strange planet, he was told that there was none other like it anywhere else in the universe. In a binary star system it had somehow come to rest at the point of equal attraction between the two stars. It spun, and revolved around the two stars at the same rate they revolved around each other, so effectively it stayed still. It was therefore sunlit constantly, with the edge in the plane of the junction of the two stars receiving light from both stars at the same time. The two stars were slightly different colours, and you could tell which you were facing. Currently it was Blue that was in the sky above him, Yellow was in eclipse.
The planet was also strange in that it did not have any landmasses or any tilt. It was like a billiard ball covered uniformly with a coating of water some 60 metres deep. With the uniform heating and equal gravity pull at all times there were, no tides, no waves and very little wind. There was a slow current moving the warm equatorial water to the slightly cooler polar regions twisted a little by the planets spin and air masses gently followed this. The only things above water were a scattering of coral atolls. It was an ideal environment for coral, but only on a very few spots on the planet was the water shallow enough to allow its growth. But when it grew it grew with vigour, forming ever-expanding islands.
There was no animal life on land more advanced than insects despite the teeming sea life, but vegetation had colonised the land. Every island had its own unique plant life, isolated genetic systems. They had adapted to the unusual environment, one that did not see rain or darkness, each in their own way. It was one that formed a communal root system that dipped into the salt water of the ocean and desalinated it for its own use that had caused the human colonisation of this otherwise useless planet. Or rather it was a parasite plant that tapped into this root system for its own water supply that was the cause. It had taken the botanists a while to realise that they were in fact different plants. The parasite plant stored water in little fruit like projections from under its leaves, with a central nut-like seed. The water was to provide the moisture for the seed to germinate until it could send its own roots into the host communal root system. For reasons that are unclear the water also contained a sugar and a chemical that enormously heightened sexual sensation for the human species. Why the plant bothered producing this novel chemical was unclear. It did not seem to play any obvious role in its own lifecycle, except that it had now caused it to be grown on every single coral atoll of the planet! An unpredictable genetic advantage. It had also received the enigmatic name of XTC.
Of course the chemical had been easily synthesised, but the fruit had quite a delicious flavour, especially the nut, and in a universe starved of novelty it was in great demand amongst the wealthy elite. It was an essential after dinner fruit at any party of worth. It was only for them that it was available as the plant had resisted all attempts to culture it anywhere else in the known galaxy. It was its rarity as much as its delicate flavour that caused its demand, an enormous snob value. Cavon's poorly paid job was to monitor the production of the fruit for Lind Inc, the company that owned the planet and had the galaxy wide monopoly for its distribution. It was a joke of a job as the production quotas were set not far from the maximum possible growth capacity, and even if a little was traded illegally it was so little and the demand was so great that it would make no difference to their pricing structure. In truth any surplus was generally consumed by the growers themselves, one of the perks of the job. But the accounts department on the company's home planet, ZurichSide, wanted everything quantified in nice spreadsheet form, so Cavon went from island to island counting beans. That no one had done this for so many years made his job easy, as not even Lind Inc's heartless accounts department expected to receive much information.
It was an interesting job however for the range of people he met. An odd mixture came to live on the isolated atolls to cultivate and harvest this plant. There was only one farm per atoll, so they had to have an ability to live in isolation. It was quite lucrative, but many people still lost their investment capital and ended up in debt to Lind Inc for the next couple of hundred years as they couldn't handle being so alone. This of course was not bad for Lind Inc, as there was always a queue of new applicants. If one could last one's 50 year lease the profit generated, even after paying out one's loan that had provided the exorbitant investment capital, was enough to set one up in a standard of living that could actually afford to buy, on a daily basis for at least the next 300-400 years, the fruit that one had produced for the previous 50 years. Even if one lived on the best planets in the galaxy! And if one had good financial advice one, in theory, should never have to work again, though most people eventually took up some kind of employment to maintain interest.
Having lay in the total exerciser for the necessary 30 minutes, eaten duck l'orange with broccoli produced by the food synthesiser along with his AgeStop pill, stood in the cleanser unit and changed his clothes, Cavon sat once again at his improvised desk to resume his task.
BOOK 1 - CONTINUED
WEEK ONE - CONTINUED
FORDAY
Father felt the leg of Xi-To. It was badly swollen, but the splint seemed to be holding well and wasn't too tight. The leg was crooked though. "We'll have to put your leg in traction Xi-To, or it will end up healing wrong," said Father. He wrapped Xi-To's leg in bandages after removing the splint. Rope dipped in resin was run down the sides of the leg and another bandage wrapped around it. Resin was painted over the top. It took a little time to dry. While he waited he padded a wide leather belt with fisal fluff and bandages. He slipped it under Xi-To's arms and tied it to the bed head then he spliced a piece of rounded timber to the end of the bed. He draped the leg rope over this. I held up the lead ring while father tied the rope ends through it. He then let the weight ease down. Xi-To groaned. "Be strong, my man, and try to keep your bum on the bed," said Father. Xi-To's leg had elevated as desired, but his whole body had started to follow! "Drink a bit more of this," handing the tincture-treated tea. "You'll need to stay here for 8 weeks. I'll send down a bedpan, and my servant will come down and show your wife how to wash you without upsetting all this. I'll come to see you tomorrow."
I mounted Lika and followed Father on Trugo. Cloud cover was medium, and there was no rain. The servant who had accompanied us returned to the house to collect the bedpan while we headed for the town gate. When Father had received Hi-Tui's report we walked the horses through the gate then upped the pace. Once out of earshot he said, "Tomorrow the muscles of his leg will be more relaxed. We'll give him a big dose of tincture then we'll have to try to pull his leg straight." Father sounded quite grim at the idea. Nothing more was said until we had crossed the bridge that forded the river in the middle of the principal valley following the temporary road to the rising slope of the far side of the valley where we joined the permanent road and headed to the right, up river. The winter floods had subsided only a few weeks ago, and everything was still quite wet. Bright rice shoots showed through the dark soil up to where the field workers could be seen planting in the near distance. It was a busy time of year. Rice stores were getting low and it was important to have the new crop in as quickly as possible. It was in an area of new planting upriver that the accident had occurred yesterday and this was where we were heading to investigate. But there was no hurry. We had planned to spend the day and had brought lunch with us.
I had slept soundly the previous night, snuggled up to Father. I had wanted to wake to check out if his dick got hard every night but the first thing I was aware of was Father kissing me awake. Father started talking.
"You know some of the history of our country, but only what everyone knows. I didn't want to trust you with more sensitive information until you reached maturity. Do you know why field workers receive money?"
"No Father, and I can't say I had given it much thought."
"Nowhere else in the realm are field workers paid. They are basically the property of their lord. I guess they are here as well, but I introduced salaries to try to improve efficiency. Father is very proud of his model town, and though it did well under the rule of Me-Lin Wong it was no better than anywhere else. When I came here I spent a time talking to the workers, seeing what motivated them. I became aware that many reported ill, at best 8 out of 10 of the workforce actually worked, and usually only 6. And why should they? In return for their work they received nothing more than their food and accommodation, and they received this whether they worked or not.
"So I thought: how to motivate the field workers to want to work? What I decided was to introduce a currency that had validity only in our town. A worker would earn 10 coins a week if he worked, with an extra 2 for each child over 2 and under working age. He would need 7 coins to buy food, more if he had children. So each week he would have 3 extra coins that could be used to buy things to make life more comfortable. Now this coinage cannot be traded for gold by the field workers so this encouraged spending. Free persons could exchange their coinage for gold, and the coins of the field workers provided work for tradespeople, attracting them to our town. I set up a childcare centre where children could be left during the day at the cost of 2 coins a week. If a woman of a family worked instead of looking after her children she would earn a further 6 coins, in addition to what her husband was earning. This allows a family to live very comfortably! If a worker says he is sick but the overseer is not convinced he is genuine he will only receive the minimum 7 coins, reduced to 5 if his wife is working. If he is genuinely sick he will receive his 10 coins plus the child allowance, and if he is injured at work, like Xi-To, he will receive 15 plus the child allowance so that his wife can stay home and look after him.
"Now 95% of able bodied men work and 60% of women. Traders come from all over the realm to buy, with gold, goods from our tradesmen. The concentration of tradesmen and the large local market of coins from the workers encourages competition, and with competition each tradesman tries to do better than his neighbour. New ideas surface and spread across the realm on the backs of the traders' mules.
"I control the food and its price. Workers buy it with coin, but tradesmen must use gold, like everywhere else in the realm. They trade their coins for gold at the treasury, but much of their gold comes from elsewhere in the realm. I put a higher price on the "luxuries" that the tradesmen love, even though they cost little more to produce, and so I am constantly accumulating gold. I repaid the gold Father loaned me within 1 year, and I am now one of the wealthiest men in the realm. Though I must take care that the amount of coin in circulation does not exceed my gold store! So now the town needs to expand because of its success. We didn't end up talking about it last night. What was your idea for the wall?"
"I thought that if the new wall was constructed at an angle, starting at or near the gate and extending as far down the cliff face as you wish." I replied.
"Why?"
"If you build out in a rectangular form you will have an area outside of the new wall that is hidden from other points of the existing wall until the new wall itself can be manned. If we were to be attacked this would provide shelter for an enemy to group. If instead it is an angled wall then all will be visible from the gate. When the first extension is complete then logs can be moved from the unneeded old wall to start construction of the opposite wing. When completed this will also provide a funnelling effect so that any invader will have defenders on both sides of him as well as in front. Having arrows coming from three directions would put terror into the heart of any soldier, would it not?"
"It would at that! That is an excellent idea!"
"The only problem I can foresee is when we wish to expand beyond this. I cannot see a way of additional expansion that will not provide cover for an advancing enemy."
"No, nor can I. But that will be a long way off, and we may be able to build a temporary barrier at the entrance of the side valley to discourage any assault until any further wall is built."
At this point the road cut through a ridge that deformed the valley wall. The cutting was very old, but was through rock as hard as that that made up the walls of the valley where the town was located and likewise remained quite clean. I felt prompted to ask, "I had not thought about it before, but when I was looking at the map of the town I noticed how geometric was the shape of the valley. And this cutting also has these walls cut through hard rock. Nothing we have could cut this rock." I left this up in the air, without making a direct question of it. It puzzled me, and I expected Father to make a comment regarding The One as the origin of them. He surprised me.
"When you've grown enough to ride Kito I am going to ask permission of the King to take you on a journey. The destination of this journey will be a hut one week's ride from KingsTown, away in the hills. Here you will witness the answer to your question. But I will tell you a little first. Though I was not able to understand much of what rests in this hut, it is quite clear we are descendants of a people of great power, who destroyed themselves in a battle using weapons so powerful I could not comprehend them. These oddities that you have astutely noted I believe are the works of this race."
"Where did they come from?"
"I don't know. Though there is a lot of material that contains symbols, presumably some kind of writing, I was unable to understand any of it. Maybe you, with your fast intelligence, will do better than I."
"You talk of a great mystery Father, but you also talk of yourself as a man of little intelligence. You know that this is not true."
"No, Cavon. I do not say that I'm a stupid man. I understand many things, I understand people. What I say is that you have climbed on my shoulders and see over the top of mountains. And that is something that makes me very proud and very humble."
"Father, I hope I can live up to your faith."
"I have no doubts."
This killed conversation. I felt like a child again, but given the weight of the world to carry on my shoulders. I didn't understand how Father could see such things, even though I felt very flattered that he did. I tried to distract myself by concentrating on the land we were passing through. To our right were the fields. We were currently in an unplanted area. Smooth mud with frequent protruding branches and other debris spread out to the brown river. On our left hills rose steeply, forested predominantly by tall whintox trees with dense underbrush of miscal, its dull red foliage emphasising the numerous white flowers. Heavy gold insects buzzed around, drunk on nectar. Red-shaded iconogills camouflaged so well they only became visible when their long, bright-green tongues flicked out feasted on the abundance. Iconogills cannot last long out of water, so there must be a pool somewhere near. "Shall we let the horses find the pool father?"
Father was always aware of what was around him. "No need, I have found it before. It is just over there. Follow."
Lika followed Trugo off the road. Trugo just managed a gap between a leaning whintox and a large boulder after which Father dismounted. Being smaller and on a smaller mount I was able to remain seated for longer, right up to the lily-covered pool. "This pool is not big enough to hide lizlions, so the horses can drink safely. We can eat a little seated on the rock on the other side." Father divided some rice-bread and cold chicken onto two large lily leaves while I pulled up some of the succulent lily roots. I then sat close to him. During the traditional silence that accompanied eating I enjoyed the sounds of the forest. "We lose so much living in towns, everything is so artificial," I thought. Though the comfort of sitting of a dry cushion was preferable to this damp, moss-covered rock. The horses were browsing on tufts of winterweed that still grew greenly around the pool.
I finished eating before Father. I took the cup he had brought to drink some water, collected more for him, then lay down using his leg as a pillow. It had been a long morning of unaccustomed activity, and though it was well before normal siesta time I found myself dropping off to sleep. I awoke to the nervous whiney of Trugo. The horses were making their way back to our rock seeking protection. Father took out his sword and dagger, silently instructing me to get the bow from Trugo's saddlebag. I loaded an arrow then passed it to Father in exchange for the dagger and squatted, my back against Father's so we couldn't be taken unawares. Nothing emerged, and after a bit the horses quietened. Whatever had spooked them had seemingly decided on discretion. We packed up and returned to the safety of the road.
It was only a further half-hour before we came to the new fields. Lengths of timber had been planted to mark the danger area and Father led us cautiously to its edge. I looked down into the hole. It was maybe 5 arm lengths deep and was lined with an evenly textured rock like material, too smooth and even for natural rock. Only a small portion was visible through the hole in its roof through which Wing- To must have fallen. "I noticed that it extended quite a way when I was down there, but it was dark and I was busy with Wing-To, so there was no time to explore." Father tested the strength of one of heavier pieces of timber before securing a rope to it. "Do you feel confident to go down?" he asked.
"I think so."
"Good. It will safer if I can support the rope from above as I will be able to lift you out if needed." He secured the rope around my waist then made a loop a bit further along. "Sit on the edge here and put your foot on the loop."
Seeing his intention I used the loop as a foot support while holding to the rope. I had a flint and some paper to light a candle. Father lowered me down. Once I had the candle lit I carefully started to explore, leaving the rope around my waist for safety (and comfort). But the precaution proved unnecessary. The structure proved to be a circular tank of maybe 150 paces in diameter, completely empty and clean except for what had fallen through the entry- hole with Wing-To.
While we were making our way to the shelter for siesta we talked about the possible uses for such a structure. Storage was the most obvious, but of what we could not decide. There had been a faint but definable odour in the tank, though it was not like anything I had smelt before. I also mentioned to Father my idea of standardised measurement. Currently anyone who wanted to measure something used their own pace, or their own arm or hand to make a measurement. This obviously would lead to different measurements being recorded for the same distances. I suggested that we could use Father's hand, arm and pace, and mark these measurements onto pieces of timber, or as knots in a length of rope, and these could be then copied so that all measurement units would be the same. No longer would a building foreman leaving a job lead to a disaster when his replacement had hands and arms of different size to the original.
Father saw the point. "You're going to give Wi-Su a headache with all your new ideas! I'll have him institute it."
In the shelter we lay down on travel blankets on benches along side the field workers then wrapped them around us. "Sleep well," said Father.
"And you," I replied. It was strange trying to sleep with so many other people around. This hut was used for night time as well as it was too distant from the town for easy daily coming and going so it had more comforts than closer shelter's. It had walls, a fireplace with a brick chimney and a stove for cooking. Usually a designated cook came with the workers. The advantage of working so far out was that food was supplied free, leaving all the weekly wages for luxuries. After a bit snores and snuffles filled the silence, but soon they faded as I also fell asleep.
After sleeping we returned to what we were now calling the tank. Using a strong piece of timber we carefully tested the strength of the rest of the ceiling. I pointed out to Father the staining and the smooth nature of the edges of the hole through which Wing-To had fallen, suggesting that this part of the ceiling might have been made up of a different type of material that had disintegrated with time. Father decided that a wooden lid could be constructed to cover the hole, but that the whole area above the tank would be fenced off. Neither of us could think of any practical use for the tank. Now there was a break in its roof it would fill with water, but the water would be stagnant and useful only to insects for breeding.
The journey home was more leisurely than the outward leg. Father stopped to speak to each supervisor, checking that all was going well with the planting. "Patience is one of Father's strongest virtues," I thought, as we listened to the similar reports from each supervisor, and Father made the same comments to reinforce the line he wanted followed. It seemed that would not be enough rice seedlings to plant the traditional area and all of the new area that had been planned to be introduced to cultivation. This was the result of one of the seedling fields being washed away during the winter floods. All the supervisors were very concerned that it was going to effect their personal yield, and that they would be reprimanded for their failure. Father reassured each individually that he understood the problem and of course it would be taken into account.
Eventually we were passing through the town gates and hearing the horses hooves click on cobblestones. I felt sore, seated so long in the saddle. As I dismounted I felt the shape of the saddle had permanently deformed my legs and was forcing my legs to spread apart. I kissed Mother. She glowed, proud of her young man returning from his work day, though laughing at his bowed legs. As soon as we got into our chambers Father started a bath. Soon we were both luxuriating in the heat, Father's legs over mine like a puzzle. It didn't take long for me to be distracted by Father's attractions however. I sat up straight, which placed me right between his legs. I ran my fingers through the wet fur of his chest, circling his nipples till they sat up. Both hands then moved downward to his belly then gently smoothed over his hardening dick. When there was no protest I pulled back the skin and traced a finger around the rim of the head. Soon my right hand was performing a pulling action, rewarded by little twitches each time it bumped over the head as my left hand swirled, first around his balls then down further to his anus. My index finger trace out the circle then gently penetrated, soon moving in and out to the same rhythm as my right hand on his dick.
"Put your dick in there," Father gasped as he lifted his body with his arms on the rim of the bath and his legs that he had put over my shoulders. Somehow I got to my knees and put my dick inside, using my left hand to grab his belly for support as my right hand and pelvis thrust in time. It was awkward but magnificent feeling Father move in time with me, hear him grunt and groan in pleasure. All too soon I felt the sensation starting, quickly enveloping me in what felt like an explosion. Father noticed and it seemed to trigger a strangled cry and a pulsation in his dick, and for the first time under my stimulus I saw his white seed erupt. We collapsed down, panting and flushed, into our original positions. Smiles seemed etched permanently on our faces as we looked into each other's eyes. Eventually Father said, turning his eyes in the direction of a rather wet floor, "That caused a bit of a stir!"
I found no words, but did a flip so that I was lying on top of him. Our lips met in a long, tender kiss.
"That was exciting, no! But a bit like acrobatics! Like being with Yue-Sin. Next time I'll show you what it is like to make love!"
I digested nothing but Yue-Sin. "You know about Yue- Sin?" said I, shock making my voice squeak.
"Of course!. Apart from the fact he is an excellent swordsman, I invited him to the town because he and I have been having sex since I was 7 years old. But there is never any emotion with Yue-Sin, it is all action. I knew he would approach you, but I also knew that he would do nothing against your will. He is a good man, a gentle man. I think he is upset with me because I stopped having sex with him. I'm sure he thinks I am seeing someone else. I stopped because of the problem with my dick. Yue-Sin is not happy unless he has dick up his arse, so there is no point my being with him. I had hoped your being with Yue-Sin would distract you, delay what we have done. But it seems we love each other too much."
"But how did you know that I had done something with Yue-Sin?"
"That was simple. Yesterday I told you to fuck me. I knew that unless you had heard it from Yue-Sin that you would never have come across that word before. And you were too quick and competent in performing the action as well."
"Father, I can't hide anything from you." I exclaimed.
"But why would you want to?"
"I have no reason. My heart is completely yours."
This naturally was followed by another long kiss. During what I thought would be a pause Father indicated for me to stand. "Now it is time for me to take your dick into my mouth for the first time!" He tenderly pushed back my skin then ran his tongue around the head, then like Yue-Sin, used his big hands on my buttocks to push it into his mouth to increasing depths. Soon my pubic hair was pushing into his nose at the peak of each thrust and the sensation overwhelmed me again. He kept my dick in his mouth until I had quietened. "Nothing comes out yet."
"No. Does it feel different when something comes out?" I asked.
"Can't remember. Too long ago, my boy!" We kissed again, then started to wash each other, by the end of which I was hard once again. "No, we must meet your Mother for dinner!"
"That's okay, he seems unable to know when he's had enough."
"Yue-Sin will keep up with you, I have no doubt!"
"You want me to keep having sex with Yue-Sin?" I said, dismayed.
"Of course. I cannot keep up with you, and a couple of times a week with Yue-Sin will not cause me to miss out. Yue-Sin is great fun. I'll not be jealous. That's as long as you love me the most!" This was said with a smile.
"How can you question that!"
"And besides, you may divert him from his activity with his son. He is too young."
"Why does Yue-Lin look like you?" I asked.
"I was not aware of this until you mentioned it a couple of days ago. I had not paid much attention to Yue- Lin. There was talk about a liaison between Yue-Sin's wife and the Prince Regent, and it was this I think as much as his relationship with me that prompted Yue-Sin to move to the wilds. It would seem that this liaison involved more than talk over cups of tea!"
"So Yue-Lin is your nephew?"
"It would seem so. I had better pay more attention to him, if for no other reason to protect him from whom we are assuming is his father."
"Why?"
"The Prince Regent is a calculating man. His sole goal is to be King, and nothing will stand in his way. I'm sure if he considered me a threat my lifespan would be short. He is without morality of any kind. If he was to know that he had an illegitimate son, who could be possibly be used by forces against him to be placed in his stead, then it is doubtful than Yue-Lin would see manhood."
"And he will one day be king!!!" I exclaimed.
"To the shame of our land, he will one day be king."
"Does the Prince Regent know that the King is your father?"
"Father was very careful to keep the details of his private family away from his public family. Of course he couldn't do the reverse. When I meet Father it is always in secret. I'm sure the Prince Regent must have wondered a little why I, who to his knowledge had no Blood, was given this fiefdom, but I don't know if he has drawn the correct conclusion. I have, with Father's help, always avoided meeting him so that he has not seen my physical resemblance with Father, but it is possible he has had spies informing him of this fact."
We were now exiting our chambers and consequently the conversation had to cease, though my thoughts didn't. The adult world was proving to contain more than I could have possibly envisaged, and not all of it was good. Childhood innocence was very appealing but I knew this would never return. Logically Father should try to do something about the Prince Regent, but what he could do I had no concept. I knew nothing, probably would not know anything till I took Father's role of lord of South County, about the politics of the King's court. And odds on by this time the Prince Regent would be King, and consequently unassailable. I pondered this through the silence of dinner, and was eager to return to our chambers and talk more about this topic, but Father asked Mother to sing for us after dinner. Seeing the pleasure in Mother's face I could not begrudge her our time, and her gentle voice served to calm me. She sang traditional songs of love and courtship, gentle songs with happy endings. My concern subsided enough so that when we were going to bed the activity of the day and the glasses of rice wine I had taken allowed fatigue to take me rapidly into sleep within Father's strong arms.
FIFDAY
The next morning saw me with Yue-Sin. My legs and backside were quite sore and I had decided to walk to his house rather than ride Lika. Father had left early as he wanted to review the rice planting to the south of the bridge but had to stop to treat Xi-To first. I had breakfasted with him, kissed him goodbye then returned to bed to sleep a bit more. I arrived at Yue-Sin's feeling rested and relaxed. Yue-Sin noticed the lack of activity in my trousers, laughed at my bowed legs, and began the morning with stretches and light exercises before running through sword drills. He began with traditional formality but, in view of what had passed between us, I requested that he drop this unless other people were around. He smilingly consented, taking me in his arms and kissing me. During the sword drills he introduced a few activities where I had to parry strokes he made, then at the end strung this together into a series of moves. It was good feeling the sword, though it was only wooden, doing as I commanded and blocking his attacks. On the last drill he let me know that this only was happening because he was orchestrating it by launching an unrehearsed attack that had the sword piercing my belly in a few moments. I had laughed at this, amused at my own vanity, trying to replay in my mind what he had done to gain such an easy victory, and his eyes misted as I made a mock bow of acknowledgment.
"Cavon, I see why my son and Lord Srotyr speak so highly of you. You have a largeness of spirit that I have never witnessed before. I have seen men of lower station than you threaten my life for what they believed was my attempt to make them look foolish. You saw it for what it was, a reminder that we are all mortal and we can never assume that all is under control, and could smile at your exposed weakness. But in that smile I can see you were also analysing what I had done, and I will not be able to use that feint so successfully again. Let me hold you."
He took me in his arms, lifting me to kiss me tenderly on the lips. Looking into his eyes I could not understand how Father could feel that there was no emotion in Yue-Sin. He undressed me and lifted me on to the massage table. Unlike the last massage, on this day his fingers were sensual and loving. I thought he had finished as he teased my hard dick to the edge of no return one more time and let his arms drop, but rather than step away he had leapt up onto the bench and knelt over me. His tongue entered my mouth in the most passionate kiss I had ever experienced then he impaled himself on my rigid member and we rode together to the first of a number of orgasms.
He joined me in the bath after, still holding me close. Nothing much had been said during our love making and he remained tranquil now. However, just before I left he took me in his arms one last time and said quietly in my ear, "Cavon, I have never said this to anyone else in my life. I had never thought I would have the joy of this happiness. A man who prefers men to the point where he is unable to service his wife, who's only child is in fact from the seed of another man, does not expect to find love in his life. But I have found love with you, Cavon. I love you more than my life!"
Fortunately he did not seem to require a reply, so I kissed him and walked home thoughtfully. That he could feel like this about me, and not Father, who I believed to be more noble than me, made me think about the complexity of emotions. My feelings for Father were so overwhelming that I could not see how anyone else could not share them. Then I wondered how Mother felt about the long years of rejection she had suffered. I tried to imagine how I would have responded if Father had refused to share his bed with me, and failed. I vowed that I must never let Mother think that I did not love her, that my childhood emotions had disappeared with my entry into manhood. With this in mind I invited her to walk with me after siesta. She accepted with a pleasure that she tried to hide with a bowed head and her hand but shone through her whole body. I felt very happy as she took my arm, as a woman takes the arm of a man, as we walked through the streets through light drizzle towards the Town Square then onward down the wide avenue to the town gate. We were greeted with bows on all sides. I knew Mother was renowned for her charity and graciousness, but for the first time I saw how genuine were the smiles and compliments of all we passed. I, who would one day be Lord, felt proud to have her beside me. I realised in this moment that I had always looked down on her for her lack of education, even as I struggled to correct it, and other than loving her as my mother I was unable to see her as a person. Suddenly I became aware that she was a very grand person, and that Father was lucky that fate had seen to it that she had consented to be his wife.
In the fields I spoke of what Father had informed me. Mother was distraught.
"We must return. You must not walk beside such shame," she said, her head falling.
"There is no shame! Never before have I felt the pride that I have felt today, to have had the privilege to walk beside you. In all the love I have had for you as a child I have never appreciated your goodness as I have today!"
"Cavon!" She called out and then appeared to swoon. I managed to catch her in my arms and support her, cradling her on my legs as I sat on the ground. "I was so young, so innocent, so trusting. I thought I loved him and he said he would marry me. It was the saddest day of my life! Then Srotyr stepped in to save me, yet treating me with the respect of a virtuous wife. And now my son, knowing the truth, can treat me likewise. I don't deserve this, my fate has been too gentle!"
"Mother, you deserve all and more." My fingers lovingly traced her brow. We remained like this, hidden by the tall stems of lolux around us, for what seemed an age. "We must be getting back," I eventually said, helping her to her feet, brushing the dirt from her lizlion coat as she brushed mine before again taking my arm.
By the time we had entered the front door Father had returned. "I was starting to worry," he said, his concern clear on his face as we met him in the meeting room.
"We were just walking," said I, handing Mother to him and leaving them together as I went to clean up for tea. I was soaking in the bath by the time Father joined me.
"I had given much thought about whether or not I should tell you the truth about your birth. I decided to do so because of the nobility I believed you contained, even as a child. Your attention to your Mother, teaching her of things that women are not supposed to know, showed, I believed, that your love was not something that could be curtailed by the prejudices of our society. You have made me very happy to know I did not misjudge you! Could I have the honour of joining you in the bath?" he asked.
I just nodded, stunned by the revelation that he both knew and approved of the lessons I had given Mother. "How long have you known of the lessons?" I eventually got out.
"Since they began," said Father as he lowered himself into the bath with me. When I just stared at him he continued. "Just one thing I told you on the night of our first bath together was not true. I told you that my dick had never entered your mother because she wasn't a virgin, and that it had never entered another woman because I remained faithful to the marriage despite this. But you know in the true sense of the word that I have not been faithful to the marriage. I have been with Yue-Sin, and I suspect you have guessed the nature of my relationship with your uncle, Ti-Lung. And though he is married that relationship continues every time we meet. And now there is you. The truth is that my dick has never entered a woman because, for reasons I don't understand, it has no interest in women. That your mother was deceived and consequently not a virgin when I married her would have made no difference at all if I had that kind of interest in women. Rather it served as a convenient excuse. Maybe it's because I feel that I am different from everyone else that has stopped me judging those things that are seen as `sins' by our fellows, things that in fact cause no harm to anyone, as being anything other than human frailty.
"There is no need even for forgiveness, for in truth there is nothing to forgive." He continued. "For example, I don't feel that I need forgiveness for the love I feel for you. Your mother saw that I felt this way, and this formed the basis of our marriage, and it is where it draws its strength. We have always been fully open with each other, the only thing that I have not told her is my preference for men. She is a wonderful person so she would probable accept even that, but I don't feel that it is fair to test her. I did feel ashamed that I did not see in her the thirst for knowledge and understanding that led you to start her lessons. If I had I would have started them myself, but once you had started I realised that you have a natural gift of sharing knowledge, and that you could do it much better than me, so I let things be."
During all this Father had been holding my hands. We were in our intertwined position, so this put them on top of our balls. I squeezed Father's hands and said, "I know I have said this before Father. Each day I am with you I feel happier and happier. I have a joy within that seems that it cannot grow more, but it does. I also feel no interest in women. My friends often made comments about women and in truth I could never understand what they were talking about. I now know, with what I have felt with you, what in theory they must be talking about, but I can't understand it. I guess they couldn't understand what we feel. And Father, I think you misjudge Yue-Sin. He is like us in that his only interest is in men, and his lack of emotion comes from the fear this engenders at putting himself at the mercy of someone stronger. I'm sure when he started with you that he would have felt very insecure and frightened of letting go. Now, he is older, your patronage gives him security, and he feels strong. He can love, Father."
"Did he say he loved you?"
"Yes Father, he told me he loved me more than his life."
"And you?"
I could see the start of jealousy in Father's eyes, and knew I needed all my diplomacy. "I feel a fondness for Yue- Sin. He is a simple man, a straightforward man, a honest man. In a way I love him. I also love Mother, and I love Yue-Lin. But it is all like water compared with rice wine for what I feel for you!"
"Come here, my boy!" Father crushed me within his arms after I had fallen onto his broad chest. "You are truly magnificent!"
"But not as magnificent as you!" I exclaimed.
"That I cannot agree with."
When we later sat down to tea I think we both must have been glowing. We had not made love, but what we had spoken about had brought us even closer together than we already were. As I watched Mother I was sure that she noticed, and she gave a little nod that I assumed signified her approval. The breadth of human understanding that this showed crushed even further the childhood belief I had in her inferiority. Later, when I was lying in bed in Father's embrace, I commented, "I believe Mother knows about us."
"I think you are right. We formed a mutual admiration society early this evening, but your Mother is greater than us both put together."
"Did you know Mother before you sought her hand in marriage?"
"No, only what Ti-Lung had told me. As you know, girls of noble birth are kept away from society except for formal occasions until they have married. Of course Ti-Lung told me of her. He spoke of her in glowing words, but even so he is controlled by the conceit of our society. His words did not talk of her spirit, of her intelligence, of her understanding. He spoke of her female attributes: her beauty; her grace; her skill at singing; the sweetness of her voice."
"But he cared enough to save her from death."
"Yes," said Father with a sigh, "that he did. And because of that I'm here with you."
I cuddled in, my eyes heavy, closing. I lifted my head for a kiss, but think I may have fallen asleep before I arrived!
SIXDAY
Sixday. My day "off". I wanted to spend it with Father, but he told me that I must remember the other people in my life. Young love makes its own world, Father said, but you have to look outside this. Especially when no one must know of the love. So here I was walking out of the town gates with Yue-Lin and Loa-Lech. I had left Lika behind as Yue-Lin did not have access to a horse. Yue-Lin had wanted to be alone with me, but Loa-Lech had spied us and we were unable not to invite him. He had seen our bows and realised we were heading for the archery range, me with the rights of manhood and Yue-Lin with those of being the armourer's son, and did not want miss the chance of getting a jump in ability of the other boys approaching manhood.
"You are developing an entourage," Hi-Tui said, bowing in respect but smiling mischievously.
"So it would appear," I smiled back, nodding to his bow. "But I think they only love me for what I have, rather than for my person!" I laughed back, indicating the bows Yue- Lin and I wore over our shoulders.
"I wouldn't be so sure, Lord Cavon," said Hi-Tui.
I looked at him. I had known him all my life, knew him to be a man with wife and numerous children, but had not looked at him with adult eyes before. The eyes of childhood saw him as a big man, a figure with power delegated by Father who could order me in Father's name and report any wrong doings. They did not see Hi-Tui, the person. Now my adult eyes looked at him. He was a big man, with a round face and flashing white teeth. It was warm, but with a light drizzle, so he wore his pigskin coat (the type most people who could afford coats wore, with a tie around the neck and no sleeves, only slits to slip them out at shoulder height) left open. His arms were inside, and he lifted them, spreading his coat further. He was a strong man, a heavy man, with broad chest and thick arms and legs and a powerful belly, and with my awakened sexuality I also now saw the full pouch in his pants as well. I sensed that the reason why he had lifted his arms was to allow me to see this, and I felt myself blush at my own thoughts, imagining what filled that pouch, aware that my own pouch (luckily hidden by my lizlion coat) was being pushed out. The boy who had never seen an adult naked and had not been able to imagine what he would see was now undressing every virile male in his thoughts!
"Why do you think that?" I asked.
"I think you don't see the handsome, charming, intelligent young man that the rest of the world sees, my young Lord, otherwise you would not have to ask such a question."
He was being very forward. I knew he would never talk so in front of Father, but I was beginning to realise that this was a difference between myself and Father. People would treat me with familiarity, but never lose respect. They knew I did not need servility, that my own humility did not require subservience, but at the same time they seemed to recognise a strength that stopped the familiarity from becoming contempt. But I think that Hi-Tui had also noticed my longing glance at his pouch, and his flattering words and the stirring that was now visible in the aforesaid was letting me know that its contents were available to me if I so desired.
I nodded my head in acceptance of this complement, delaying a little to let Loa-Lech and Yue-Lin race on ahead and leave me to say in private to Hi-Tui, "Maybe you could explain to me in private why you believe this at a later date?"
"I would look forward to that my Lord. Nothing more than to have such a private conversation with you. Your wisdom I know could teach me much."
"I'll talk to you again," I said, nodding goodbye as I hurried to catch up with my companions. But then I slowed again, in thought. My dick was quite hard, eager to expose itself to its new interest, but my mind questioned its morals. I had Father, who I loved to distraction, I had Yue- Sin, who loved me with his life and who I respected and loved as a simple, honest man, and I had Yue-Lin, my childhood friend and also the first person with whom I had had sex. And my dick was thinking of another! Also I pondered on the first week of manhood. Only a week ago I had been a child, with no concept that sex between men was possible let alone understanding my own preference. Only a week ago I had believed that man married woman for the sake of having children, not for physical satisfaction from which children came as a by-product. Only a week ago I did not realise how many men shared my unrealised interest in sex with other men, and now Hi-Tui was added to that growing list.
I caught up with Yue-Lin and Loa-Lech before the archery field, a slim break in the fields of the town's valley with a small hut at its end providing shelter for the straw filled target, and joined in with their joking and laughter. Together we dragged the target out into the open and set up the field markers so no one accidentally ran onto the field into the path of an arrow. Loa-Lech had never used a bow before, and for the first round he just watched what Yue-Lin and I did. Yue-Lin, with his greater size, strength, experience, and ability, was more accurate than I, hitting the target with more than half of his arrows, while I only managed 8 from 20 on my first round. Loa-Lech raced to the target to collect the arrows, keen to have a go himself, leaving Yue-Lin and I alone.
"I had wanted to do more than just fire arrows today," said Yue-Lin as soon as he thought he could not be heard.
"Likewise," I said. "But we couldn't have said no without it seeming very strange."
"No, but my dick was hard at the thought of being in your mouth!"
"Mine too," I lied. "I didn't know that coats had uses beyond keeping one dry!". We had shed our coats so as we could shoot unrestricted, and I could see a shape lifting in Yue-Lin's pouch. "But you had better think about something else, or you will have to explain the reason you have a hard dick to Loa-Lech."
He turned to face me, checking first that Loa-Lech was still on his way to collecting the arrows, then let his stiff dick out into the open. "That's not going to be so easy!"
I gave the offered dick a quick squeeze and replied, "You have no choice. Put it away before he turns!"
"OK." He tied his dick against his belly under the waist rope of his trousers, something I couldn't do for lack of length, then let his shirt hang loosely over the top to disguise its presence. "Something is worrying me, Cavon, and it was to talk about it that I also wanted to be alone with you."
"We can get together next week. FirstDay?"
"We can't talk now while Loa-Lech collects arrows?"
"It would not be fair to ask him to collect them every time. And it will be better to talk without interruptions, no?"
"OK," replied Yue-Lin unhappily.
On Loa-Lech's return I put a bow in his hand, and took him through basics of firing an arrow. It was surprising, though Loa-Lech was close to my age and was physically the same size as me, how much older I felt. As I put my arms around him to correct his hold on the bow I felt like a father instructing a child. I lined him up and he let fly, hitting the target. Yue-Lin and I applauded. It was a fluke of course, but by the end of the session he was hitting as many as 7 of his 20. Yue-Lin got his eye in and hit as many as 15, my best was 12. I was surprised how much my arms ached. They had had a tough week, with sword training and riding, and I was punishing them again now. Well before we finished I was letting Yue-Lin and Loa-Lech do all the firing, while I did all the collecting.
As we dawdled back down the road towards town I realised that I was eager to say hello to Hi-Tui. I hoped the gate would be quiet so that he would be alone, hoped that he again held open his coat. It had started raining heavier while we were on the archery range and I was quite damp under my coat. As I contemplated ways I could separate myself from my companions to be alone with Hi-Tui my hand (my arms were inside my coat because of the rain) played with my dick almost with a will of its own. When we were about 100 paces away my heart sunk as an elderly man exiting the town stopped to talk with Hi-Tui. But at 20 paces Hi- Tui bid him farewell and he turned to us. His coat was closed, arms inside against the rain. I had not come up with a plausible reason to stop and talk with him, my disappointment was as palpable as my hard dick. I would not even get another look at his pouch!
Hi-Tui bowed to us as we came near. "Did you shoot well, my Lord and friends?
The thrill at hearing this voice surprised. A voice I had heard all my life, one I can given no more thought to than the rain, now set my heart racing. "Yue-Lin shot well, 15 from 100 paces. The rest are novices."
Yue-Lin chimed in. "Don't believe him! He shot 12 himself, even with arms exhausted from their first week of horse and sword training!"
"I would have thought so. Lord Cavon, though your arms are tired, is your quick brain working? I have received some packages, and am having trouble understanding the letter that accompanied them."
Now my heart really raced. He was setting it up himself! "I can help, of course. I'll see you both in church tomorrow," I said to my friends in farewell. "Yue- Lin, could you return my bow for me?"
"I'll carry it," said Loa-Lech.
I handed my bow and quiver of arrows to him, waved them goodbye, then followed the waiting Hi-Tui into his little cabin next to the gate. It was very public here and I wondered what he was contemplating.
As we entered he undid his coat (coats buttoned from the inside in a way that there were no holes on the outside surface to allow water to enter) and let it fall open. His back was to the door, and to me, and he gestured for me to come around in front of him where there was a table. "This is the letter, my Lord. I don't read very well and this hand is difficult. I would appreciate your help?"
I looked at the few lines of clearly written script on the page and was about to comment when I saw something else. "I think maybe I could if it had a little more air."
He quickly untied the string of his trousers and dropped them far enough to put his hard dick on view. It was different from those I knew. It was not as long as Father's, but was very thick and curved upward. The shaft was somewhat flattened and the head was free of the skin, shiny and purple and fat.
"You put me to shame, Hi-Tui. This is all I have to show." Likewise I opened my coat and dropped my trousers, using the bulk of his body to shield me from the door.
"It will grow with you, my Lord, and it is very nicely formed. Would you like to touch me?" he added after a pause.
"Yes. But is it safe?"
"Not very. Just give it a few little strokes and I will put it away till later."
I tentatively stroked its underside, exploring its curve. I tried to encircle it with my thumb and first finger and failed. "It is very thick!"
"Thankyou." He then bent down as if he was picking up something from the floor, but instead of his hand going down it grasped my dick and squeezed. "I'd love take you in my mouth!" he whispered as his head passed my ear on his way back up.
"Me too, but I don't think it would fit!"
"No, I doubt it. Touch me again and I'll put it back."
A drop of clear liquid had formed in the eye of his dick and I used my thumb to smear it around the head, causing his whole body to tense. "How can we meet?" I asked.
"Can you meet me out in the fields somewhere one afternoon after your duties are finished?"
"I know. My archery is not very good. If I asked you to give me lessons would you be able to get someone to fill in for you? No one would think this strange as you are the town's best archer."
"Excellent!" He had now done up his trousers but his dick was so hard it was clearly outlined as it pushed his pouch out and up, and it was forming a wet spot on the material. He hid it from my view and did up the internal buttons. "Maybe if you asked Yue-Sin we could make this part of your regular lessons, and then we could be together every week."
"Does Yue-Sin know you like this type of thing," I said, indicating my dick that I had not put away yet as I had been too fascinated watching Hi-Tui.
"Yue-Sin? Of course not! Why?"
"No matter. Yes, I will ask him."
"Good. Now you better go."
"The letter?"
Hi-Tui's face assumed a puzzled expression, then laughed. "You know I have no problem reading!"
"Yes. But maybe I can help you again, anyway!"
"Well, maybe you can. I'll call next time a get a letter!"
By now we were outside, and the last was said as Hi-Tui bowed in a formal farewell. I nodded and turned away. My dick was so hard that I was holding it back with my flat hand as I felt even it would be pushing my coat abnormally forward. I thought Hi-Tui, by his posture, had been doing the same. All the way back home my head was filled with the image of its thick, curved shaft, skin stretched tight, and its bulbous shiny head, but as I came closer other thoughts entered. Should I tell Father? Why did I even want to be with Hi-Tui. When a man married a woman it was expected that he would not have sex with anyone else. I was married to Father as far as I was concerned. Why should I want anything more?
I would have to tell Father. He would know something was up anyway. Even though it was wet I wore my coat as I kissed Mother in greeting and all the way to our chamber. I hung it on the peg outside the door and quickly entered as my dick was still like rock. My heart stopped as I saw Father sitting at his desk and instinctively my hands went in front to hide.
"Why do you need to hide from me?" asked Father. His tone was quite serious, and there was no twinkle to say that he was otherwise.
"I don't know Father. I must feel guilty."
"Explain!" I felt my knees quiver, but then the twinkle appeared. "But let me have a suck first, it looks wonderfully hard!"
I bent down to kiss him where he was seated on the floor as his hands loosened the string and pulled down my pants. Then his mouth took it completely inside. I was so pent up that I finished in an instant, so quick that I found myself saying sorry.
"No sorry," he said while helping me step out of my trousers and sat me on his bare lap, holding me tight. "But why guilty?"
"Father, I don't understand. I have changed so much. Last week I didn't know what sex was and now I look at every man and want him."
"And I'm sure they want someone as pretty as you!"
"Am I pretty?"
"You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, my boy."
"I didn't know that."
"And who were you looking at?"
Here I paused, uncomfortable a letting out the secret. "Hi-Tui," I eventually said.
"Hi-Tui," Father whistled. "And did he look at you?"
"Yes Father."
"I would have never thought of Hi-Tui. He is such a male man!"
"So are you, Father. So is Yue-Sin."
"Yes, I guess. Did you see his dick?"
"It is not long like yours, but it is very thick and has a big head that comes completely out when it is hard."
"How did you manage to look?"
So I explained about the subterfuge, and about the idea of archery training.
"Leave that to me, I'll speak to Yue-Sin. That way he will suspect nothing. It would not be good to make him jealous.
"You're not jealous, Father?"
"You still love me most?" he asked, pulling my face around and holding my eyes with his gaze.
"You know that Father!"
"Then I'm not jealous. When I was your age I was having sex with everything with a dick, as well as your uncle. Though I must admit my conquests were with men my own age, not with older men. Experimenting is part of growing up, and growing up is a time when one has sexual capacity to burn. I would not tie you to an old man and deny you that."
"You are not an old man!"
"My dick says otherwise, my dick says otherwise," holding me tight, a glisten in his eyes. Then, suddenly, "Now clean up for lunch. Lets not keep your Mother waiting."
After lunch Mother announced that we would be dining with Win-Bui that evening, but it was not until I was cuddled up with Father for the siesta that I saw this announcement as ominous. Win-Bui was the father of Win-Som, and we were to be dining with them just a few days after I had been pushed into Win-Som's company at my party. I fell asleep contemplating this, but left it till Father and I were having our second bath in the big outside tub to ask of its significance.
"I have had talks with Win-Bui about your future marriage with Win-Som," Father stated without emotion.
I think my jaw must have fallen off my face. I felt that the loving hand that embraced me had used the loving embrace as a cover to insert a knife between my shoulder blades, penetrating my heart. I stuttered out some noise, but I'm not sure it had any verbal content.
In response Father continue harshly. "Do you think that you can live with me forever? That the world won't expect an announcement of your upcoming marriage in the near future. I had the luxury of avoiding marriage because as a young man I had no social standing, and no one thought me a worthwhile catch. But you are the future Lord of this estate. Do you think that you can avoid marriage?"
I collapsed into painful sobs, clasping to the man that I believed had guided the knife between my ribs. But he held me as I had only learnt that he could during the previous week, as if nothing was different. He kissed me repeatedly on the head, lifting my face to lick away my tears. I did not understand how he could be so cruel then pretend to love me. Only later was I to realise that the apparent harshness in fact came from the degree of abhorrence he had for the announcement he had made. Yet he was stating reality, and if I had lifted my head above the honey pool into which I had fallen during my first week as an adult I would have seen it coming.
Looking into his face, where tears ran as freely as on mine, I repeatedly croaked "Father, Father, Father." as he similarly chanted, "My Cavon. My Cavon. My Cavon."
"We'll still be able to be together!" was the first structured phrase that either of us managed. It came from Father. "You will be my second, so we will have lots of reasons to be alone in my chambers." There was a sound in his voice that suggested he was trying to persuade himself as much as me.
I was still unable to talk.
"Your mother suggested Win-Som. And in truth she is a sweet, submissive woman who will make a good wife."
At this point I think I may have lost consciousness. This was something that has happened to me at only one other time in my life. The reason that I believe that I lost consciousness was that the next thing I knew everything had become quiet. I was still sitting on Father, my legs spread around his belly and my buttocks resting against his bent thighs, but his crying had stopped and he seemed calm. I remember feeling his soft dick squashed up against my anus that was made available by the sitting position I had assumed, riding him like my pony, Lika. I pushed my torso off his wet-haired chest so as to look at him.
"I know that what you say is correct, but I'm not sure if I am capable of it. It will destroy me to be separated from you, though I guess I won't die, but what am I to do in the marital bed? I'm sure that my dick will no more get hard with Win-Som than yours does with mother or Yue-Sin's does with his wife. I am not a Hi-Tui who can respond to both demands. And then what will be said, when the world hears that I am impotent? How will I ever be able to govern this province when I take your place if everyone knows that my dick does not get hard?"
"I don't know but let's wait until it is time to worry about it. We can delay your marriage for a year at least, saying you are too young and not sufficiently developed. In that time we will have each other, and in my experience life has a way of solving problems."
Happy to accept anything that would allow me not to think about this future I kissed him, then began to wash him. Not surprisingly, after all the emotion that had passed between us, after I had soaped up his rear and dick (spending a disproportionate length of time on this small percentage of his body) he turned over so that he was kneeling, head and an arm over the edge of the bath, and suggested that I enter him. He pulled himself while I fucked his hairy arse with my arms wrapped tightly around his chest, and then begged me to stay in after I had cum until he had climaxed. Then things became more business- like as we had already spent a long time in the bath and we were due to go out. He washed me quickly then we dried and returned to our room to dress, finally joining mother where she was waiting in the sitting room.
We were all in our best clothes, and it was raining fairly heavily, so our tallest servants carried the four corners of a large piece of canvas for us to walk under on our way to dinner. It was not very far, Win-Bui being an affluent man with his house in the more secure central area of town, but far enough for our clothes to be sodden if we had walked unprotected. We were greeted at the door by Win- Bui himself, in honour of his visitors, and he led us into the dining room. Dinner was served immediately, as was custom.
After the formal silence of dinner we moved out of the dining room and rice wine was passed around. I was seated next to Win-Som, who maintained demure silence, and we listened to the men talk about the health of the king, the politics of the court and how things seemed to be turning bad, the briskness of trade since metal clad wheels sped up transport. Here my name was brought in, as the idea of heat shrinking a hoop of metal to the outside of wooden wheel had been my idea. Win-Som smiled admiringly at me when this was mentioned, and though I played it down and complimented Ba- Nol for his practical implementation of my vague idea, I decided that Win-Som was nice, and that my future might not be so unpleasant. It was also my fourth glass of rice wine. Win-Bui then began an old tale of how the King, when he was a young man, entered the palace of the then King and presented himself as the future husband of the King's daughter.
"King Boris was an adventurous young man, who left his home to wander in unknown lands. He lived by his skill and wit, spending much time in silent contemplation. It was such an unusual thing for a man to do that God, seated on his cloud seat, noticed him, and decided to talk to him. He discovered that he was filled with new ideas for the betterment of mankind, and thought it was a shame to leave him wandering on his own. So he gave him a magical weapon, and suggested he visit our kingdom and speak to King Gui-Lin about his ideas.
"Now Boris knew that a King would not pay any attention to a wild man, hair long and unkempt, who had been wandering in the wilderness for years, so he came up with a plan. He explained this plan to God, who thought it was a good plan, as long as nobody was hurt. So Boris put his plan into action.
"He walked for many weeks to come to the seat of King Guilin, and when at his gate challenged the guard. The guard of course laughed, so Boris pointed his magical weapon at a wild sparliz that was perched high on the palace wall. The sparliz fell to the ground. The guard again laughed, though asked how the trick had been performed. So Boris pointed his magical weapon at a stray dog that was not far from the feet of the guard. The dog fell in its tracks, dead. The guard now was frightened, and tried to close the heavy gate in Boris's face, but Boris quietly informed him that the gate would not interfere with his magic, and asked rather that he be presented to the King.
"`But how can I trust you not to harm the King?'"
"`The same way you can trust me not to harm you. If I wanted to harm the King I could just point my magical weapon at anyone who came in my path until I came to the King. That I don't do so shows my honour.'"
"So with he knees quivering in the face of such a powerful magician, and also for fear of what the King might do to him, the guard lead Boris to the King. `Bring the dog,' Boris had ordered.
"After a bit of negotiation with the house servants Boris was present to the King, the guard behind with the dead dog.
"`How do I know that you killed that dog with magic? How do I know that maybe you didn't just pay this guard with gold to tell a story, and you are the same as any other madman?'"
"`Is that cat there important to you, my King,'" Boris asked quietly.
"`It is important to my daughter. She has had it since she was a child.'"
"`Can you then organize an animal that is not important for me to demonstrate?'"
"`Come to the kitchen. I believe they have a pig that will be killed today. You can perform that task, if your magic will not effect the quality of the meat.'"
"`In no way will it be affected.'"
"So Boris and the King followed servants to the kitchen. The pig was dragged squealing from its pen, and Boris waved everyone away as he raised his magical weapon. The pig started to race for the open door, then fell dead in its tracks.
"Satisfied then that what the guard had reported was in fact truth, he asked Boris what it was he wanted. Boris indicated that he would like to speak to the King in private. The King looked at Boris questioningly, then suggested that they go to his throne room. The door was shut behind them.
"No one knows what was said between them in that private room, but when they came out they were arm in arm, and the King declared to all present that he was standing beside his future son by marriage.
"And as we all know he has proven to be a good king, a wise king, a just king, who has stepped off the shoulders of his father-in-law and gone higher."
Polite applause followed the completion of Win-Bui recitation of this old story. In truth he had spoken well, with voice changes for the different characters and actions and facial expressions to complement. Once the clapping stopped a servant brought in Mother's harp and all joined in with requests of her to sing. Like Win-Bui, Mother chose tradition, but she sang and played so well that everyone spontaneously clapped at the end of each, Win-Som almost as loudly as the men. This further promoted her in my judgement and I decided that mother had not made a bad choice for me. I felt warm and protective to her, and put out of my mind any difficulties in the marital bed.
At the conclusion of mother's singing Win-Bui asked if mother could continue to play to accompany Win-Som in a dance she had prepared for the night. Win-Som, not under the effects of rice wine as much as the rest of us, protested, saying that she hadn't been able to perfect it adequately, but Win-Bui autocratically order her to dance, confidentially saying that she just lacked confidence, that he had seen her dance and she was as prepared as she could be. So, looking self-conscious, Win-Som asked Mother if she would play "The Spring Day", a song written by Mother to celebrate the annual rebirth of our rice crop with the falling waters, a stately piece that started slow but with a lively end, and took a pose waiting for the music to start. Her dance won me completely. She was so graceful, turning one pose into another and into another with such a smooth transition that it was hard to tell where one started and one ended. Then she finished with such a lively little jig that I found myself on my feet joining with her and Mother extended the music and Win-Bui and his wife joined us, Father clapping counterpoint to the rhythm. This new dance became quite a success that season.
GODDAY
Not surprisingly I had some trouble getting up next morning, as did Father. We lay together drifting in and out of sleep, till Father forced us up. He spoke in Church every Godday that he was home. The priest usually wrote the piece so as it would link in with the topic of the day's sermon but Father liked to familiarize himself with what he was to say, modifying the style to his liking, adding his own thoughts. Having had his week taken up so much with me he had not managed to sit down to this task yet and he now had to peruse it at the last moment. We donned robes to eat our morning rice, then I contented myself watching him, seated at his desk with his robe open, contemplating the magnificence of his hairy chest and the beauty of his face. A face I had known all my life, but that had transfigured during the last week. Obviously it hadn't changed, but like all things in life what is important is not the structure or object that one is watching but the interpretation of that structure by our eyes and thoughts. I had seen Father as a stern man, a proud man. I was his son, and he beamed on me his love and smiles, but he was still stern and did not tolerate wrongdoing. He was the Lord, so the people of the Province accepted his arrogance as natural and right, to the point that comment was only made regarding his care for his field workers, his fair and intelligent sense of justice. Some thought he showed more care for his field workers than he did for the wealthy merchants and trades people, the common people who made good under his stable rule.
I still saw Father as a stern man, a proud man. I was still his son, though I now knew not of his loins. But every eyelash, every pore, was now transformed by a love so intense that when he looked at me I no longer felt the subtle fear that I had grown up with. Now I felt that I was basking in front of a huge fire, luxuriating in a palace of warmth and dryness. Quietly I made my way over to him where he was concentrating on his speech and kissed him on the forehead. He looked up, surprised, then a smile of such warmth spread around his gleaming white teeth that I felt that I was melting. I slumped onto his naked lap and embraced him with all my strength, rubbing my face in its new pillow, his furry belly.
"Ah, Cavon," he muttered, "how have I lived without you?"
I just squeezed harder and drew in his wonderful scent in a deep sigh of contentment.
"Let me go now," he said after a while. "I would like to finish this. Could you help me by copying the first page with the changes I have added?"
Of course he didn't need to ask, but I also didn't offer to move to my own desk. I sat so my body was in full contact with him as I carefully transcribed the page he had given me. I asked now and again if I could change this or that, and was told, after his seeing the reason for the changes, to stop bothering to ask and write as I saw fit. The speech was on the celestial world, the palaces and dwelling places of God and the spirits, above the sky. How we lived under that world, dwelling where the roots and earth of its underside were visible. We lived with the hope of moving up to that world, and not falling deeper still to the worlds below us for which we were the sky. How the spirits of the righteous and good would rise up to be supreme, while those with mean souls would sink and in future lives would have to once again try to be reborn in this world to have another chance of achieving eternity.
It was a familiar topic, one that I had listened to so many times, spiced with the scent of incense, in the rich baritone of my Father's voice, that I had stopped hearing what was being said. Now, writing it out in word for word, I found myself asking, "Is this all true, Father?"
"Do you doubt, my boy?" There was no sense of threat in Father's voice.
"No. Yes. In truth, Father, I don't think I have given it very much thought before, just accepted it like the rice that we eat. But now I am thinking of something you spoke of the other day, about the great people who existed before us in the world. If they could cut through mountains could they not also fly up through the clouds to the spirit world?"
"That is a question I cannot answer Cavon. It raised in my mind the same doubts that you express and I haven't been able to satisfactorily put them to rest. Maybe when you see what is in that hut you may be able to explain better than me. But for now I live as though all that is in the Book is true, for it is a way of persuading people to look after each other and not to live on the principle of selfishness. Even with The One we still have numerous examples of people doing wrong by their fellow beings, imagine what it would be like without? I live with it more as an allegory for how one should live one's life than as an accurate text, but I still try to live within its principles."
I nodded, taking in the new gospel.
In Church I sat with Father and Mother on the family seat. We had arrived late and I had not had time for my usual conversation with Loa-Lech and Yue-Lin, maybe fortunately because the new ideas regarding the Book were swirling around my mind. What was interesting was that though I had found myself questioning the words I had committed to paper, when I heard them expressed in the powerful voice of Father, even the parts I had written myself, the questions I had previously raised seemed absurd. I returned to my childhood of faith absolute, with every word signifying its literal meaning. I became so engrossed with these thoughts that instead of joining up with my childhood friends after church I found myself trying to get Father by himself so as to sound with him my new thoughts of rational and emotional meaning. Rational was what you expressed with symbols on paper, emotional was how those symbols could be taken and manipulated in ways that made them much more that they were on paper, with Father's voice, its innate power and authority, being the tool that caused this transformation.
Father, however, was involved with the men of the town, as Godday was also the traditional day of town business when Father could be approached by anyone with suggestions or grievances. Usually these were conversations revolving around general gossip, but Father felt they were important to maintain the smooth running of the town, so I was waved away to join my childhood friends. I felt aggrieved that Father did not think me sufficiently adult to join in, though later he explained that it was rather to save me the boredom that all to soon would become a routine part of my life, and discontented I went in search of Yue-Lin.
I found he and Loa-Lech in the usual place, the Square. It was a site where older boys and young men just out of childhood tended to congregate. There was talk, games, dares, and the new sport of sliding. Not feeling like joining in I asked Yue-Lin when Loa-Lech was out of earshot if he would like to join me for a walk. I was surprised at the eagerness his face expressed - and thought that my face must have changed for him like Father's had for me. But I had not only become an adult I, now manhood had enveloped me, had become the heir. After a week during which more changes had occurred than I could have dreamt this was just one more, and one that seemed a natural expression of the rest. Yet it was one that I was not sure that I liked, for it seemed that I was no longer looked upon as a friend but as a superior deigning favour.
We picked up our weapons from his house, and as I no longer needed to hide the fact that I was carrying mine I took a long knife as well as a bow. Yue-Sin was with the group with Father, and his mother was with a ladies group, but there was always the risk of a servant returning early from the post-Church functions so we did nothing more than kiss rapidly and fondle each other before making our way down the main street toward Town Gate. It was a day of moderate wafting rain and we walked sweating under our closed coats. Hi-Tui was at his position, even though Town Gate was typically quiet on Godday it was his responsibility to man it at all times the gate was open. He winked at me after greeting us, then found an excuse to call me back. With Yue-Sin out of earshot and no one around he gestured for me to enter the guard house. By the time I had entered and turned he had his coat open and his hard dick out on display.
"He is anxious to see you, my Lord," was all he said.
I reached out and took it in one hand, once again amazed at its rigidity and girth, but not satisfied with this he pushed my head down towards it. Finding it stuck in the centre of my face, I put out my tongue and licked it, then took the tip of its rampant head into my mouth, sticking my tongue in its massive eye. Hi-Tui shoved his hips forward convulsively forcing more of his dick into my mouth than I could comfortably take, and I came up rapidly with the pain of an overstretched jaw. When he saw that he had hurt me he apologised sincerely, gave me a quick kiss on the lips, then sent me on my way before anyone could chance along. I gave his still exposed dick a squeeze before leaving, looking forward immensely to our meeting on ThirDay.
"What did Hi-Tui want," asked Yue-Sin, without any trace of suspicion, after I had caught up with him.
Caught out, having nothing prepared, I must have blushed as Yue-Sin gave me a questioning look. "I'm hot after running to catch up with you," I said to explain my dark face. "This jacket is like an oven." But he kept looking, until I realised that I had not answered his question, only gave an excuse for my embarrassed face. "He wanted my to help interpret a directive from Father relayed by your father regarding his duties at the gate," I improvised. This seemed to satisfy him and we walked in silence for a while.
Eventually he started, but hesitantly. "Did you speak with Lord Srotyr about what I spoke with you about?"
Not sure about what he was referring to, having the sensation of so much time having passed since we spoke, I asked, honestly vague, "What are you referring to?"
"About what I used to do with my father when we bathed."
"No," I lied, but only partly as I don't think Father actually spoke to Yue-Sin about what I told him. "Why do you ask?"
"Unlike most people, I guess because we have a private bath, we bathe almost every day. Since I spoke to you father has not asked me to touch him. Sometimes he would not ask for one night, but it is now 6 nights and he has not asked. His dick always was hard when he undressed but it never is now. Are you sure that Lord Srotyr has not spoken with him?"
"I don't know everything Father does, but as he doesn't know what you do with your father I don't know how he could have thought to speak with him. Maybe your father just realised that what he was doing was wrong, that you were too young, and decided to stop." I felt at a loss to explain this. I guessed that Yue-Sin had focussed all his emotion on me and had no need for his son any longer, that his son had only been a choice of last resort for him as I believed that Yue-Sin was a good man who would not intentionally hurt someone. But from what Yue-Lin had said this change had commenced before my first contact with Yue-Sin . "Tell me, how did it start, these things with your father."
"It started the first time I bathed with him. Mother had insisted that she would no longer bathe with me, I think because my dick got hard and she saw it. Mother has nice tits, and though I had grown up as a child seeing them every day, I found I was seeing them in a different way and this is what caused me to get hard. Father was very reluctant to have me bathe with him, but Mother would have it no other way. Mother rules our house, as you probably know. On the first night I bathed with father he seemed very uncomfortable. At the point that he was to undress he sent me away to get a clean robe for him, and by the time I returned he was already in the bath. I undressed quickly and joined him. I didn't know what to do with him. Mother had usually washed my back, and I hers, so I asked Father if he would like his back washed. He said yes, but when I finished he turned around, asking me to wash his front as well. Thinking this was just because he didn't have tits so it was OK to do so, I washed his chest and belly, but before I could finish he pushed his hand lower onto his dick.
"I had never seen his dick before, and other than yours I had only seen my own, and did not realise his was hard. It seemed no bigger than mine when it was soft, and I thought his was just a different shape to mine. He asked me to wash it well, and soon he was spurting his white liquid. I knew what that was about, as I did it to myself, though I hadn't thought of father doing it too. His dick did not change though, so I thought that was normal for his dick to stick out and feel hard. I thought I was the one who was different. From then on every bath I washed his dick until he spurted. After a while he asked me to put it in my mouth as well. He never touched me though, and thinking about it I don't think my dick has ever been hard when I have been with him. When I am with you I feel excited, but with him sucking on his dick is like sucking a piece of carrot. Its not bad, its not good, its just there. Maybe it is because you and I have always been very close, and I have never been close to father. There are many things I can't explain. But I have discovered that his dick doesn't always stick out. When it is soft it is disappears into his skin and just looks like a blob in front of his balls."
This all sort of fitted in with my knowledge of Yue-Sin , especially his dick never going down (thinking about it I had never seen it soft, either), but why was he not hard on the night of my party?
"Did you bathe with your father on the night of my party?"
Yue-Lin paused, his mind flowing back. "No, I didn't. He was in late and mother did not want me late to get dressed, so I was sent down to bathe before father got home. Why do you ask?"
I knew why I had asked. It was to see if Yue-Sin had stopped getting sexual relief from his son after he started getting it from me, and it was confirmed. I now understood and I guess, was flattered. But what could I say to Yue- Lin. I, who was usually so honest, was weaving a web of lies with my closest friend. I felt that the adult world was very difficult, and not honest like a child's. Then I realised what I could say.
"Do you remember Father's speech at my party, about how with adulthood came many new responsibilities and then he paused before saying, and pleasures. Remember how everyone laughed at this. He talked very clearly that one waited to become an adult to obtain these pleasures so that one could truly enjoy them, and he implicated that marriage was necessary as well. Do you remember?"
Yue-Lin nodded, his face very serious and absorbed.
"Your father must have heard this and decided that what he was doing was wrong because you are still a child."
Watching Yue-Lin's dawning understanding, even though I knew it to be spurious, gave me a sense of power that I had never felt with another before. It felt good, but worried me also for I didn't think that it should feel good. Even though I was lying for his benefit I was lying for mine as well. I decided not to analyse it. Then he asked something that caught me completely off guard once again.
"It doesn't mean that we have to stop doing things, does it?"
I was caught between two desires. One, mine, was to say yes. I had enough with Father, Yue-Sin , and soon Hi- Tui, that I really didn't need anything additional other than my longstanding friendship with Yue-Lin. But seeing Yue-Lin's adoring gaze I realised that he was wanting a "no", with some rational as to why it should be different between us. Feeling the need to give something, I suggested, "I don't think so. What is wrong between a father and son is the same as between father and daughter. Now though you are technically a child and I technically an adult, if you were to ask someone to look at us and decided who was who they would without doubt say that you were the adult. We grew up together, we are childhood friends. Neither has a power over the other that can force the other to do something against his will. I got to adulthood a little before you, but soon you will be there also. That only leaves the marriage bit. We can't marry, so I guess there is no need for us to wait for marriage. I don't know where what we do fits in with the concept of marriage. Maybe it is how we can get sexual relief prior to being married without the risk of causing a girl to be pregnant? I'm sure it is not wrong."
The look of gratitude and relief that Yue-Lin directed at me was heart warming. I had committed myself to an ongoing sexual relationship with him, but despite its disadvantages I felt good. I could also see that when Yue- Lin was embraced by the arms of marriage he would have less desire to be looking my way for sexual satisfaction. It brought to mind Father and my uncle, a partial contradiction to the previous thought. Putting this out of my mind I changed the topic and began to talk about the dinner the night before in the house of Win-Bui, of the new dance of Win-Som. By this time we had gained the privacy of our pool, to which we had decided to return to despite the bubbles as we were better armed, and I demonstrated the dance after undressing. Yue-Lin joined me in the final part, adding his clap to my singing, taking the male role and constantly pushing his hard dick into my belly. Our love making that followed was more mature and satisfying than the previous time, filled with more joy of youth than I had experienced with Father or Yue-Sin , and I no longer questioned the wisdom of continuing the sexual side of our friendship.
Talking with Father that night he said that he believed that I had done the correct thing, admiring my skill as a diplomat. When I questioned whether building a tangle of lies was a skill he agreed that it was not. But then jokingly said that the skill lay in remembering each of the lies, and to whom it was told! He did not agree with it, but unfortunately it seemed to be a necessary part of the life of a leader. He also confirmed that he had not spoken with Yue-Sin . He turned to his day, about the many complements of the power of the morning's speech. It was usual to receive polite complements, but today there had been many references to different images, their beauty and solidity. "One of the traders said that he had overheard some of his servants talking about the White Tower as if it was something that they had heard of for the first time. Even the priest had, in private, said that from his position at the front, he observed the look of rapt attention on the faces of all present, something that he couldn't say that he had witnessed before. He also peevishly commented that I had not stuck very closely to his text, and if I was going to modify it so much he would no longer bother to write it out for me, just note down a few points. He then smiled, letting me know that he had been joking. He is too intelligent that priest! He will raise my wrath one day before I have realised that he is joking. So I told him that it was not I that who was to blame for the modifications, rather it was you who was the culprit and it was you to whom he had to express his ire. To this he responded by asking if he had my permission to approach you to ask for help in his own writing! Yes, he is too intelligent! He thinks he can play me and flatter me like a fool!"
Father had in fact worked himself up into anger. "Oh Father, you know he is intelligent, and he has little contact with other intelligent men. He likes to talk with you as another intelligent man, play word games and straight- faced jokes, as a complement to your intelligence, knowing you will understand. You know that he does not mean any disrespect." Priest Lo-Si was someone I knew well. His role as priest made it difficult for him to associate with other people, and ours being a small, though growing, town there was only one priest allocated. Lo-Si's only friends were Father and Chi-Da. My position as son of the Lord, and Chi-Da's many complements regarding my fast mind had led Lo- Si to seek out my company even though I was a child and we had had many protracted philosophical discussions, often with Chi-Da present.
"I know," said Father, partially placated, "but he does infuriate me so!" He paused for a bit. "And he is not having you as his speech writer - you do that job for me only! You now have a permanent position."
"Thankyou Father."
"No thankyou. It is a position earned. Now let's get out of this bath and join your mother for dinner."