The Black Clover 11
USUAL DISCLAIMER
"THE BLACK CLOVER" is a gay story, with some parts containing graphic scenes of sex between males. So, if in your land, religion, family, opinion and so on this is not good for you, it will be better not to read this story. But if you really want, or because YOU don't care, or because you think you really want to read it, please be my welcomed guest.
THE BLACK CLOVER
by Andrej Koymasky © 2018
written on 3rd of April, 1986
Translated by the Author
English text kindly revised by an Australian friend
CHAPTER 11
'AYN
I was the happiest man on earth. I felt that only now could I say I was starting to truly live. I would have told Amin of these thoughts, but there were other people near us, so I simply turned to look at him and at the same moment he also turned toward me and our eyes said in one single glance all that was in our hearts. We both turned again to look at the open sea, lost in our sweet thoughts, and yet tightly united even if our bodies did not touch. Between two lovers always exists a close communication, even if nobody else notices it. I breathed deeply of that salty, scented air and I thanked Allah with all my heart for what he had given to me.
The fact of discovering our reciprocal love and finally being able to live it caused a big change in our lives and in each of us. I had always loved and respected Amin, I always had been devoted and faithful to him, I always had admired him, but now each of these sentiments had bloomed into something newer, more deep, more strong. Above all, more involving. In some ways now I was feeling Amin as a part of me, or perhaps I felt that I was a part of him. Now I was seeing him with new eyes. I could easily, now, distinguish in him the smallest details, interpret them, understand them deeply. I could better understand not only what he was saying but even what he was not saying, what he simply was thinking. I was truly in consonance with him. And it was beautiful... It was splendid to be understood, accepted completely, loved.
Rationally Amin remained my Lord and Master, but now in a deeply different and more beautiful way. Emotionally there was no more a difference between he and I: we were one. My life had been deeply transformed by love. I felt different, better, more confident, stronger, complete.
Amin also had changed: now in his eyes a new light shone and his smile lightened his face more often. I could feel in him a new determination, a greater confidence. Towards me he had always been remarkable: from the very beginning he had dealt with me more as with a friend than as with a subject or a servant, but now I felt that I had become for him a precious being. He looked at me with dreamful eyes, almost as if seeing in me a supernatural, special being.
All those differences, in us and between us, could not pass unperceived to an acute mind like that of Prince Selim, who on the second day of the journey questioned us with a sly look on his face:
"That last day on the island - something special must have happened between you two: you are different..."
"Different, how?" Amin asked, smiling.
Selim looked at us, head cocked to one side, then said: "I do not really know... I see in your eyes the look that a proud father has when the longed-for heir is finally born... or perhaps that of a winner after a particularly difficult game... or that of a groom after the first night with his bride. You have changed, and very suddenly! Do not try to tell me that I am mistaken, that nothing is new!"
Amin smiled and looked at me, then said: "We have hidden nothing from you before, and we will hide nothing from you now. After so many years of closeness, of being together as brothers, after so many dangers faced together, after so many dreams cultivated together, we have discovered that we love each other. I know that some condemn a relationship between men, and that some accept it in special situations, such as for warrior companions if there are no women to use, but we are happy to have at last understood that we love each other and be able to demonstrate that to each other with our bodies."
Selim knit his brows, seemed to reflect for some moments, then gave a worried sigh.
"To me too it was always said that love between men is wrong and I believed that to be true. But now... to see the result in you two, I would not be so sure! Both you, Amin, and you, Nadim, have become... luminous. The filthy things such as war make people become brutal - you instead are become more beautiful... so I must believe that your love is something beautiful, something at which men should marvel..."
"So, you do not judge us badly?" I asked, astounded and cheered by his reaction.
Prince Selim, serious, immediately answered: "No, how could I? The evidence prevents me from doing that! Rather, I hope one day to find such a love able to transform me... be it with a woman... or a man!"
"Prince Selim, we both wish that you can soon fulfil your hope."
"Thank you. But, tell me, before discovering this love of yours, did you have prior intercourse with men?"
"No, never with a man, my Prince, and for me, just once with a woman. Intercourse, not love. This, for both of us, is the time we discovered what love is and that it can be expressed physically. And it is marvellous beyond belief."
"I can see that! And in a sense, I envy you. Really."
"Is it so visible?"
"For I, who have begun to know you well, yes. But for others who look with more superficial eyes, I think it would not be so easy to see it. Mainly because you both are so manly. I am told that normally, at least one of the two is rather womanish, like, for instance, the slaves with whom my uncle take pleasure... Anyway... it would be wise not to show too openly the love that binds you."
"That will be difficult, because it permeates all our actions. To see my beloved and be delighted, to look at him and to desire him, to be close to him and rejoice is the same thing to me," I said.
Amin added:"Now my life is Nadim, all the rest has no more value..."
"You mean you have renounced your plan to re-take your throne?"
"No, Prince Selim, we do not renounce our throne, but if to protect our love we had to renounce to it, we would renounce it instantly, without hesitation." Amin answered.
I noticed the plural, so said: "The throne is yours..."
"No, it is ours, because you are me and I am you. It will certainly not be a throne that separates our union. I want the throne because you too want it, and when we conquer it back, it will be ours, not mine."
"But the subjects will find it strange to have two shaikhs, do you not think?" I asked.
Prince Selim retorted: "Subjects! They do not need to know. Nadim can be made your Grand Visir so he will be always at your side, and can speak in your name and with your authority. To all the others it is of no concern what exists between you. When we are in Istanbul I will talk to my father so that he will give you all the help you need. I am sure he will do it, he has never denied me anything. But my father, he does not need to know of the relationship which binds you two..." he suggested.
"Why are you so generous with us, Prince?"
"Ha, I do not know. Probably because you both have been very friendly to me, a Prince who is normally kept at a distance by all around him, and I have seen in you rectitude and honesty. Probably also because I like you two very much, and particularly you, Amin. You attracted me from the first moment I saw you!"
"But I belong to Nadim, Prince. I can not and will not go with anybody else." Amin said in a serious tone.
Selim shook his head and smiled: "No, do not worry, I have absolutely no intention of coming between you. It will certainly not be me who spoils such a beautiful thing as your relationship. I admire it too much. I never desired a man, until now. And anyway I am not blind: I know perfectly well that even if I tried, I would obtain nothing. You are made for each other, there is no space for anyone else between you two. But, satisfy my curiosity, Amin: did not you think of the need to have an heir to the throne, once you get it back?"
"No... not really... I did not think about it."
"And yet it is important. What means it to conquer a throne if after you are gone it ends in the hands of a stranger? You will have to have several wives if you want to earn respect, and to have several sons from amongst whom to choose your heir. Sons are the strength of the wise man..."
"I will never have sex with a woman, or with a man other than my Nadim!" Amin declared peremptorily.
His determination gave me pleasure, but I knew that Selim was right, and I said so to my beloved. He reacted strongly confirming again what he had said. Then Prince Selim said to him, half seriously and half humourously:
"Do I have to teach you everything? My great-grandfather, it is told, had too many wives and he could not manage to satisfy all of them, but every time he chose one of them, he aroused dangerous jealousy in the others. Then he conceived a stratagem: since he received his women in the dark of his room, allegedly to hide a deformity he had, he looked for a slave having his body build and made him a "broadsword" - that is he had him gelded but in such a way that he could use his organ normally but could not fertilize, and had him hiding in his room. After having sated the woman he desired, he called another, then one more, but he made the slave take his place in bed! Since the women heard my great-grandfather's voice inviting them to enter, then farewell them when leaving for the harem, they never suspected anything, and of course my ancestor became known as a very virile and inexhaustible man. He ordered his wives and concubines not to talk during the intercourse. As for his slave, he told him that if he let leak out the secret, he would die slowly and in the most horrible torments, but if he carried out his duty well, he would make him a rich man. It seems that everything worked smoothly, in fact this story was known only by my grandfather directly from his father lips when he was a very old man, but at court there never was any gossip. You, Amin, could use a similar stratagem, with the difference that you do not geld your slave, and you have to recognize as yours the children he will make your women procreate. The only problem is just to find a slave physically like you and really trustworthy. What do you think of such a solution?"
Amin, amused, listened to the story but at the end said:
"I do not know, we have to think about that. It was a really original solution for your great- grandfather. But if I do as you suggest, the throne will go to the hands of a stranger anyway, is it not so?"
"No, because at in all matters he will be your son. It is you who will rear him, prepare him to rule. A son is not just the product of seed, but above all what you have shaped, grown, educated. So the throne will really go to your son."
Amin nodded, still with his amused expression, then asked with a mischievous expression:
"If we decide to do as you suggest, will you allow us to call the firstborn with your name?"
"If it pleases you, I would be glad, and when he is born I hope you will invite me to come to see him," Prince Selim answered.
He stood up and took his leave with an amused chuckle.
The voyage continued, slow but safe. We ran alongside the coast and our sailors were very good at exploiting the tiniest blow of whatever lazy wind there was in that period of the year. They were enchanted days. Whenever we could, we withdrew to our cabins, to exchange the feelings we with difficulty kept back when we were with others. Our mutual desire, as the days elapsed, instead of calming down seemed to strengthen, become more intense, and so it was a relief to be able to give ourselves to each other.
We were growing both in love and in knowing our bodies, and each time we discovered new ways to unite, new possibilities to give pleasure to the other. The memory of those days is very sweet, and not because what we are living now is less beautiful than then, notwithstanding our advanced age. But then we had the joy of discovery, the enthusiasm of youth, as today we have the wisdom of experience, the maturity of sentiment. Still today, each time Amin offers himself to me or I ask him to take me, I feel again the same emotion I felt in those happy far away days. And from then to now, thanks to Allah, happiness untroubled reigns in our hearts notwithstanding the usual adversities of life and the worries of ruling our kingdom.
At last we reached Istanbul, welcomed by salvoes from the port cannons, as soon as they recognized from afar the imperial standards floating above our ship. When we landed, Mansur was there with the Honour Guard waiting for us. Mansur invited us to be guests in his house, but Selim wanted us to be his guest in the Palace. We happily followed him. He assigned us some rooms and we were settling down and preparing for a good bath, when a servant came to take our measurements: Selim had decided to present us with some new clothing, fit for court life and to the rank he discovered us to be. That same evening the servants were back with our new clothes: they were really beautiful and precious, worthy of a prince of the blood more than of the dispossessed son of a provincial shaikh and of his future visir.
The day after Selim invited us for lunch in his quarters and said us that he had asked for an audience with his father to tell him about Amin and to ask his protection. At sunset he came to visit us in the guests quarters and said that the Sultan would be waiting for us the following day for a private audience.
Amin asked him: "How did he seem after our story? Did you feel he was well inclined toward us?"
"Yes. He said he wants to meet you, to know you better. Apart from your love for each other, I told him everything about you in detail, just as you told me. He wants to meet the son of the slaughtered shaikh and the son of the donkey breeder who served him for so many years with such devotion and fidelity. I presume he will ask Amin what he needs. It will be opportune if only Amin speaks. At least in front of my father you have to maintain your official rank. Anyway I will be there near you, with my father."
The day after, four yanicheri came to escort us to the Sultan's presence. When we arrived in the room where he was waiting for us, Selim was at his side. We prostrated ourselves as the ceremonial required, but Selim came to us making us stand, and showed us two cushions placed in front of his father's divan. I sat a little further back than Amin, but he, to my surprise, addressing the sovereign, said:
"Forgive me, Sublime Majesty, but this man had been for years my faithful companion. I know that the etiquette demands he be sitting farther than me from your seat, but as he has shared with me dangers, cold, hunger, blows, misery and exile, I beg you that he be allowed to now share with me also honours, as I think it is right."
Selim seemed astounded and I was horrified! However, Amin seemed perfectly at ease. The Sultan smiled, then simply said:
"Granted. It is my will that your man may always be seated at your side, as a peer, and from now on he will have right to all honors that go with your rank. My son Selim has told me about you, Amin ibn Hassam. A really interesting story. I never took much interest in provincial problems, as long as there are no disorders and taxes are regularly collected and sent here. But now I cannot ignore the abuse of power of which you were victim. If you asked me to send my army to give you back your skaikhdom, I would need to consult my councillors. But according to what my son told me, you do not ask for that. Tell me, therefore, your requests: I am listening."
"Sublime Lord, my intentions are the following, if you would accord me your permission: to go back to my land in disguise, to meet my people, to see if they are faithful to me and if they will follow me in this enterprise to take back what my birth and my right grants to me. If this is so, I will need weapons, probably rifles, to allow my people to fight at my side. And if, as I hope, Allah and victory choose my side, I would have your benevolent authority so that my family can again reign on my ancestors land. Anything you decide, Sublime Door, I will remain your faithful subject."
"So, if I have understood you correctly, you are asking to leave my army while you explore the situation, then that I should give you the needed weapons to arm your people, and at the end if successful confirm you in your place?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"These seem to me quite reasonable requests. How many men do you think to arm?"
"I do not yet know, a hundred, a thousand, perhaps no one..."
"How much time you think you will need to find out?"
"If everything works smoothly, not more than one year, I think."
"Good. I will give you a mark. An identical one I will send to the commander of my fortress nearest to your land. When you feel ready, you will make yourself known to him using the mark as identification, and you can ask him for all the weapons you need. More, I will issue a Breve in which I invest you with all the territory you conquer. This Breve will became public when you judge it timely. But now... do you have any idea how you will disguise yourselves to move unobserved amongst your people?"
"Yes, Sublime Majesty. I discussed that point with Nadim: we will disguise as beggars."
"Are not you two too fleshy to be real beggars?"
"We will fast, not wash, we will wear rags..."
"And how do you think to be recognized after so many years by your people, when everybody thinks you dead?"
"Thanks to the black clover; everybody knows it is my mark."
The Sultan wanted to know what that was and Amin explained to him. Then he asked to see it. Amin opened his clothes and showed to the Sultan that peculiar and unmistakable sign.
"But if Mussa's men see that mark, your life would be in serious danger," Selim then noted.
"It is a risk we have to take. But I am not afraid: if it is the will of Allah that I have back what belongs to me, He will protect me. If not... I think that there is no more beautiful death than to die trying to make up for a wrong that has been done."
"Perhaps there is something else I can do to help you. You will have on you always another Breve, where I will declare my personal enemy whoever does ill to the man with the black clover. But you have to use it only if you are discovered and about to be killed. Do you swear?" the Sultan said.
"I solemnly swear in front of Allah and all here present: may I fall forever into the hell of the infidels if I commit perjury."
"If there comes a day you are guilty of perjury, before Allah's punishment, be sure, you will not be safe from my punishment! Remember: as much I can be generous, so much I can be ruthless."
Selim intervened: "There is no danger you could be disappointed in them, father. I know them enough."
"Good. Selim will take care of all the details, as he asked me if he can. May Allah assist and protect you. I hope to hear soon good news about your enterprise."
Dismissed, we prostrated ourselves then went out accompanied by Prince Selim. In the following days he carried out all that the Sultan had decided and when everything was ready, asked us:
"Do you want to leave immediately?"
"Yes, immediately, Prince Selim, if you so please."
"I will be sorry to lose your company, but I understand. I asked my father to allow me to come with you but, as I guessed he would, for the first time he forbade me something. If you can, inform me how your matters are proceeding. You know that here, in me, you will always have a true friend. Good luck, therefore. I will keep your clothes and your belongings, awaiting the day I can send them all to you or, better, bring them all to you personally. I hope that day will be soon. Farewell, my friends."
The last night we slept in the Palace, we received a last, delicate present from Selim. He sent a group of musicians to the room alongside our bedroom, so that they could enhance with sweet music our moments of love. It was really beautiful. First we lit all the lamps. Then, as the background of sensual harmonies started, I approached my beloved and started removing from him all his precious clothes, one after the other, revealing at last his body to my gaze. His eyes were shining with desire and pleasure whilst he let me have my way.
I started to delicately lick his chest as I knew he liked and enjoyed feeling him quiver with growing intensity. Music added a special fascination to our love rites. His hands went up to free my body and while he was undressing me he caressed me with knowing gestures full of the sweetest love, so that soon I felt the approach of the storms of passion. When I too was naked, we embraced and kissed, and Amin, impatient, pushed me toward the bed. His body, so beautiful, in these moments always seems to me a marvel, because I know that he is ready to give me the most intense pleasure one can experience in life. We fell on the bed tightly embraced, our bodies impatient to give to the other the maximum joy. Music resounded in our hearts, overwhelming that of the musicians in the nearby room. Our mouths approached with sweet hunger the other's manhood, now fully turgid, tracing a path of ardent kisses, until we united in a perfect circle of love, forgetful of everyone and everything.
CONTINUES IN CHAPTER 12
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