Part Two: The Days of Admiration and Display
The next day the boy was awakened as the sun began to rise and was given a cold bath that caused his skin to turn to gooseflesh and which caused his privates to shrink to the size of his baby cousin's. He was told it was good for his circulation, and he was only a boy so he accepted that his elders knew best, but he would have liked warm water just the same. When he stepped out of the tub and wrapped himself in the huge fleece blanket, he found a breakfast of assorted fruit waiting for him, more fruit than he would have had to eat in a week back in his village, and fruit that he had never before seen. He bit into one of the latter, a pale orange fruit with a skin covered with a fuzzy down, and was surprised by the sweet flesh and abundant juice that flowed around his chin and dribbled down his naked chest. After he ate, he washed his sticky fingers and wiped off his thin, smooth chest and put on the new set of clothes which had been laid out for him, a pair of short pants made of a soft, iridescent blue material and with legs half as long as his hand from wrist to fingertip, a fine vest of the same colour but not as shiny with gold trim of a most intricate design, and a pair of soft-soled thongs. He left his vest open, as the day before, and wrapped the fine silver necklace he had worn the previous evening about his neck so it formed six loops of increasing sizes. Compared to his peasant clothes, the strange material of his shorts and vest was so light he could barely feel its weight, and it felt slippery against his skin. When he walked his privates rubbed against the strange material, causing his little worm to raise its head and he reached down and fingered it absentmindedly as a boy is wont to do.
After he had dressed and had been approved by the elderly woman who had bathed him that morning and the day before, he was taken to the audience chamber of Lord Phanomyong. Beautiful woven tapestries and silk paintings hung on the walls, and expensive and beautiful vases and statues filled the room, dominated by the huge ornate throne at the far end. As the Lord, resplendent in his deep purple silk robe with an intricate pattern of water lilies and colourful orchids and with a large sapphire pin holding his coiled topknot in place, entered the room, the boy smiled up at him before respectfully bowing so his head was parallel to his waist, but the great man did not seem to even notice his presence.
Throughout the day, the boy would announce to the clerk who sat just outside the door whom his master would see, and he would escort the individual across the audience chamber to his Lord and then stand a respectful three steps behind the throne of the great man, ready to refill his drinking bowl with rice wine, to hand him his quill and ink, or to take the documents he'd signed, wrapped in ribbon and sealed with wax imprinted with the royal seal to the clerk who saw that they were dispensed with. Although his legs ached from standing and he wished that he could sit for even a moment, he remained at his station and performed his simple duties. This was not as hard work as working in the rice paddies, and it was at least slightly more interesting. At first he listened carefully to what was being said and he studied the dignitaries who were given audience, but he eventually grew tired of that. He did not understand what they were talking about in most cases, and what he did understand was about treaties and commerce and other boring things that adults find interesting. They were all elderly men, all with wrinkled and spotted skin and either greatly overweight or exceedingly thin. Those of great importance he served rice wine, and those of lessor importance he served from the jug to which water had been added to the wine. Those of no importance, or who had fallen in disfavour with his Lord, were served nothing.
Most ignored him, as if he could not be seen, and the remainder openly admired him. His open vest and his shorts had been purposefully chosen to expose as much of his smooth, slender body as was decent, and the colour chosen to contrast with his soft butterscotch-coloured skin. Of course those who admired his beauty congratulated the Lord for his good fortune in having found such a remarkable boy. Some did so because they hoped by doing so they would garner the Lord's favour, but most did so because they appreciated the state of boyhood just as they appreciated the other fine things that had been selected for the audience chamber. A few expressed their congratulations with a shine of desire in their eyes, and those individuals in particular pleased Lord Phanomyong the most, for he also saw envy and covetousness in those eyes, and envy and covetousness are true expressions of reverence. He also knew he was dealing with men who were not unlike himself at least in that one aspect, and those with like interests form stronger bonds. Above all, he knew how he could garner their support in the future should he need it.
The Lord himself, in response to the covetous glance of a respected peer at the boy, or to demonstrate his lack of interest to those who were humbling themselves to regain his favour, or at times simply in boredom, glanced with admiration at his newest Chosen One himself, delighting in his beauty, and in the swelling desire in his loins which was intensified by his anticipation of the pleasure the lithe boy would bring. It was not easy being the Favoured Son of the Great God Xiu, Fierce Tiger of the Jungle, Defender of the People, and Master Over all That Is, Was, and Will Be, but there were advantages, and having his carnal desires satisfied by the most beautiful boys in the Land of the Tiger Eye was one of them.
That night he once again sent for the boy to join him in his evening repast, but this time he watched the boy more closely, noting his every move and his every expression of emotion. As the boy daintily picked up and nibbled with extended teeth the vinegared snail from the Land of the Rising Sun far to the east for the first time, the warrior-lord shared in turn his apprehension, awe and then delight as he finished off the delicacy with a boyish enthusiasm, and he recalled with fondness when such simple pleasures were new to him too. He made no attempt to hide back his laughter as the boy scooped up the pale green paste with his thin wafer and popped it in his mouth, and then with wide-eyed shock quickly tried to quell with gulps of coconut milk the fire the horseradish from the northern provinces had ignited. The boy turned red, both from the flames that he was sure were shooting from his mouth and from his embarrassment, but when he finally was able to breathe again, he giggled as he shyly looked up at his widely grinning Lord, and the two felt a warmth of pleasure pass over them.
As the boy bit into the flesh of the roasted duck and delighted in the delicate flavour, Lord Phanomyong delighted in the boy's delight. Here was a boy who like himself at that age dared to try new things, and who like himself, took delight in the physical pleasures of the body. As the boy innocently licked his greasy fingers, the Lord's thick member throbbed with desire and began to rise in response to the sight and the thoughts conjured up in his mind. He wanted to tear off the boy's clothing and throw him on the table with the rest of the tender morsels and savour for the first time his tiny, tender eggs and soft little noodle. He wanted to straddle the boy and watch as the boy's greasy lips slid down his thick, engorged sausage. Most of all, he wanted to turn the boy over and slip his sword in the boy's warm, moist, satiny sheath. Although a man of impulse, the warrior-lord held himself in check, for he knew anticipation would make the acquisition all the sweeter when the time came.
For five days Lord Phanomyong displayed and admired the boy. The youngster quickly learned his new role, and although he missed his mother and father, his brothers and sisters, and his mother's brother, he did not dwell on what had been and what he could not change, nor did he think of the morbid fate the Great God Xiu had chosen for him. He lived for the day, as most boys do, performing his duties, and amusing himself with his own boyish pastimes. In the days that followed he learned to study the men who had come to speak to his Lord, and to learn from their body language their true intentions. For the wizened and powerful nobles who treated him as if he was invisible, he would often imagine that was so and would think up fanciful and sometimes wicked things that he'd do to them. For those nobles who clearly desired him, he would thrust out his pelvis, and look at them with his smoldering, dark brown eyes, or lick his upper lip slowly and seductively while looking at them with the wide-eyed innocence of a child. He knew the men would think of him later with pleasure, and he knew the greater the covetousness in the eyes of the men the greater the pleasure of his Lord, and so he played his role eagerly, for he had been chosen to please.
With each passing day, Lord Phanomyong's desire grew. On the sixth, he was so filled with lust that his loins ached for the youth, and the image of him caressing the boy's smooth, butterscotch skin and the boy caressing him with those fine, delicate fingers was the first picture to enter his mind as he stepped into the audience chamber and was greeted by the wide, innocent smile of the boy before he bent low in humble obeisance. That image predominated his mind for the rest of the day.
The two peasants who had brought before him their dispute over who was responsible for mending the stone fence between their properties, knelt respectfully and silently before him as he stared blankly at them for so long that their legs had gone numb and their knees ached with pain. When at last he pronounced that since it was time which had caused the stone fence to fall into disrepair, they must have been good neighbours and friends for a long period, and should together repair the boundary and together gift the sprite of the stone fence for their long, cordial relationship, the two men rose weakly to their feet, awed by their Lord's wisdom and the lengthy thought that he had given their problem, and grateful for his wise counsel. They did not know that Lord Phanomyong had heard dozens of such petitions that year alone, and had made his judgement minutes after their presentation had begun. Nor would they ever know that for the past three-quarters of a candlemark Lord Phanomyong had been imagining the new delights that he had decided it was time for the Chosen One to discover, and he was not thinking of new foods.
The merchant who followed them and requested the Lord's permission to increase his import of silks from their neighbour to the north thought that the smile on his Lord's face was caused by the thoughts of the fine silks that were produced by the northern spinners. That Lord Phanomyong's smile was because his member had grown erect and was leaking that unique, clear nectar that a man produces in anticipation of the joy of planting his seed would have disappointed, but not surprised, the merchant. While he waited for his Lord to respond, he himself felt desire swell up in his loins as he admired the beautiful youth in the dark brown vest and lily-white loin cloth standing three steps behind the Lord's throne and ready to serve him with a snap of his fingers. The boy's eyes were as dark as the darkest chocolate, and he seemed to be looking right at the merchant as he slowly and seductively licked his upper lip.
When after long last the merchant was granted the trading charter provided he met certain conditions imposed so that he would not negatively affect the trade of other merchants, the man was grateful his flowing robes hid the tower of desire that had risen between his legs. What he did not know was that his Lord had seen the desire in his eyes, and had tucked away in the back of his mind for future reference the man's lust for fine young boys. It would not be that difficult a desire to fulfil for a man in Lord Phanomyong's position should he ever need the merchant to provide some other services for him on his trips to the powerful and potentially threatening empire to the north.
So the day progressed, and by the end of the day's business, Lord Phanomyong was tempted to seize the boy and take him there bent over his throne in the audience chamber, but he steeled himself against the lust drive that had kept his flesh erect and his pre-cum flowing all day. After waiting this long, partaking of the pleasures of the flesh with the boy in that manner would be crude. He would postpone such a vulgar expression of his lust for a later day when he began to grow weary of the boy and needed such bawdiness to maintain his interest.
He ordered that there be prepared a special meal for that evening, one consisting of his favourite foods, and those that he'd noticed over the past five days the boy had particularly enjoyed. So filled with lust was his mind, and so delighted with the expression of pleasure in the boy's large, chocolate brown eyes as he sunk his teeth into the tender flesh of the specially seasoned, roasted duck, with the boyish innocence and charm as he licked the meat juices from his fingers, and with his sigh of ecstasy as he closed those sensuous eyes and savoured the sweet almond- flavoured sugar icing and the banana cream tart that had been prepared specially for that night, that Lord Phanomyong had eaten his meal without once noticing the delicate flavours or rich textures of his favourite foods.
They ate slowly, for Lord Phanomyong believed in taking his time and savouring his food and the boy had quickly learned the pleasure of such a practice. When at length they were done, he bade the boy join him after the sun had set to at last perform the duty for which he had been chosen. Retiring to his bedchambers, he summoned his personal attendant and gave orders for the evening. The preparations were not unlike those for the first night of previous Chosen Ones, and included rice wine for himself and coconut milk for the boy to slake their thirsts, bowls of salted cashews and almonds, fresh fruit, and plates of sweet chocolate cut into simple bars and others into fanciful shapes to renew their energies. He had at first ordered candles scented with apple blossom, and then decided to switch them with candles scented with the fragrance of pine from the northern mountains, and finally had switched them with plain candles, preferring for this evening the pure and unchallenged scent of a boy.
He himself saw that there was plenty of lubricant he did not wish to hurt the boy and powdered alum to stem any bleeding that might occur, for even though he had every intention to be gentle, he was a large man in not just height and weight. It was not his intention to sink his sword up the boy's sheaf on this, the boy's maiden night mind you. The warrior-lord much preferred to introduce a new boy to the pleasures of the flesh slowly, beginning on the first night with the simplest and most widely practised pleasure of them all, vulgarly called spanking the monkey by those to the south, and polishing the bamboo cane by those to the north, and by various other names by nobles and peasants alike. There was much to learn about that simple pleasure known by soldiers on lonely nights on the battle field, by priests in their saffron robes who had sworn celibacy, and by young boys before the Age of Coming, techniques and variations found in ancient texts that heightened the pleasure far beyond the simple pounding that the commoner practised. From there, he would instruct the Chosen One in gradually more intricate and more pleasurable delights of the flesh, saving that ultimate pleasure a boy can provide a man for the last and savouring its anticipation.
That was his plan, but the Fierce Tiger of the Jungle nonetheless wanted to be prepared should the gods decree that this was the night he was to know the pleasure of taking the boy's prune. He knew from past experience that once drunk with lust it was his swollen member and Ixichan, the god of male virility, that made the decisions, not his heart, nor his mind. So desirable was this Chosen One, it was highly possible that he would be unable to resist the temptation, and if the gods willed it, he would be wrong to disobey them. The Favoured Son of Xiu fluffed the pillows, ordered a dozen more be brought in, and then had them removed as they made the room look cluttered. Finally changing into his favourite evening robes, he examined himself in the large full-length mirror, a gift from a rich and powerful king far to the west and placed strategically beside the bed. He had not fussed so much for any other Chosen One, and in truth, had not fussed so much for his wife, nor any of his ten concubines.
Finally he heard the hollow reeds at the entryway rattle and he turned and bade the boy to enter. Sliding open the partition, the boy bowed as was the custom, and then stepped over the grooved sill and into the room. The guard in the hallway immediately slid the partition closed, avoiding for the boy the awkwardness of having to face the Lord, but at the same time having to turn to close the door. Lord Phanomyong felt a tremor in his loins as the boy stood respectfully before him. Other than the four multicoloured silk scarves draped about his neck, he was wearing only a thin white thong that clearly revealed the outline of his boyhood curved up over his flat stomach. He carried with him the wicker basket he'd brought from his home.
The silk scarves hung loosely about his neck, accenting the butterscotch colour of his smooth, thin chest and provocatively floating in the air, now revealing his pert slightly darker nipples and then covering them under a transparent scarf, and then under an opaque of two silks overlapping while the other two scarves seductively followed the curve of his chest as it tapered to his narrow waist. He had the boy slowly turn in a circle, and he admired the smooth, compact buttocks and the slender thighs of the man-child. The narrow strip of thong disappeared along the crevice of his tight, little ass, hiding from his view that exquisite portal to the wildest delight a man can know.
"What is in the basket?" he asked as he motioned for the boy to come closer. It was not unusual for a boy to bring some little treasure from home, but it was most unusual for a boy to bring it with him to the bedchambers on that first night.
"My Lord," the boy replied, bowing his head respectfully. "This past year my mother's brother has been teaching me the practice of Nuad Bo-Rarn. This basket contains the few humble oils with which I have been trained by my uncle."
"No oils are used in Nuad Bo-Rarn," Lord Phanomyong advised with an indulgent smile. "You are correct, of course, my Lord. But my uncle has been training me in the new and little known massage as practised at the Wat Pho in Settakorn, not in the traditional massage as taught by the venerable Jivaka Komarbhacca, whose teachings still form the basis of the massage, and for which reason it still bears the traditional name," the boy advised as if a schoolboy reciting a lesson he had memorized for his teacher. "With my Lord's permission, I would be honoured to be able to demonstrate the skill of my honourable uncle as a teacher."
"Very well," Lord Phanomyong agreed with a smile, untying the sash of his robe and allowing it to fall open to reveal his massive chest and stomach, and his impressive manhood. "You are not the first Chosen One who has attempted to delay being pierced by my sword of flesh."
"My Lord," the boy replied, bowing his head low in respect, "I would never deny my Lord the pleasure that is due him. I have been informed of the ultimate pleasure that a boy can provide his master, and I accept my destiny joyfully and with honour. But," he continued with a coquettish smile as he raised his head and looked at his master with wide, innocent eyes, "if a boy could extend the pleasure of his master but one extra day, can that be a wicked thing?"
Lord Phanomyong laughed at the question, at the wit that posed a question which could have only one possible answer, and at the brashness of the child for asking it. "So what is it that you are proposing, Chosen One?"
"Only that if I provide my Lord pleasure like he has never felt before, pleasure that would make slipping his sword into my sheaf the lesser of the two pleasures, then my Lord delay knowing me but for a day. For surely, my Lord, should not the taking of one's chastity be the greater pleasure, not the lesser?"
"If the pleasure of your massage is as great as you propose, Chosen One, then I swear it shall be so, but hear this. The pleasure must be like nothing I have ever before experienced, and it must make the pleasure of sinking my shaft up your young, virgin portal the lessor delight. If you fail, then you will bend over and accept your destiny this very night."
"That I would do eagerly, my Lord," the boy replied, "for such is not only my sworn duty, but my most ardent desire." The sincerity and humility in the boy's voice was reflected in his eyes, and Lord Phanomyong knew the boy had spoken the truth.
Next: Part Three: Lavender