Chapter 1: Andro to Naxia

“Come now, I know there must be a price.” The general placed his wine cup on the taboret next to the marble bench and looked scoffingly at the governor seated on the other bench. Both were looking out into the grassed courtyard, where the beautiful young and small blond man was reclining on the lip of a fountain, his back leaning on a gargoyle spouting water, and strumming a lute. The young man was naked except for a stark-white loincloth and sandals that rose in criss-crossed leather straps up his finely sculpted calves as he was taking in the sun’s rays. The whiteness of the cloth emphasized the deep tan of his lithe torso and legs. From where the two leaders were sitting, it looked like the sun’s rays radiated from his perfectly formed body and lit up the whole world. Off on the other side of the courtyard sat a middle-aged woman of both regal and attentive bearing, who was clearly keeping a watchful eye on the young man and a vigilant eye on the general and the governor as well.

“It isn’t as easy to shop for a prince as for a serving man,” the governor murmured. “Young Nikon there is an institution—a near god—in the land of Andro. He is here for safety because the main island of Andro is under siege from the Neapolis forces. I am sure he would be highly decorative at your court in Naxia, but Nikon is not just the crown prince’s brother, he is our Golden Priest as well. He serves a function in the ceremonial succession in Andro, and as the king’s time seems near, Nikon must be preserved to that day at all costs.”

“How old is Nikon?” the general asked. “He is well developed but looks young.”

“He is fourteen,” the governor answered.

“Old for such a beauty who has not been ridden by a man. And older than I like to put my cock in, but young looking. I lust for him. It is for nothing ceremonial that I want the lad,” said General Leonidas. And as he did so, he parted his robe to show the governor a manly, fully engorged cock curving up from his lower belly. “You know what I want of him. I wish to split his pert little orbs with this. You guarantee he is a virgin?”

“Yes, of course he is still a virgin. That too is decreed in our customs. As I said, he is our Golden Priest. But, please, you must cover yourself, General. By all means don’t let the harridan over there see you exposed thus for the boy. That is the young prince’s mother, the second queen, although she continually declares she is first queen and that the mother of the crown prince has hidden the time of her own birthing so that her son will be recognized as in ascendance. You simply cannot understand how delicate these matters are in Andro at this time. None of this is helped by being under siege by Neapolis. Perhaps we need to turn to the discussions that brought your delegation here, General—discussions on what Naxia can do to help turn back—or, better yet, defeat—the forces of Neapolis.”

“You intrigue me,” Leonidas said, ignoring the governor’s attempt to turn the conversation. “What is it about this young prince that makes you reticent about giving me access—for a price? You have said the prince is still a virgin. That’s hard to believe, given his apparent age and his beauty, and having been given into your hands. I saw you debauch two young lads last evening. For the price I offer, I would gladly let you watch me greet and open that tender young hole. You enjoyed watching me render that small Nubian unconscious last evening.”

“Prince Nikon is the Golden Priest. Our Golden Priest must be celibate. He must be at the king’s burial ceremony as a virgin.”

Leonidas gave the governor a gaze of noncomprehension.

“It is how we solidify our succession in Andro,” the governor explained. “There are only two recognized sons of the king—the crown prince and the second son, Prince Nikon, although there is an undercurrent of support for Prince Nikon as the first son. To maintain loyalty and cut off any possibility of disunity in our multi-island nation, when the crown prince attends his inauguration as king, he must stand alone in the succession.”

“You mean?—”

“Yes, the ceremony of succession includes the sacrifice of all Golden Priests. And they depart this life as virgins—known neither by woman nor man. That keeps the succession pure and the possibility of bastard sons here and about unlikely. And now, shall we move into the palace and begin our talks on the mutual benefit of neutralizing Neapolis?”

“Not until we talk about the price for Prince Nikon. I know you must have your price, and I know you are clever enough to find the way. If you are just going to waste luscious sweet meat like that, who needs to know whether he went to his death a virgin or not? Who need know whether he had lain with a man or not? Are the leaders of Andro so naïve that they cannot tell the difference between what is said and what actually exists? And, as for toying with me in this, you’ll find that I’m not just an emissary of Naxia. I am Naxia.”

“Come, my randy general,” the governor said with a smile and a small laugh that showed a bit of the strain he was under. “Perhaps you would like to enjoy a brief respite before we speak of anything further. Here, what do you think of young Paulo here? Do you not fancy golden-red curls? He’s as young as Nikon—also fourteen—and is yet a virgin. If you are in such a mood to ruin a boy, you may use Paulo. He only entered service at the palace yesterday straight from the Temple of Virgins. He is untouched, I swear. As you yourself have said, it is rare for a comely boy in Andro to reach fourteen, as Paulo has, with his channel unworked. And as you have so proudly shown, you have a staff that would make a virgin boy unusable ever after. I am offering you Paulo for that sport.”

The governor was looking at the visiting general, co-ruler of Naxia, with anxiety. He had brought in Paulo, a temple virgin, to use in the negotiations with general. He hadn’t anticipated Leonidas having seen Prince Nikon, though. He had other instructions on Nikon, although he hadn’t devised his plans yet. The crown prince, already acting for his quickly sinking father king, had burdened the governor of this remote island, one of the collection of islands merged as the State of Andro, with too many responsibilities at once. There already was the matter of Nikon, and now, on top of that, the negotiations had developed with Naxia to come to Andro’s aid against the forces of Neapolis, now investing the main island. And the Naxian general had already overplayed the intelligence on his interests and capacities. The governor would be hard pressed to provide the next virginal young man after Paulo had been spent. If, indeed, the governor even could turn the general’s attention away from Nikon.

General Leonidas was gazing out into the courtyard again now, drinking in the luscious body of Prince Nikon, as the boy so innocently stretched out and yawned and lightly rubbed his hard belly, seemingly entirely unaware he was being watched or that his body was so desirable to a man like Leonidas.

As they both watched Nikon, the governor maneuvered the somewhat reluctant small-bodied Paulo around to close beside the bench where the general lounged. Paulo was wearing nothing but a loincloth that covered his privates but fully exposed his pert buttock cheeks, and it was upon one of his buttocks that the governor maneuvered the general’s hand.

Prince Nikon adjusted his position on the fountain ledge, raising one leg, knee bent and heel on fountain edge, while the other grabbed for the grassy ground at a wide angle. The general moaned quietly as he realized that the loincloth had folded away and he could see the golden fuzz on the young prince’s balls. The prince’s mother gave a sharp look at where the general and the governor were sitting, but other than pursing her lips, she made no utterance or movement.

The next moan came from the young Paulo, as the Naxian general, while keeping his eyes riveted on the lounging prince, had unconsciously palmed the young red-headed servant’s buttocks cheek and entered the young man’s virginal passage with a thick finger. Paulo clutched tightly onto the general’s silver breastplate and whimpered and groaned as the general began to absentmindedly finger fuck him.

The governor leaned his lips down to the general’s ear and whispered, “If you fuck the young servant right here, the harridan over there will fly with her young charge to the nether end of the palace and you might not spy him again. Do come into the palace proper for a dalliance and a short nap and then we will refresh ourselves and begin our talks of mutual defense.”

About all the general heard was the suggestion that his real quarry might fly beyond his gaze, and so he stood and permitted the governor to guide him—and the young Paulo—toward an interior door. Leonidas’s two bulky bodyguards had been standing at loose attention at the door they approached, and after, first Leonidas, and then the governor passed through, each guard took Paulo by an arm and lifted his body off the ground and followed along behind the two officials.

Leonidas loosened his robes as they entered the bedchamber he had been given and they fell away from his body, revealing that he had maintained the thick, hard cock he had uncovered earlier. He reached around and dug a fist into Paulo’s golden-red curls, as the two bodyguards released the boy and he started falling to the floor. He dragged the boy across the marble floor on his knees and slammed him down on his belly on the elevated end of a dining couch.

Paulo was gasping and groaning at the rough treatment. Leonidas tore his loincloth from him, positioned his cock head at the tiny entrance of Paulo’s channel and started to work his way inside. Paulo’s screams of pain and invasion were stifled as Leonidas stuffed the loincloth in his mouth, grabbed the boy’s waist, and concentrated on getting his cock inside the tight passage. Paulo was reaching down along the edge of the dining couch, trying to gain a hold on the leather covering. He lifted his head and screamed through the loincloth gag, as Leonidas grabbed his ankles in beefy fists; flipped the boy onto his back; pulled his legs wide, pushing the boy’s knees up into his chest and exposing his puckered, opening hole; struck home, deep, with his cock; and began to fuck Paulo’s channel in long, deep strokes. Swooning, the boy collapsed, surrendering all to the conquering general.

Satisfied that Leonidas’s attention had been diverted, the governor left the chamber and went back to his office, where his steward—the only one he confided in—was waiting for him.

“How are the negotiations going?” the steward asked quietly, putting his lips near the ear of his seated master to discourage the listening walls.

“It isn’t going at all. The oversexed general has seen Nikon and is in full rut for him. I should have kept them separate. The general is determined to buy and deflower the prince. The barbarian. All of those landed states are homes for barbarians.”

The governor was especially piqued, because he had planned to have the servant Paulo for his own tonight—and now it was quite evident that the young man would be ruined, if, indeed, he survived at all. And if he didn’t survive, he didn’t survive. He was just a slave.

The steward looked thoughtful and then he lowered his lips again and said, “Perhaps ... perhaps, master, this is an opportunity. Perhaps you can devise a way through this to meet the demands of the crown prince as well as conclude a treaty with Naxia.”

“And what sort of plan would that be?” the governor asked in exasperation, but his eyes widened and then slitted and a slight smile came across his face, as the steward started whispering in his ear once more.

It was with a secret little smile on his face that the governor returned to General Leonidas’s bedchamber, assuming that the general might be thirsty or hungry after his taking of Paulo and might wish some light refreshment before retiring for an hour’s rest. What he found, though, was that the general was far from tired of Paulo’s body, so he sat on the dining couch the two had been using when he left and stole his hand into the folds of his robes to enjoy the action.

Leonidas had taken Paulo to the bed and spread-eagled him on his back. His four extremities were spread taut and tied off with leather strappings at the four bedposts. His mouth was muffled now not by the loincloth but by the general’s cock, as the general straddled the boy’s chest and leaned over him and used the leverage of his knees to face fuck the gurgling, gagging boy.

As the governor watched, Leonidas untied the boy’s ankles, jackknifed Paulo’s legs above his head, crouched over the boy’s folded body, with his buttocks facing the youth’s face, and started jack hammering down into Paulo’s hole with his cock. Paulo was left free to scream his taking now, and the marble walls of the palace reverberated with his cries, which started at a high, loud pitch, but that diminished over time as he weakened and gained some pleasure from the taking.

When Leonidas had come, he climbed down from the bed and motioned to the two bodyguards.

“You may have what’s left. Don’t make a mess. Our host will think we are untidy and ungrateful.”

Leonidas strode over to the governor while he pulled his robes back on and the governor, standing, moved to straighten his own garments. The governor looked beyond the Naxian general, his hope fading at any chance of enjoying Paulo tonight himself, as he watched the two burly bodyguards pull off the loincloths under their battle skirtings and, still standing with their upcurled hard cocks dueling with each other, pick Paulo up and settle him between them. He somehow found the energy to cry out a bit more as the two giants worked their cocks in alongside each other in his now impossibly stretched hole. But by the time they were raising and lowering his channel on fully encased cocks, he was doing no more than moaning and whimpering softly and his limbs had lost all power. They just flopped back and forth between the rhythmically working bodies of the two meaty bodyguards.

“I wanted to check on whether you wanted some refreshment before you rested,” the governor had murmured, trying to keep his eyes off the double cocking of his young servant, but unable to do so.

“No need for that,” General Leonidas said, with a smile. “I am rejuvenated now and looking forward to our talks ... eventually.”

“Eventually?” the governor asked.

“Yes. We will not talk about mutual defense possibilities between Naxia and Andro until we have settled on a price for Prince Nikon.”

“You are a persistent man,” the governor said with a slight frown.

“I have survived by concentrating on what I want,” the general said. “Do you wish to have Naxia’s might behind you in your defense against Neapolis, or are you too unskilled in the arts of guile to work this out? I only wish to be the first one inside the prince. I won’t ruin him to the point that anyone could—after a few days—discern that he had been deflowered. It will not be in either your or his interest to tell. And he is going to be sacrificed anyway. I trust if a Golden Priest is deflowered, he is executed immediately. Is that not true?”

“Yes, it is,” the governor acknowledged.

“But not before you could enjoy him yourself, I dare say.”

“That is a point,” the governor agreed.

“And you don’t wish Prince Nikon to be executed before his ceremonial time?”

“No, I don’t.”

“So, we know that neither of you would reveal that he had been debauched already—by both of us. Neither will I. You must think what the price for doing so and the opportunity to negotiate an alliance against Neapolis is worth to you.”

The governor looked past the general at the tableau of three across the chamber. Paulo was now unconscious. Still the two men thrust their hips in rhythm, mining the young man’s depths in consort.

General Leonidas looked in the direction too. “You needn’t worry. That is a servant. I would not let my bodyguards touch a prince. All I want to do is widen his channel for him. He will thank me. Otherwise he will never have known that passion. If he is to be executed anyway, there are worse ways to die than execution by cock.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” the governor said, trying to effect a slight whine. “We shall see what can be done.” Upon saying that, he turned his eyes away so that the general could not see the smile that he could not erase from his face.

When the bodyguards were done with Paulo, they moved away, letting his body fall to the floor, where he remained, an unmoving lump on the chamber’s stone flags. Death by cock, the governor thought. Yes, that would be a fitting way for a beautiful boy who was in the way of a king to leave this world.

“I think that went well, my son.” Andro’s second queen rose and moved out to the fountain area as soon as the governor and the Naxian general had moved off.

“He is a bigger brute than I thought he’d be, Mother,” Prince Nikon said. “And can we move into the shadows now. I think I will burn to a cinder. I thought they never would move away.”

“He is what he needs to be,” the queen said with a sigh. “He is a man who thinks and is led around by his phallus.”

“And did you see it? He was showing it. He is a bull, mother. I don’t think—”

“Yes, it is true we will need to make adjustments. Disgusting it was. As are all men—except for you, my golden child,” the queen said, her voice softening as she helped her son climb down from the rim of the fountain and they walked toward their own quarters.

“It is highly risky, this plan of yours, Mother. And I fear it has little chance of success.”

“All of life for those of us with royal blood is a maze, Nikon. We are thrust in the maze by our birth and status, and we spend our lives twisting and turning, seeking the magic center, but even there, the labyrinth becomes a living thing—scheming and fighting against us and changing its avenues, its walls closing in on us. All we can do is continue to seek out the center and to survive for as long as possible.”

“But do you think I really can cajole him to take me with him to Naxia? And where will you go, if I can?”

“If anyone can weave a spell around that man, it is you, Nikon. I saw how he watched you. I saw the flash of his horn, the hardness of it just from looking upon you. I think you will win him if only because you must. We are but two steps ahead of the crown prince and his schemes. You are too much of a threat to him. He knows we have considerable support for you being the elder. He won’t wait for the succession ceremony. He will do what he can to eliminate you earlier. That’s why he agreed to your coming here, to the most remote island of the state. It wasn’t to keep you safe from the sieging Neapolis forces; it was to have you in a remote area so that the public will not see you being eliminated. Escaping to the land of Naxia and laying low until we can champion your cause at the death of the king is our—your—only hope. And it’s what I have worked for.”