In the days that followed, Cantru slowly healed. Once, as we sat in his garden quietly talking, he said, “Ammirus, since the day of the battle, you have kissed me several times. What does that mean to you?”
“It means that I love you. I was sad to see you hurt and so unhappy. I think I was trying to calm you and cheer you up a little. Since then, it has meant so much more.”
Cantru nodded thoughtfully. “So we love each other.”
“Yes, I believe so. Do you enjoy kissing?”
“I was surprised that I liked kissing you. And I liked being kissed by you. Come here, Ammirus.” I went to Cantru, who held me gently and kissed me on the lips. Once again the wonderful sensation of warmth flowed through my body as our tongues explored each other’s mouths.
When he gently broke it off, I murmured, “Oh, my, that was delicious.”
We sat in silence thinking about what had happened. At last Cantru spoke. “Does this mean that I love you as one would love a woman?”
“I don’t know.”
“Nor do I. But you do understand, Ammirus, that no matter how much we love each other, it will be necessary for me to take a woman. There must be heirs to the throne, and since I am an only child, there are none.”
I nodded silently.
Again we sat, reflecting on what had happened. Finally Cantru, breaking out of his reverie, said, “We must go to the throne room for our conference with my advisors. It is time.”
With that we stood, Cantru taking my hand as though it was the most natural thing in the world. When we arrived at the door to the throne room, he dropped my hand and stood in front of me, as he always must in public. Then we entered and saw that the prime minister and the other advisors were already gathered.
Cantru opened the meeting by telling the advisors that, although I had been a slave, I was also now an advisor and had permission to speak in their meetings. He continued to say that he wished to revise the laws of punishment for treason, that he felt the punishments involving torture were inhumane, and that I agreed with him.
There was considerable discussion. The prime minister maintained that the present punishments served as a deterrent to further treason.
“But it didn’t deter Hiwah and the others from rebelling,” Cantru said.
“No,” the prime minister agreed. “Perhaps that was because the punishments had not been used for so many years. I can’t believe that anybody who saw Hiwah’s punishment would dare to rise up again.”
“Would it stop you if you felt the king was being unjust and your people were suffering?” I asked.
The prime minister looked at me for a moment as though I were an insect to be crushed but finally sighed and said, “I don’t honestly know. But are the people suffering? Were the slaves in the palace suffering?”
“I believe,” I replied, “that whenever you separate people from their families, they suffer. As for the punishment, I think that such treatment as we saw in the square is not only inhumane, it diminishes the people who are using it. I believe we are lesser people for letting it happen.”
The discussion continued for some time. Several of the advisors agreed with Cantru and me, while others agreed with the prime minister. Finally, Cantru said, “Thank you, gentlemen, for your thoughts. I will consider them carefully and make a decision soon.” With that, he rose and, with me following, left the throne room and returned to his own chambers.
“I believe, Ammirus, that I shall outlaw all such treatment except when it is needed to extract information.”
“But even then it would be inhumane and debasing. It could be misused, and how would you know if the information you got that way would be accurate?”
“I don’t know, but I believe we need to keep that provision at least for now. Perhaps sometime in the future either I or my successors will change it. I cannot appear to be too soft if I don’t want people taking advantage of me.”
The discussion ended, and we strolled hand in hand out into Cantru’s garden to sit and talk idly for a while. I had brought my lyre and entertained him with happy folk songs. By this time, my voice had settled into a clear tenor.
“You still have a beautiful voice, Ammirus,” said Cantru. “I am so glad we did not castrate you.”
“So am I!” I replied with considerable feeling.
Cantru put an arm around my shoulder, pulled me gently to him, and kissed me once again on the lips. Again, I responded. I felt him open his mouth and his tongue explore my lips. I opened my mouth and felt his tongue enter, moving about inside. Instantly I became hard. When he finally broke off the kiss, I looked down, embarrassed by my hardness, until I saw that he too had a firm, erect tent in his robe. He looked down, and we both laughed.
“You know what that means, don’t you?” he asked.
“I think so, but I don’t know what to do about it,” I replied. “Do you?”
“Well, I have some ideas, but we need to think about it more.”
Two days later, as I was preparing Cantru for bed, he said, “Ammirus, I’ve been thinking. It bothers me that you sleep on that hard pallet on the floor while I sleep in luxury in this bed.”
“But a king should sleep in luxury.”
“Perhaps, but why shouldn’t you, too? This is a huge bed. From now on, I want you to sleep in it with me.”
“But others will see that as very inappropriate.”
“I do not care what others think. I decide now what is appropriate and what is not. And who will see us, anyway? I have decided. If I have to order you into my bed, I shall.”
I smiled a little. “Very well, Ammirus. You do not need to make it a command.” When Cantru was settled in bed, I went around to the other side, removed my robe and shorts, lifted the covers and climbed in, taking care not to get too close to him.
Oh, my, I thought as I sank gently into the bed. What a wonderful feeling! The sheets and the blankets were finer than any I had ever experienced. They were so soft and gentle on my body that I felt I was floating in the clouds.
“Comfortable?” asked Cantru.
“Oh, yes,” I replied.
“Then sleep well.” He turned on his side and was soon asleep.
I lay awake for some time enjoying the luxury before I too succumbed and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
When I awoke in the morning I could not remember for a moment or two where I was. Then I realized that Cantru was sleeping snuggled close to me with an arm around me. I smiled to myself, gently lifted his arm off so as not to wake him, arose, and went to use the chamber pot.
Cantru stirred in his sleep but didn’t awaken for a few minutes. When he began to stir again, he sat up abruptly, looked at the empty bed beside him, and called, “Where are you, Ammirus?”
“Here, your majesty,” I replied through the open door of my chamber. “I shall come presently. Jiraha is bathing me.”
Cantru lay back in bed, smiling. Then he arose, used his chamber pot, and donned his robe until he bathed.
Soon, slaves entered with food and wine for two, placing them on the table near the bed. When I entered, bathed and in a clean robe, we broke our fast, chatting amiably.
“Ammirus,” Cantru said seriously, “having a friend, somebody who loves me, is still a very new experience for me. Sometimes I worry that I will lose you, that something will happen to part us, but I promise you that I will never let anything, not even death, separate us.”
Just as seriously I responded, “That is too much of a promise, Ammirus. Neither of us can know what the future holds for us. We can only see the present. And now, in the present, I am overjoyed to be with you, to love you, and to be loved by you.”
“Last night,” Cantru said, “I really wanted to wake you and kiss you and hug you and touch you all over.”
“I wish you had. I would have enjoyed that very much.”
“Then wait until tonight!” he replied, grinning.
As we finished eating, Cantru announced that he was going to issue a decree that morning about punishment. He dictated the decree to me. Of course he could have written it himself, but he thought that having his servant in bed with him last night had broken protocol enough for the time being. After he signed it, I summoned a messenger who took the decree to the prime minister for enactment.
When the messenger was gone, Cantru asked, “Ammirus, have you ever ridden a horse?”
“I don’t know what a horse is.”
“Then I must show you. Come with me.” I had fetched my hat and shawl and we left the chamber, walking to a rear door of the palace. There we collected the obligatory guards and exited the palace. I found myself in a large enclosed area with several buildings. There were odors of hay, of dung, of urine. Animal smells. I had always loved animal smells. Then I saw the animals and realized they were like the ones I had seen pulling wheeled vehicles in the city.
“Come, Ammirus,” said Cantru, striding forward to a building which housed several of the animals. He gave instructions to a slave there, and soon a horse was brought forth. He instructed me regarding the names and uses of the saddle, the stirrups, the bridle, the reins, and the bit. Finishing the instructions, he told me to climb on.
I was terrified of this snorting, stamping animal. “Will it bite me or kick me?” I asked.
“No, Lady is a very gentle horse. Climb up.”
Still terrified, I asked, “How?”
“Put your foot in this stirrup, grab the saddle, and pull yourself up, swinging your other foot over so that you are straddling the horse.”
Fearfully, I tried to do as I was told, but I did not get high enough to swing my foot over. The horse stood waiting patiently. Then I realized that if I succeeded in pulling myself up and swinging my leg over, I would be facing the horse’s tail. So I put my other foot in the stirrup.
Cantru laughed, saying, “I wondered when you would figure that out.”
I had to try three more times before I was finally astride my mount. I noticed that several slaves had gathered and were suppressing their laughter, but they could not suppress their grins.
“Good,” said the king. “Now, using the reins to steer gently, tap Lady’s sides with your heels.” I did as I was ordered, and Lady began to move sedately about the enclosure.
When the horse and I had circled the enclosure three times, the king told me to tap the horse again. I did and the horse began to trot. I found it to be a very uncomfortable motion, but we circled the enclosure again before returning to Cantru.
“Very good,” Cantru said. “Tomorrow we shall ride out together. Can you get down?”
I experimented a bit as the horse waited patiently and was finally able to swing my right foot back over the horse and dismount. It wasn’t graceful, but it was successful. One of the slaves handed me a carrot, telling me to feed it to the horse. I did so very gingerly, fearful at first of the huge teeth but finally understanding that Lady would not bite me. Tentatively, I stroked her on the nose, and she whickered and nodded.
“Now you’ve made a friend,” said Cantru.
Smiling, I followed Cantru back into the palace, saying, “Yes, but I doubt if I will ever lie in bed with that friend.” We both laughed.
That night we went to sleep as we had the night before. In the night I felt a gentle hand rubbing my back. Rolling over, I smiled in the dim candlelight and reached to rub Cantru’s back. His luscious scent was so exciting — a blend of dried sweat and dirt, warmth, and maleness. We were very close, so I knew that both of us were hard. He put his hand gently on my erection, and I put my hand on his. It seemed so natural.
When we finished, we smiled to each other in the darkness and slept.
In the morning, after we had broken our fast and bathed, we went again to the enclosure, where there were several mounted soldiers. Lady was brought out as well as a lively stallion, whom Cantru called High Spirit. We mounted our horses and rode side by side towards a gate in the palace wall, the soldiers falling in behind.
It was a lovely day. The sky was cobalt blue with fluffy white clouds, the kind in which children try to see shapes and pictures. It was comfortably warm, a slight breeze barely moving the fronds of the palm trees.
Cantru looked at me, smiled, and sighed in contentment. We rode slowly in silence down a path and presently arrived at huge cultivated fields where many slaves were busy weeding, hoeing, and watering.
“This is where we grow the food for the palace,” said Cantru.
“Where do you raise the meat?”
“There are pastures beyond this for the cattle and enclosures for pigs and goats.”
“Can you eat horses?”
“I suppose you can, but they are too valuable as transportation. Only if there was a famine would we have to eat them. I don’t even know what they taste like.”
We rode through the fields and began to trot, Cantru teaching me how to bounce up and down with the rhythm of the horse. Once I had caught the rhythm, I was able to do it, although I found it tiring at first. We soon slowed and turned back, for the king was weary as well. Except for swimming in the palace pool with me, this was the first real exercise he had had since the battle.
That night and for many nights thereafter, we loved each other, exploring one another’s bodies and always enjoying our explorations as our love increased daily.