Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2006 10:08:30 +0200
From: A.K. <andrej@andrejkoymasky.com>
Subject: The Vanished Empire 2/8 (Historical)

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THE VANISHED EMPIRE
by Andrej Koymasky (C) 2006
written on February 11, 1995
translated by the author
English text kindly revised
by John

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USUAL DISCLAIMER

"THE VANISHED EMPIRE" 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.

-----------------------------

SECOND - SUCCESSES AND MENACES FOR GANO

2.1 - Gano expands his territories

After the winning campaign that made Gami fall under his power, Gano
gave Yude his thousand and two hundred countrymen, allotted him three
hundred more veterans to train them, and named him captain... though he
still wanted him to be near him to make love. Amongst the veterans he
also gave him Meta, whom Yude took as his right hand, giving him the
command of all his men when he was with the duke. Now Gano wanted to
take care of Granla. It was an important county in a pleasant area
between the mountains and the plain, bordering the territory still in
the Emperor's hands. Its importance came from its richness in water and
metals. Having Granla meant being able to make weapons at will. But to
wage war on Granla, his troops had to cross the lands of his brother in
law, the duke Noma, who
                denied him the authorization, saying that he didn't
want foreign troops in his territories, and that he also feared
retaliation from the count Sote.

Gano tried to persuade his brother in law. He knew that some of his
feudatories were not happy with the politics of the duke Noma, and that
they would have considered with a good eye a close alliance with the
more and more powerful Gano. When he didn't succeed, he started secret
contacts with these feudatories, promising them to enfeoff them
respectively in Sote, Noma and Granla if they helped him. In reality
Gano didn't trust the three nobles - as today they were ready to betray
their duke, they would possibly be ready to betray him too someday. But,
for the moment, their alliance was useful to his plans to weaken his
brother in law. After he got the authorization from the three vassals to
pass with his troops in the part of the duchy's territories entrusted to
them, he moved with his army.

At this point the duke Noma moved against Gano. Meanwhile Yude, at the
command of his few men, touring to the east, went towards Noma's
capital. But instead of attacking it, he stopped at the crossing of the
roads leading from the castles of two other minor feudatories to the
capital. Here he made his men build a stronghold of wood and dry stones
- from his position he could stop them long enough if they moved to
support Noma. In this way Noma had at his disposal only the three
territories in the mountains.

When informed about the building of Yude's stronghold, Noma made his
troops go back to the capital instead of reaching and confronting Gano.
Then Gano, instead of proceeding to Granla, led his troops towards the
mountains above the capital to prevent any contact with the other three
provinces. Then Noma understood that he had already lost this battle. He
managed to send messages to Sote and Granla asking for their help. Sote
answered that he was neutral. Granla, on the other hand, at once sent
ten thousand men, but they were intercepted by the troops of the three
feudatories of Noma which changed to Gano's side, in a set of long
skirmishes to neutralize them. Gano didn't attack Noma's capital...
instead he attacked the three castles on the mountains, making them
capitulate, one after the other, even if the second one caused him
several losses.

Then at last he attacked the capital. Noma thought to ask for a safe
conduct for his wife, the sister of Gano, and their children, but when
the castle, set on fire, was about to surrender, the woman preferred to
kill herself with her husband. At that point Sote moved and seized two
of Noma's castles bordering his territories, but stopped when he reached
Yude's stronghold.

When Gano entered the castle, he found the four children of Noma in the
women's quarters. He separated them and sent them to four of his
castles. Then, dividing what remained of Noma's duchy in three
provinces, he gave them to the three feudatories of Noma who passed on
his side. He then gathered an army of thirty-five thousand men, parted
in three columns - with Yude at the head of one and Usae at the head of
another - and prepared to attack Granla.

Granla was a tough nut to crack. His army was strong and well armed, and
the territory was difficult, divided in seven valleys whose rivers meet
in five lakes. A castle dominated each lake and the one on the wider
lake, built on an island, was the count's seat. Six more minor castles
were placed in the territory... two on the mountains and four in the
lower valleys. The members of the compact clan of Granla owned all these
castles and the commerce in weapons made them rich and strong.

Two main roads crossed the seven valleys - that of the mountains and
that of the lakes - which were crossed by the roads running along each
valley. The castles controlled the main junctions of this road network.
Before entering the Granla territory, Gano held a war council. Granla
had in all a force of thirty thousand men, equal to that of Gano's, but
they were barricaded in the almost impregnable castles.

Usae was in favor of the traditional tactic, which was to concentrate
all the efforts on one castle at the time, taking all of the territory
little by little. But Gano was in a hurry and wanted another of his
overwhelming victories. To besiege all the castles and make them fall
could require years - they didn't lack water and certainly had abundant
provisions. Controlling the roads, they had easy communication with each
other, but while they were besieging a castle, they could be attacked
from their back by the forces of the nearby castles. Moreover, not one
of them knew enough about the Granla territory.

Then Yude made a proposal - at the beginning of his rise to power Gano
got valuable help by the bands of adventurers that previously overran
the Siba territory... people who were at the margins of the old order
and that now instead started to manage the new order installed by Gano.
Also in the Granla territory, there should be similar bands ready to
side with them, with the promise to earn in reward one of the castles
with its related territory. And the men of those bands, better than
anyone else, should know the territory. They needed only to find them
and to draw them on their side.

Another point was to make the roads network unusable...destroying the
bridges, and making the walls sustaining the roadbeds collapse so that
all the territory would be subdivided in small parts. Usae pointed out
that in that way the territory would become less easy for them to
control, once it was conquered. But Yude answered that as one could
destroy one could also rebuild. Moreover for their army, which was light
and fast, the absence of practicable was a lesser handicap than for the
traditional armies. Yude's vision convinced Gano. So, while he sent Usae
along the mountain road, and he took the lakes road, Yude started to
raid the valleys with his men, looking for the bands of adventurers.

Gano and Usae marched fast, without attacking the castles they crossed
but rather skirting around them. They gave orders to their
well-disciplined troops not to annoy the local population - when they
passed each city or village, they stopped at its borders and asked for
provisions. In each place, a record of how many provisions they received
was written, and the promise of a generous payment at the end of the war
was made. The local people, not used to such behavior, often sympathized
with the invaders, since the few cases of intemperance of the troops
were severely punished in front of the offended population.

Meanwhile, Yude was having success in his campaign. He formed an
alliance with each band that accepted his proposal with as many of his
men and the bands, hoisting Gano's flags, started the systematic
destruction of the road network. When some messenger came from a castle
to reach another castle, they didn't intercept him, as they rather
wanted the castles to be well informed that the territory was gradually
falling in Gano's hands.

The first result was that the son of count Granla imprisoned his father
and took his place, giving strength to the party that didn't believe in
a passive resistance. But this happened somewhat late, as at that point
the destructive work of the bands organized and lead by Yude had reached
and surpassed the capital.

Moreover, when he saw the lake where the count's main castle was, Yude
had another of his ideas. The level of the lake was kept constant by a
huge dam defended by the same castle. If they could make that dam
collapse, the castle could be reached from the land. But it was not
possible to approach the high dam to destroy it. Yude asked to use all
the possible men to build another dam upstream of the lake, on the gorge
where the river flowed. They would amass there the water in a great
quantity, then make that dam collapse, so that the freed mass of water
would overthrow and likely destroy the castle's dam. Gano at once
accepted Yude's plan.

First of all they built a wide and strong bridge in the narrower part of
the gorge, leaving below it just enough space to let the river water
flow under it. Then they built the dam, which was about as tall as six
standing men. They built it by cementing a thin stone wall and propping
it up to the gorge sides with a system of logs that could sustain the
water pressure. When the work was ended, they rolled rocks under the
bridge so that the water flow was interrupted. Then water stopped
flowing towards the lake and the dam started to fill up.

It took five days to fill up the upstream dam. When it was about to
overflow, a few logs were made to tumble down and at once all the logs
in the system yielded, as did the thin stone wall. With an immense
rumble, the water avalanche ran into the lake like a huge billow. At
first it seemed that the immense roaring wave only passed over the
castle dam causing little, if any, damage, but suddenly a part of the
castle walls collapsed. Soon after a leak opened in the dam and this
also suddenly collapsed, provoking a terrible wave that devastated the
valley several miles down before losing its force.

Gano, standing on the lake's bank, was splitting his sides laughing, and
a new roaring was heard, which was that of the thousands of his men all
laughing aloud. Then he called Yude. He wanted him to be the first to
enter the castle together with him. In fact, by now the castle was just
on a rock spur, connected with the dry land, and because the lake was
reduced to less than one quarter, its level was way down the castle. And
a part of its surrounding walls didn't exist any more.

After he conquered the count's castle and two more main castles, the two
lesser castles on the mountains and the three in the valley surrendered.
The two other main family castles and one of the mountain castles had to
be stormed, but they were taken before the winter came. Gano, drawing
from Granla's treasure, sent to each village, town and community the
money promised for the provisions they had supplied, and the fact that
he kept his word attracted to him the liking of the former subjects of
Granla even more. Then, leaving in each of the castles one of his
trustworthy knights as its lord, he went back to his castle of Suki.

During the winter a Blue Monk came to Suki castle, bearing a secret
message from the Emperor. In his message he congratulated Gano for his
exceptional military prowess. Three embassies from the nobles who helped
Gano to conquer Noma arrived as well to claim their promised reward. He
told them to be patient for a while more - after he was also able to
conquer Sote he would keep that promise. In reality he was not so glad
about that, as he didn't trust the three nobles, but he could not even
belie himself so obviously. Therefore he was procrastinating.

**************************

2.2 - Gano, Prince and First Counselor

Around the end of winter a small convoy also came to Suki castle. It was
the son of duke Noch. The duke had been murdered a few days before by
his cousin who usurped his feoff, demanding of the emperor to be named
Great General of the empire. The Emperor took his time, but seemed ready
to yield to the request. The young duke Noch Kisi asked Gano to help him
to have back his feoff and his late father's role. Gano welcomed him
with all the honors, treating him as if he was the Great General, and
promised him that, as soon as he could, he would do all he could for him
and, for the time being, offered him hospitality.

In reality Gano was not really interested in reinstalling Kisi of Noch
on the ducal throne. As a veteran of love between males, Gano had been
struck by the delicate charm of the then eighteen-year-old Kisi, and by
his languid elegance, so he therefore decided he should have the boy.
When Gano desired a young man, he took him with a somewhat rude
determination as he did years before with Usae, or else he took his
pleasure in conquering the object of his desire little by little, as he
decided to do with Kisi.

When Gano wanted to be fascinating, he was able to be so. He did so to
make an impression on Kisi, by wearing his richest and beautiful
clothes, having at his table the most refined food, which was served on
the most precious plates. He took Kisi to train with him, showing off
his real skill in the war arts. At the same time he revealed himself to
be careful, amiable, and solicitous towards the young man, who gradually
underwent the man's fascination.

Kisi started asking Gano not to call him "Excellency" or "Sir Duke" but
to just use his name. A certain intimacy developed between them, a
virile comradeship, similar to what often develops amongst warriors, but
Gano was skillfully leading in the direction that interested him. One
evening after the supper, while they were sitting on the carpet in front
of the wide fireplace of the count's hall, Gano dismissed the servants
with a gesture. Then, putting his arm on the young Kisi's shoulders, he
told him that he never felt so good with somebody as he was feeling now
with him...

Kisi answered by thanking him and telling him that he, too, felt well
with Gano and, naively, told him that he would have liked to be able to
show him his gratitude. Gano then said that he too felt he had to show
him the deepness of his friendship. After saying this he caressed Kisi's
cheek with his other hand, gently pulled Kisi to himself and lightly
kissed him on his lips, whispering him how handsome he found him, or
rather, irresistibly beautiful.

Kisi shuddered, thanking him as his eyes fixed on those of the man who
caressed his body lightly. Kisi trembled, feeling at once embarrassment
and pleasure at the way Gano was touching him, and moved as if to
withdraw, but Gano held him and told him in a sweet murmur that if Kisi
wanted, he could show him his friendship...

"How?" Kisi hesitantly asked, starting at last to guess what the man was
asking him.

"By not telling me no" Gano answered, pulling Kisi more against himself.

"To what?" Kisi panted upset, while Gano caressed him.

"To what I want from you..." the man said while kissing him again on his
lips and leaning on him, filled with desire.

"I... I never..." the boy murmured feeling Gano's excitment.

"Don't you trust me?" Gano asked him sweetly, caressing him now in a
more intimate way.

"Yes..."

"Then show it to me."

"How..."

"Let me love you, my sweet Kisi..." Gano answered as he was starting to
undress the boy who, gradually, abandoned himself completely to the
skilled caresses of the man.

Gano didn't only want to take the boy; he wanted lead Kisi to desire to
belong to him. He therefore brought into action all his love-arts until
the boy was begging him to put an end to that so-sweet torture, and to
finally take him... Gano prepared the virgin boy, until he slowly
conquered his untouched fortress, invading it with his strong scepter.
While deeply kissing him, he rocked back and forth for a long time in
such a skilled way that Kisi completely lost his head and begged him to
take him harder, harder, harder... Gano complied with joy - and savored
his victory over the untouched boy who was now so eagerly giving himself
to him.

Kisi was so completely conquered by Gano, by his virility, his
gentleness, his vigor and tenderness, that a few days later he told him
he was no longer interested in resuming Noch's ducal throne, as he
rather wanted to remain with him, to belong to him.

In the spring Gano decided to launch an attack on Sote. He therefore
demanded the three former vassals of Noma to unite with him with all
their troops. The three nobles seemed unwilling to move, but Gano warned
them that this was the condition to keep his promise to create them
lords of Granla, Noma and Sote. So in the end they accepted and the
three armies marched on Sote from the east, while Gano ordered Usae to
attack from the south. The count Sote decided to face them in open
field, concentrating all his efforts on the troops attacking him from
the east and opposing to the south just as a temporizing tactic. This
just made Gano's game easier. He ordered Usae not to push too much, but
to advance very slowly. Gano with the rest of his troops went to rescue
the three vassals only when they had underwent heavy losses, and he then
gave the order to Usae to rapidly attack in force.

Count Sote's troops had thus to fight on two fronts, while a part of
Usae's forces was seizing the main castle of the Sote's. But, taking
advantage from this war, the count Seki decided to launch an attack
against Siba, making for Suki castle. Yude, who remained there to
protect the land, fortified Suki by leaving five thousand men under
Meta's orders. He withdrew into the woods up the hills with the other
seven thousand men. He chose the youngest warriors, as he needed to be
able to move fast. He waited until Seko reached the castle and besieged
it.

When Seko set his encampments, Meta distributed a jug and a torch to all
his men. He made the men light the torch, putting the burning part
inside the jugs upside down, so that they burned slowly and their light
was not visible. During the night they advanced rapidly and silently,
completely surrounding the camp besieging the castle. On the castle
glacis, as agreed, there suddenly appeared thousands of lit torches, and
the hunt horns sounded all together immediately catching the besieging
troops attention, who were asking themselves what purpose that odd
action could have. As soon as the horns became silent, Yude's men broke
their jugs and threw the lit torches inside the camp of the besieging
army. While the tents and the deposits of hay for the horses were
burning, the horses became restive, trying to break the ropes binding
them to the bars. At this point Yude ordered the attack.

Seko's troops turned round to face the enemy suddenly appearing in the
night, the four doors of the castle opened wide and so Meta's warriors
swarmed out, attacking the besiegers from their back. A furious
hand-to-hand fight followed and Seko's forces, in spite of the fact that
they were somewhat superior to those of Meta and Yude, were defeated
before dawn. Seko, with a handful of men, fled towards his lands.

When Gano went back, Seko's effrontery made him see red. After he
defeated Sote, he didn't have any more enemies at his back, therefore he
gathered all his army, leaving no more than five hundred men in each
castle, and marched on Seko. The Count was waiting for this attack, and
asked for help from the count Ina, who at once sent him his men, but the
men remaining to Seko, together with those of Ina, were not even half of
the forces that Gano was now putting into the field. In the span of only
four months Gano seized Seko, while Usae was invading Ina. All the east
part of the empire, that is about one third, was now in Gano's hands.

In the ninth month of 1468 Gano, in full trim and at the head of his
chosen men, flanked by Usae and Yude, entered the capital to pay homage
to the Emperor. The most influential nobles in the court - Suna, Yomi,
Keta and Soka - evacuated the capital in great haste before his arrival.
The population shut themselves in their houses hiding all their
valuables. They in fact feared that he too would act like the nobles who
arrived with the same pretext in the recent past. They really went to
the court only to wring from the weakened and lonely Emperor new
privileges while their troops bossed the city around as they pleased.
But, to everybody's astonishment, Gano's troops followed a strict
discipline. Having put their camp at the edge of the city, they didn't
leave their camp and didn't enter the city except in small, orderly
groups taking their turns for leave. They paid for the food and drinks
or for the goods they took in the shops and in the taverns, at the
required price. They didn't start brawls, didn't get drunk, and didn't
molest girls or boys.

The Emperor, with the few nobles who remained at court, received Gano
with all the honors. And when he said he went to give back to the young
Kisi Noch his position as Great General, they started to appeal to him
to get back their estates confiscated in the various fiefs by the feudal
lords. Gano charged some of his officers to listen to all the requests
of the nobles, and to see which ones could eventually be accepted, at
least for the part of the territory already under his control.

Gano sent to bring Kisi and assisted at his nomination to Great General
that the Emperor performed and then he invaded Noch's territories with
all his army. The usurper at once ran away, taking shelter in Yomi's
territory and asking for his protection. The prince Yomi killed him and
sent his head to Gano. Gano sent it back, accompanied by a letter full
of contempt, saying that he only accepted heads cut off in war, not
those of betrayed friends.

Kisi, reinstalled in the small duchy of Noch, was disappointed - he
wanted to remain with Gano, as he was deeply in love with him. Gano went
in his room, made love with him with passion all night long, but the
following morning he left him, telling him with some coldness to wait
for him, as he would certainly come there at times to spend some nights
with him. When the young man, in tears, threw himself at Gano's feet
kissing them and beseeching him not to leave him, telling him that he
was in love with him, Gano rudely told him that he loved men, not women
in tears, and this was why he never married.

He then went back to the capital and left there, as his deputy in the
imperial court, a young officer, the baron Kei, with a small garrison,
in a little castle the emperor gave him, in the south suburb of the
capital. But with his love for magnificence, he returned the gift,
offering the emperor to build him a new palace in the west suburb. He
charged  another of his officers with that, asking him to hire the best
craftsmen of the country to build the most beautiful palace that was
never seen. He was also lavish towards Kiai, plying him with presents,
but asking him to obey his orders.

Then, on his road back to Siba, he invaded Yomi's principality. The
Prince, not to fall in his hands, killed himself while Gano was
overcoming the last defenses of his castle. Back at Siba, Gano called to
his court all the leaders of the territories he conquered. He wanted a
complete revision of the historical boundaries, making them more
functional, and also decided to abandon the traditional pyramidal system
of vassalage, sub-vassalage and sub-sub-vassalage. Each lord should have
a part of the territory to administer in his name, being the only ruler
of that part of the empire.

He decided also that each part of his territory had to specialize in the
production of only some well defined products, so that no land could be
self-sufficient and autonomous, but all mutually dependent. He easily
overthrew any opposition of the local lords. For a further safety
measure, he provided each lord with one of his officers.

In 1471 he went to the capital again for the opening of the new imperial
palace. On this occasion the emperor raised him to the rank of Crown
Prince and First Councilor of the Empire. He went to stay for a week to
Kisi's castle. The young man tried once again, with all his means, to
convince him to take him again with himself, telling him he was ready to
renounce to his rank and role of Great General, that anyway was now just
honorific, just to remain with him. But Gano didn't yield and
definitively said him that he wanted only complete obedience, and that
only then would he at times come again to make love with him.

**************************

2.3 - Gano menaced from the interior and from the Order.

Back at the capital, Gano made the Emperor summon all the lords of the
empire, to discuss the Nation's problems with him and with the Great
General. What truly interested Gano was to see how the various lords
would react to this invitation that everybody knew had been in reality
originated with Gano, even if officially came from the emperor. Amongst
those who didn't answer was the count Elkin. This fact gave Gano the
opportunity to declare him a rebel to the crown, and to go to attack
him. He therefore had to pass through the duchy of Assa.  As one of his
sisters married the duke, he presumed to obtain the authorization to
pass without any problem, but Assa's duke, accepting Elkin's appeal,
denied him passage.

Gano amassed his thirty thousand men at the border between the capital
territory and Assa; meanwhile he secretly summoned Usae. He attacked
Assa and things seemed to take a bad turn for Gano, when Usae came with
ten thousand more men, passing through the north, that is along the
almost impracticable mountain road, and swooped upon the flank of Assa's
array. More than half of the duke's men were killed in the clash and the
other half took flight, each man going back to his land. Crossing the
mountains, Gano went down to Elkin and after a few battles they
conquered this territory too. Rase's count, whose territories were north
of Elkin, went at once personally to declare himself Gano's vassal.

Gano left Usae in Elkin, giving him the tasks of reorganizing all the
territory and controlling the southern provinces on the other side of
the mountain chain. Then he went back to Assa. Here he summoned all the
minor nobles who fled, and asked them to make their choice - they could
either abandon the land, or give him an oath of obedience. Then he left
another of his generals in Assa as lord.

But suddenly Gano had to face the most formidable and dangerous of his
enemies, the Eightfold Order of the monks. They were particularly
powerful in all the southern part of the empire and in the islands, but
their center was in Yomi's territory that he had recently conquered.
Here there was the majestic and powerful monastery of the Octagon, so
called because it was composed by eight high and mighty stone buildings
looking onto a wide central courtyard. Even if it was not born as a
fortress, it was in fact the most safe and impregnable of the sound and
strong fortresses. It was built in fact on the delta of the Sangu River,
the same as that which flowed from one of Granla's valleys through the
capital. The monastery was thus defended towards the mainland by two of
the branches of the delta, and in its other side by the sea, from which
it could receive reinforcements and provisions in case of a land
blockade. Prince Yomi learned to his cost not to importune the rich and
powerful monastery.

The Eightfold Order had been founded about seven hundred years before by
an emperor, and originally it was a real religious order, dedicated to
studies and prayer. But gradually the various nobles and feudal lords
started to make their cadet sons enter in the Order, so as not to divide
their land amongst too many inheritors - of course, the monks couldn't
have legitimate children and therefore no inheritors. The various
monasteries spread across the nation became rich thanks to donations and
the fact that, about five hundred years before, another emperor exempted
them from the payment of tributes.

Another element that gave them power and riches, came when the monks'
evangelical travels abroad, that is to the continent, little by little
transformed themselves into real commercial missions. The Order in fact
now possessed the most powerful fleet of the nation. One more element
came from the fact that a monastery could not own land. On one side this
tranquilized the powerful estate owners, and also attracted to the
order's orbit a myriad of little estate owners who, declaring themselves
supporters of the monasteries, were protected by the Order in exchange
of generous donations. The Red Monks, that is the warrior monks, were
born exactly in this function, that is to protect and defend those
little estate owners, who were therefore called "protected" from the
bandits and from the tax collectors.

The entire hierarchy of the Eightfold Order was in the hands of the
ancient court aristocracy or of the new war-aristocracy, who saw in Gano
a menace. The Prince of the Order, who came from Assa's family, and at
whose place Gano's youngest sister took refuge when her brother invaded
Assa, therefore ordered Gano to give back the duchy to his family and
also to surrender Yomi's principality.

Of course Gano refused. Thus the Prince declared him an Enemy of the
Order. The problem with the Order was that as distinct from the various
territories where, by winning a field battle and seizing the capital, or
the two or three main castles, all the territory was conquered, here it
would be necessary to conquer all the monasteries one after the other
and to fight all the monks, in order to subdue it. Moreover, the
declaration of the Order's Prince automatically alienated Gano from the
support of all the little estate owners in any territory where they
lived, and this gave vigor to the lords of the territories still
escaping his control. And lastly, the huge wealth of the order, its
powerful fleet composed of expert navigators, allowed the order, in case
of an open clash, to arm and pay soldiers for years...

So Gano became aware of his weakness - his foot soldiers were almost all
countrymen. He could never engage them in wars lasting more than a few
months, and certainly not in the crucial moments for agriculture.
Moreover, on the sea, Gano didn't absolutely have any strength - only
three of the provinces that he was now controlling bordered the sea, and
his fleet was small and badly armed but above all was not used to sea
fights.

Gano was considering these factors when an incident happened. At the
beginning of 1473, the prince Yomi penetrated the capital with a handful
of armed men and encamped in front of the imperial palace, demanding
audience with the emperor. Kei ran with his men to send Yomi away, but
about three thousand monks suddenly arrived to give backing to Yomi. At
that time, Gano was in Noch, taking his pleasure with Kiai. Informed of
the problem, he reached the capital with six thousand men but in the
meantime three ships of the monks were sailing from the Octagon upstream
to the capital bringing reinforcements. The clash was violent and Gano
soon understood that it was prudent to retreat so as not to lose too
many of his men - this was his first clash with the monks and he was
surprised by the vigor and skill with which they fought.

Back at Siba, the three northern provinces, instigated by the monks,
threatened to not recognize Gano's sovereignty any more and to march on
Suki castle. However, the intervention of the emperor in Gano's favor
obtained a short truce before a new war broke out. But Gano felt deeply
threatened, and from an enemy he underestimated.

Gano called Usae and Yude back and they discussed what they could do.
First of all he needed not to be menaced from the interior of his
territory boundaries. Therefore he had to destroy the three lords, of
Granla, Noma and Sote. But at the same time he had also to suppress all
the monasteries inside his territories. He then had to face the Octagon
and seize it. But how could he move? They discussed many strategies for
several days, but each had its weak points. Attacking the three lords
first could give the occasion for attacks from the exterior and to
internal disorders stirred up by the monasteries. But to attack the
monasteries first could give the Octagon a good excuse to create a
coalition against Gano. Attacking the Octagon without having subdued the
forces against him in his territories could lead to disaster.

But finally Yude devised a new plan. Gano, with Usae and himself,
accompanied only by the totally loyal generals and without an escort of
soldiers, had to go at the castle of the lord of Granla with the pretext
to discuss the fabrication of new weapons. Granla's lord, receiving only
about fifteen important people without an armed escort, should surely
not have suspicions about their real intentions. Meanwhile, soldiers
loyal to Gano wearing plain countryman's clothing had to hide along
Granla boundaries, to intercept and seize any messenger who tried to
leave the territory. Once inside the castle, the mission was to start a
real negotiation with the lord of Granla and his men for a big supply of
weapons.

When Granla's lord felt sure about Gano's intentions, they would have to
kill him at the first favorable occasion, along with the greatest number
of his key men - all of this without allowing the faintest hint to leak
out. Then, leaving one of his generals in Granla, and leaving the Granla
flags and standards on the castle as if the lord was still alive, they
had to go to Noma and then to Sote repeating exactly the same scenario.
When this was done, all the monasteries of the three provinces, followed
by those of all the other provinces under his control, had to be
attacked and destroyed without leaving one single person in them alive.

They refined the plan, and then Gano called his fifteen generals and
informed them about the plan. To make it even more believable, they
tried to imagine what kind of new weapons they could ask to be made...
Then they asked the generals to choose their more trusty and skilled men
and, disguising them as countrymen, highlanders, peddlers and even as
monks, they made them take their position, in twos and threes, long the
boundary of the three provinces. And finally Gano with his men, on their
horses, went up the mountains until they reached the main castle of
Granla. When they arrived they saw that the works to rebuild the great
dam were almost completed.

They sent in their names to Granla's lord, who hurriedly went to meet
and welcome them, but it was evident he was suspicious -- the glacis
were filled with men in fighting trim. Gano, with a smile, asked the
reason for that war array. The lord answered that feared an attack from
the northern barbarians. Gano pretended to believe him. In the castle
main hall, after presenting the lord with some rolls of lavish brocades
and velvets, he exposed the reason for their visit. He then asked to
start at once the discussion about the new weapons he wanted and about
the possibility of making them, the time required, cost and so on.

The lord Granla gradually was caught in the snare. He summoned his
expert miners, his smithy, his armourers and the discussion became
lively and interesting. This was also because some of the experimental
weapons could really be made.

The lord of Granla offered a lavish supper then prepared the rooms for
his guests. Gano was about ready for bed when he heard a knock at his
door. It was Granla lord in person who, knowing the taste of Gano for
boys, came to ask him if he could give him a present - company for the
nights he would be his guest. He showed in a sixteen-year-old boy of
rare beauty.

"But... is the boy already... weaned?" Gano asked with evident interest.

"Certainly, prince, for a couple of years. And he is a first-class boy,
according to what I've heard of him. He is my nephew, and his name is
Keli..."

"Very good. Keli...would you please stay in my room, for the night?" he
asked the boy, caressing his soft hair.

"Oh, yes, prince, it would be a great honor...and a real pleasure!" the
boy replied with a sly smile.

When they were alone, Gano took the boy to his bed. While undressing
him, he asked, "So then, you like men?"

"I adore men, prince, and above all those like you, strong, virile,
beautiful..."

"And you have had sex with men for two years?"

The boy smiled with a perky air and shook his head. "It's two years
since my family discovered it but I had my first man four years ago. Or
better to say... he had me! He was my fencing master. After teaching me
to use the iron sword, he made me learn to handle this kind of sword
too..." the boy said with a giggle, caressing the already erect member
of the man.

The boy knew his business. He made to pass a night of intense pleasure
for Gano, being ready to satisfy the man, with real joy and fantasy. The
boy was also enthusiastic.

"You are a real man, prince. I will never forget this night."

"And neither the next nights, Keli, I assure you!" Gano said, thinking
that it was a shame that he would have to kill that boy. Then he asked
him, "You are the count's nephew... son of one of his brothers or
sisters?"

"No, I am really the son of the sister of the count's wife. I have been
a guest of the count for a year because my parents didn't want me to
carry on a certain affair..."

"Oh, really? And why was that?"

"Because it was with a servant..."

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CONTINUES IN CHAPTER 3

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In my home page I've put some more of my stories. If someone wants to
read them, the URL is

http://andrejkoymasky.com

If you want to send me feed-back, or desire to help revising my English
translations, so that I can put on-line more of my  stories in English
please e-mail at

andrej@andrejkoymasky.com

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