Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2003 22:22:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Corrinne S <quasito_cat@yahoo.com>
Subject: Dark Wishes Installment 23: Part 4 Chapters 10-12

Note: This is a gay themed fantasy novel about kings
and magic, love and war.  Although I will often allude
to sexual encounters there are no scenes of sexual
acts for this is, by and large, a love story.  This
author claims exclusive copyright to the characters,
settings, and plot.  A side note to chapter ten:  this
was written specifically to honor one of the most
beautiful men I know, Andrew Smythe-Edmonson, an RN
and highly respected emergency room nurse.  It was my
gift to him for National Nurse's Week this year, 2003.

Dark Wishes

M.C. Gordon

Part Four: Devlin

Chapter Ten.

     Gelemar noticed an immediate change in Frit after
the unexpected confession that he was studying with
the Master Healer.  Now able to study openly in their
cottage, Frit discussed bits of healing information
with his lover on a daily basis.  Gelemar had always
known that his soul-mate had quick wits but was amazed
at the speed with which he absorbed this new
knowledge.

     Frit often left healing scrolls about their
cottage, reading from one while their meal cooked or
another before they retired at the end of each day.
Interested in the things which were dear to Frit's
heart, Gelemar often glanced at the scrolls.  One
evening, when his lover had been summoned by the
Master Healer, Gelemar picked up one of the scrolls
hoping he would be able to grasp even a portion of
what it said.

     Instead of a healing scroll Gelemar found himself
looking at the meticulously neat script that was
Frit's own hand.  Gelemar knew he should put the
scroll down but was captivated by the first sentence
he read and continued.

     `I came into the world on a hot summer day, naked
as a jay ... so thoroughly delighted with that situation
that I have sought to maintain it as often as possible
as the years passed.  My childhood was uneventful, as
childhood is for all who are raised in a mountain
village so small that it has no name or cause for
reputation.

     I would be there still, languishing my life away
with dreams of handsome men with perfect bodies, had
not the mountain exploded and the village been
destroyed.  Fortunately, very few died and King
Trelaine, when made aware of the catastrophe, sent his
warriors to bring the survivors to Aolane.

     Ah, sweet Aolane.  It was here that I found a
wealth of men such as myself; and here that Gelemar
found me.  No, he is not that perfect man that I often
dreamed of.  His hair is thin and lacking in luster.
His stomach is, perhaps, a bit too large to be
considered sexually appealing and his hairline shows
definite signs of beginning to recede.  But he loves
me, and I he in return.  And he makes my body sing
when we ...

     I really did not intend this to take that
particular turn.  My intent was to record this week in
my life.

     The King believes that each person should be
allowed to pursue an occupation that is both suitable
and pleasurable to one's taste and capability.  Since
I seemed adept at caring for animals, he saw that I
was trained as an animal healer and I now spend my
days caring for a myriad of creatures for the lords
and ladies who reside in Aolane.

     Firstday, usually one when I am busy dealing with
imagined illnesses or injuries of the city's furry
residents, was unremarkably dull.  I fashioned powders
to rid Lady Delana's kits of their vermin.  It seems
the mother had slipped out in the night and picked up
the undesirable leaches and brought them inside to her
litter of young.  I like the lady because she is quite
pleasant but had to laugh to myself at the thought of
her horror when one of those tiny bugs jumped from a
kit to her person.  Lord Tid, anxious over the
impending birth of a new foal, had me attending to his
mare several times despite my assurances that the foal
would not make an appearance for at least another
week.  Fortunately, the King came to my rescue when
Lord Tid insisted that I insert my arm into the mare's
uterus one time too many and she nipped at me.  His
Majesty, who has seen countless foals born over a
period close to four hundred years, put the man's mind
at ease.

     Seconday I sent Gelemar into peals of laughter as
I related the following tale.  One of the residents, a
year back, rescued an orphaned creature the like of
which I had never seen before, nor had any of the
Masters.  It was the size of my thumb when he brought
it to me and I devised a form of mother's milk for the
mite, waking every two or three hours to soak a rag
and coax the tiny thing to suckle.  I was amazed that
it survived and when it attained ten weeks of age I
returned it to the man, whose name I do not remember
although his son's name is Elian.  The boy showed up
at my door on seconday with the little thing claiming
his mother believed it was about to give birth and
seemed to be having a difficult time.  The father had
tried to help by grasping a tiny foot and attempting
to pull the rest of the body free, unsuccessfully.  I
really thought I would not be able to contain myself
when I examined the thing and realized that it was a
male just entering maturity.  The foot the father had
been pulling was, instead, an infinitesimally small
penis.  While I was able to explain to Elian that his
pet was not giving birth because it was a male, I
found it difficult to tell the boy exactly what was
happening and merely told him that the best thing he
could do would be to take it home and let it lie on
its back, attending to itself as best it could with
tiny paws.  Gelemar was delighted at the prospect of
envisioning the father's face when Elian advised him
the creature is a male.  My darling has a devilish
streak in him that I truly love.

     Thirday was quite difficult and one must
understand Aolane to envision why.  The castle
fortress itself is made entirely of stone but a small
village has built itself around the fortress, outside
of the walls.  Most of the abodes there are made of
wood and thatch.  The King has them replaced with
stone but more are built of wood for it has been a
difficult year of drought and many flock to Aolane who
have lost their livelihood.  One old widow, with no
issue, kept her cow in her hut and the beast kicked
over a lantern during the night.  The cow can hardly
be held to blame because they are rather dull beasts
and have no idea what they do most of the time.  The
fire spread quickly through the wood and thatch homes.
 The guard raised the alert straight away and everyone
helped to squelch it as quickly as possible.  Few
homes were lost but the damage to human and animal
life was costly.  I offered my services but it is
difficult to save the life of a feline or canine which
has been burned.  The Master Healer saw me and,
knowing that I wanted to help, summoned me to assist
in saving human lives.  I supposed that any hand in a
bad situation was better than no hands at all and was
grateful for any opportunity to assist.

     Fourthday was a bit grim.  The fatalities from
the fire continued to mount and those of us with any
training in healing worked endlessly to save lives.
The King himself aided as he could in helping those
who could not be saved by giving them release from
pain in their final hours with his magic. Elian
summoned me to look at his pet who fortunately
suffered nothing more than a singed tail and was
contentedly attending to his blossoming maturity.
Gelemar spent the night comforting me in his arms for
I felt a tremendous sense of sadness and uselessness
over the lives we lost.

     Fifthday the Master Healer himself summoned me.
I went in great trepidation for he is the master of my
craft and I was afraid he had found fault with me.
Instead, he praised my actions and told me that I had
done well considering that I had never been trained to
heal people.  And he asked if I would consider
furthering my training to include that function.  I
was bereft of thought or speech.

     The animals of Aolane must have sensed that
something had gone awry of late because Lord Tid's
mare went into labor, a breech birth, and I faced the
difficult task of turning the foal lest both dame and
foal be lost.  The mare has always been high-strung
and I do not doubt that my arm in her uterus, twisting
and turning her unborn, made me an object of her
dislike because she pulled away and jarred my shoulder
... nearly dislocating it.  I sent a young apprentice to
summon the King and he appeared shortly, touching the
mare and putting her at ease.  She delivered a fine
foal, a jet black male with a single patch of white on
his forehead and one white foot.  Lord Tid was
pleased.  King Trelaine was pleased.  And when I told
Gelemar he promised to buy me a new ring for my ear.

     Sixthday, which is today, I have to make a
decision.  The Master Healer wants an answer tomorrow.
 Do I remain a healer of animals or do I move on and
learn to heal people as well?  Gelemar is well loved
by our King and it would increase his standing with
others.  I realize, and my lover accepts, that I am
not like most men, even those of us who choose men.  I
enjoy bright colors and jewels sewn into my tunics.  I
weep at mournful music.  I have filled mine and
Gelemar's cottage with fragrant flowers from my own
garden.  I still look at other men and wonder what it
would be like to find pleasure from one of them, but I
am faithful to Gelemar.  All of these thoughts pass
through my mind as I wait for my beloved to join me in
our bed and make love to me.  I need him tonight more
than I have ever needed him before.'

     Gelemar finished reading and placed the scroll
back in its place.  He remembered the fire and Frit's
frustration with his lack of skill.  He should have
foreseen that his delightful love would put his mind
and heart to work to rectify it and he swelled with
pride at the man he had chosen to be his life's mate.

     He was preparing for bed when he heard Frit enter
their cottage.  He felt his lover approach his back
and was surprised when he tossed a small bag on the
bed.

     "I brought you a present," Frit said as Gelemar
turned to face him.

     "For me?" he queried.  "It is I who am supposed
to bring you gifts."

     "The present is from the Master Healer," Frit
responded.  "He called all of the healers and students
together to announce that we should encourage the use
of these," he added as he emptied the bag and several
fish bladders fell to the bed.  "He believes they may
aid in stopping the spread of certain illnesses."

     "But you most emphatically refused to consider
using one," Gelemar said.

     "If they will prevent one of us becoming ill,
then I will agree to their use."

     "Then I suggest we test one now," Gelemar replied
taking his lover in his arms.

Chapter Eleven

     Devlin found that he enjoyed studying at Aolane
very much.  The other students were friendly and
helpful and his roommates made him feel comfortable
from the first day.

     Dulva was the youngest son of one of the High
King's many noblemen.  A studious lad with sun
bleached brown hair, Dulva's dream in life was to
become a master mason.  He spent most of his free time
sketching pictures of the castles he hoped to design
and build one day.

     Pistach was a spindly, dark-haired boy with deep
green eyes whose only desire was to be an artist.
Their room was covered with drawings he made of his
new friends, and several of himself in which he
reduced the size of his nose and increased the size of
his muscles in order to improve his appearance.

     Kuyo, from an even smaller and more remote area
than Caern Arvis, Glencoe Village, was a little runt
of a fellow, quiet and shy.  The Master Archivist
often teamed Kuyo with Dulva for special assignments
because Kuyo had a firmer grasp of mathematics than
most of the teaching masters.

     Devlin, new to the archives at the advanced age
of seventeen, had no idea what grasped his imagination
or what field of study he wanted to pursue.  He had
thought to study animal husbandry but the myriad of
ideas available left him dumbstuck and uncertain.

     The archives were a constant bustle of activity
from dawn to dusk.  Students and apprentices flowed in
and out of the beautiful building Fanna had designed,
with its separate sections for different fields of
study.  The music room was the first on the right down
the first corridor to the left.  Next to that were the
artists, then the historians. The right corridor led
to the mathematicians, masons, and healers.
Continuing down the main corridor were the
administrative offices which housed all of the vast
contents of the archive which had been accumulated
through the centuries.

     Interspersed along the corridors were the rooms
that housed young men and women interested in becoming
master farmers or fishers, animal caretakers for the
endangered species sanctuary, and breeders of
livestock.

     And so, Devlin chose to study a bit of
everything, hoping that one would catch his interest
and make his Da and all of Caern Arvis proud of him.
With the aid of Dulva, Pistach, and Kuyo, he was able
to put the recent unfortunate incident and trial
behind him and concentrate on his future.

     Knowing his nature, he was not surprised when one
of his fellow students caught his eye and left him
with a rather difficult to conceal bulge in his
breeches.  As he had not yet reached the age permitted
by the High King he did his best to keep his urges
under control; not always with great success since
there were many occasions on which he retired to the
`necessary' to take care of business.

     Trelaine was often in and out of the archives,
King of Elanen and ultimately responsible for the well
being and achievement of each student.  His heart
ached for Devlin but his own proscription forbid
encouragement and he had never, in either of his
existences, asked one to surrender to him, discounting
that distant and small part of him that had been
Ilafrain.  He set firmly in his mind that he would not
do so now.  Xoachin, Karandal, and Fanna had all come
to him of their own desire.  And if Devlin did not
express an interest in him when attaining full
manhood, then he would quash the love he felt and
continue his busy but lonely existence.  The garden
held those he had loved beyond life and he was content
to sit and speak with them.

     The private castle garden had become Trelaine's
refuge.  He had expanded it slowly through the years
and it now had twisting cobbled paths leading to the
massive oak tree that shaded the small area where the
graves were located.  Trelaine tended to the garden
himself and knew each blade of grass and leaf of
plant.  Rose bushes appeared at random, yet to study
their placement one could see their pattern that led
from the castle entrance to that special corner of the
garden.  Iris raised their pointed leaves toward the
sun.  Ivy and multi-colored wildflowers spread out in
the shade beneath towering oaks.  Doves and sparrows
wandered through the garden in search of bread crumbs
which the castle staff provided for them.

     Trelaine sat and pondered his current frame of
mind.  For some reason he failed to comprehend, he had
fallen in love with the lad from Caern Arvis,
descendant of an exiled family.  Strange indeed were
the twists and turns of the heart, for Trelaine seldom
had contact with the boy.  Yet he found his dreams
filled with the vision of wheat colored hair and
golden eyes.

     He had finally been forced to admit to himself
that his heart was on a useless quest and beckoned for
Gelemar to join him.  Gelemar had been waiting quietly
at the edge of the garden, summoned earlier and
waiting until his king was ready to speak.

     "Old friend," Trelaine began, "I would like to
ask a favor of yourself and Frit."

Chapter Twelve

     Frit busily tended to the necessary occupation of
keeping his and Gelemar's cottage neat.  He had long
ceased to fret over his lover's habit of leaving
things lying hither and yon.  Gelemar was one of the
King's men and as such was constantly busy.  While
Frit's responsibility as a healer of both people and
animals was of great importance, it occupied a small
amount of his time: his reputation not yet having
spread beyond the walls of Aolane.

     Satisfied that everything was finally in its
proper place, he turned his attention to their
clothing.  Three days of drizzle had forced him to
hang their newly washed gowns and tunics over drying
racks in front of the fireplace.  He preferred fresh
air and a soft breeze but would not complain because
the rain had lowered the stifling heat which had
settled in of late.

     Taking up a healer's scroll, he settled in his
favorite chair, content to sip a cup of hot mulled tea
and study.  The treatise on the use of specific herbs
to treat varied illnesses and fevers held his
attention so thoroughly that he barely noticed the
knock on the front door.  Laying the scroll carefully
aside, he pulled his gown closer about himself and
answered the knock.

     "Frit, I was wondering if you could spare me a
little of your time," Devlin said when the door was
opened.

     "I always have time for you," Frit replied.  "Are
you ill or in any way injured?"

     "No, nothing like that.  I need your advice and
guidance," Devlin said.

     "Give me your wet cloak and take a chair near the
fire.  You may move one of the drying racks if you
need.  I will fetch you a cup of tea and then we can
talk."

     Devlin moved the end of one rack and arranged a
chair close enough to the fireplace to be warm without
feeling much intense heat.

     Frit returned shortly with a cup of tea for his
visitor and settled back into his chair.  "My
attention is yours," he said.  "What advice can I give
you?"

     "I reached my age of majority yesterday," Devlin
began, not at all sure exactly how to broach the
subject of his concern in spite of the fact that he
had considered the situation a great deal in the past
weeks.  "I am now of legal age to experience a man."

     Frit was mildly amused at this small confession.
"There should be many who will be willing to grant you
that ... experience, Devlin," he said cautiously.
"There is much about you to recommend you as a
partner, or a lover."

     "I have been approached about the possibility,"
Devlin continued, "but there is one in particular who
interests me and I do not know how to let him know
that I would like him to be the one."

     Frit tried hard not to smile.  For all his months
in Aolane, Devlin remained naïve in many ways.  "Is
this someone who has captured your heart?" he asked.

     Devlin blushed deeply and replied, "No.  Not my
heart, and his belongs to another.  But I find him
appealing in both nature and appearance.  He is kind
and gentle, quick of mind and generous of spirit."

     "He sounds like someone I would like to know,"
Frit said.  "My dear young friend, if you are hesitant
to approach such a paragon of virtue perhaps I can do
it for you.  I would be willing to ask him if he will
take you to his bed."

     Devlin looked at the cup in his hands as if it
were the most curious object in the world before
asking very softly, "Then would you consider asking
yourself if you would do that honor?"

     The room was filled with an unnatural silence.

     Frit's first reaction was one of unbelievable
delight, followed quickly by shock.  "Devlin," he
said, "I do not think you fully understand the kind of
man I am.  Gelemar would be a better choice for he
takes the lead always when we ... experience."

     "I do not desire Gelemar," Devlin said quietly.
"He has become as a father to me with my own Da so far
away.  It is you I desire," he added, "to teach me how
to please a lover."

     Frit found himself facing a great quandary.  He
had had no lover but Gelemar for all his affectations,
nor was he one to determine in which direction the
private moments of his life with his lover would go.
A thousand thoughts passed through his mind.  What
would Gelemar think?  And yet his lover was not averse
to a moment's dalliance with another.  Devlin was
handsome and desirable and Frit had known a moment of
release now and then thinking of him but could he
actually do what this boy asked of him?

     The moment decided itself when Devlin set his cup
aside, rose from his chair, and crossed to where Frit
sat in a state of near confusion.  Devlin gently
removed Frit's cup from his hand and sat it on the
hearth.  Taking Frit's hands in his own, Devlin pulled
him to his feet.  Before an objection could be made,
Devlin placed an awkward kiss on Frit's lips, his
first as a man.

     Frit realized that he was lost and leaned into
the kiss as Devlin's hands released the cord that held
his gown in place.

 . . .

     "Devlin visited today," Frit told Gelemar that
evening after they had finished their evening meal and
were relaxing by the fireplace.

     "That explains the gleam in your eyes," Gelemar
responded, leaving his lover speechless.  "He asked me
last week if I would object to his approaching you.  I
hope you taught him well.  Perhaps, with his curiosity
satisfied, he will now realize that the King seethes
with desire for him."

     He rose from his chair and went to stand before
his love.  "Did he leave you with energy enough for
me?" he asked.

To be continued.

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