Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2007 08:38:58 +0000
From: Jack Smith <js_mas@hotmail.com>
Subject: New Beginnings 1

     (Editor's   note:   One  NuChin  year   is   equal   to
approximately 2.33 galactic standard years.  NuChin  rotates
on  its  axis  in  30.35 galactic standard  hours.   It  has
minimal  axial  tilt and therefore has only slight  seasonal
weather  variation.   Its unbroken  cloud  cover  made  some
suggest  that  attempted settlement, despite  its  otherwise
terra-compatible  ecosystem, was not a wise  move,  and  was
partly blamed for the disaster that followed.)
     People spoken of in this story:
     Cavon          Son of Lord Srotyr
     Srotyr         Lord of NewTown
     Chi-Da         Teacher, NewTown
     Ti-Lung   Maternal uncle of Cavon
     Yue-Sin   Armourer of NewTown
     Yue-Lin   Son of Yue-Sin, childhood friend of Cavon
     Loa-Lech  Childhood friend of Cavon
     Po-Wei    Court Attendant, NewTown
     Hu-Wi          Stable master, NewTown
     Hi-Tui         Chief Guardian of Gate, NewTown
     Ba-Nol         Metal smith, friend of Cavon
     Wi-Su          Chief Engineer, NewTown
     Win-Som   Fianc‚ of Cavon
     Win-Bui   Father of Win-Som
     Xi-To          Field Worker
     Do-Si          Guard
     Zo-Lo          Field worker supervisor

                           BOOK 1


     WEEK ONE


     FIRSTDAY


     I  opened my eyes to brilliant light.  I jumped out  of
bed  and looked out the window.  Never in all of my 6  years
had I seen daylight so bright.  It hurt my eyes.  Looking up
the  clouds were thin, The One was close.  It would not rain
today.   It  made my birthday stand out for another  reason.
It  was  also the day I left childhood and commenced on  the
path  of  manhood, the day I would leave the close  care  of
Mother  for  that of Father.  It was a big day.   Tonight  I
would  bathe with Father for the first time, even  though  I
had  the  weekly  bath  with  Mother  as  usual  two  nights
previously,  SixthDay, in preparation for  Godday.   It  was
also  the  last day of school, not that there  was  anything
left  for  me to learn there.  For over a year  I  had  been
helping  teach  the  other boys, for  I  had  exhausted  the
resources  of  the teacher, as well as spending  extra  time
teaching Mother.  This was extra special, as I loved  Mother
to  obsession.  She was intelligent, eager and  still  young
enough  to learn being only 13 years old, but women did  not
receive  an  education so all teaching had  to  be  done  in
secret  while  we were on walks in the town and  around  the
fields.   I taught her mathematics and reading using  sticks
drawing  in the dirt, carefully rubbing it all out  when  we
had  finished, and now she was continuing herself by reading
Father's Book whenever he wasn't around.
     Today though was not for Mother.  It was my last day of
childhood, to be spent with my childhood friends.  I  rinsed
my  face in the basin in the corner, combed my hair, and ran
out  to  eat  my  morning rice.  Then out into  the  street,
running  to  find  my friend Loa-Lech.  Together  we  dashed
through  the  early  morning market, "Pshawing"  the  pretty
servant  girls getting the days provisions.  One busty  maid
lost  her footing on the mud covered boards while trying  to
dodge  us,  falling  in a messy heap  so  that  her  breasts
bounced within her blouse.  Loa-Lech screamed out, "Look  at
that  pair!  Couldn't hold one of `em in my two hands!"  and
gestured  his  hands suggestively.  I made  an  inarticulate
noise  and imitated the hand actions.  I really didn't  know
why  Loa-Lech  and the other boys did these things.   I  did
them  because they did, so maybe they did them just  because
others  did and there was no real reason.  But that did  not
stop me doing them with gusto and joy.  There was no thought
in  Loa-Lech's  head to stop to help the luckless  girl,  he
just  laughed and continued on his way, racing  amongst  the
stalls.   I  felt uncomfortable and did stop, but  the  girl
just  grinned grimly and waved me on.  I dashed  on  between
the  tables  of fruit and vegetables, chickens  and  siedens
screaming  in  cages hanging from hooks, pigs and  slimchuis
tied to stakes.
     Colours glowed, voices were louder, everyone seemed  to
be  smiling  and laughing.  The brightness of  the  day  was
reflected in everything, even the hollow sound of  our  hard
leather shoes on the boards.  Loa-Lech skidded to a halt  on
the  recently laid black surface of the Town Square, waiting
for  me.   This black was the most recent of the new wonders
that  the  king  had been introducing over  the  years.   As
always the idea had its critics, saying it would soon become
a  slippery-slide of mud and horse dung, but  the  preceding
innovation, suspended boards with drains underneath for  the
market,  had  been so popular that there had not  been  much
resistance.   This  time though the critics  may  have  been
correct, for even after only 3 seventydays it already had  a
coating  of the predicted substance.  However, it was  great
for  sliding,  though you paid with a very  smelly  pair  of
trousers if you lost balance.
     Up  one of the cobble-stoned streets on the other  side
of  the  square and we arrived at class.  Chi-Da was already
there, and greeted us as we, sweaty and panting, came in.
     "Good  morning Cavon, good morning Loa-Lech.   The  One
has  put  on a fine day for your birthday Cavon.  My present
will  be that you have your last day off.  Take Yue-Lin with
you.   Teach him that theory you were explaining to me about
right angled triangles and squares, see if you can prove  it
to him."
     Chi-Da  was  a  nice man.  He was my  maternal  uncle's
wife's  great  uncle,  and we often  had  long  talks  about
mathematics.   He  liked hearing my ideas and  concepts.   I
introduced  to  him,  and he had made part  of  his  regular
teaching, the concept of squares and square roots,  the  sum
of  the  angles of a triangle and many others.  When  I  was
young  enough to have my mother come to collect me he always
complimented  me  on my adeptness with maths.   Now  he  was
giving  me a day off with my best friend, whom he knew  very
well  had  a full grasp on my right angle triangle  theorem.
Before  he could think twice we were out of the room and  on
our  way  to his house.  Yue-Lin was different in appearance
to  most  people.  His face was squarer, his  eyes  did  not
slope  down, his skin browner, his hair had a bit  of  curl.
Not that anyone worried.
     We  collected his bow and my knife (neither of us  were
supposed  to  have  weapons, but his father  was  the  chief
armourer  for the local garrison and he allowed us  to  have
them  as long as they were never seen within the town).   We
waved  to our friend Hi-Tui, the guardian of the town  gate.
From the gate we had a view of the main valley, blinkered by
the  walls  of the small side valley in which the  town  was
situated.  In a straight line ran the permanent road out  of
the  town,  continuing  as  a  temporary  road  through  the
recently exposed flood plains on the near side of the river,
then  over  the  bridge  and the far  flood  plain,  already
sprouting green of rice seedlings.  Often hidden in mist the
far  side  of the valley was clearly visible rising  in  the
distance.   But  this was not our destination.   Instead  we
turned  right  onto the permanent nearside valley  road  and
after another thousand paces or so found a track angling off
to  the right between two fields.  We stopped for a while to
speak  to the field workers tending the sein crop, its  tall
wide  leaves  half hiding them from view, before  continuing
the  150  paces  into  the first of the  forest  canopy  and
started  to climb. This area had been left untouched because
it  was  too steep to use and the king had ordered that  the
trees not be cut, saying that otherwise the mud of the hills
would  be  washed  down and would destroy  the  crops.   The
woodsmen complained bitterly about this as it meant they had
to  travel further to find good timber, but the king's  word
was law.
     It  was  our first time in the forest since last autumn
and  we were making our way to a secret place, a pool formed
by  a natural, hot water spring, presumably arising from the
same  underground heat source as the hot water of the  town.
It  did  not flow anywhere, it just sat there, steam  rising
from  its surface.  But the forest was a wild place and  the
chatter  we  had  kept  up from the moment  of  leaving  the
schoolroom  stopped as we made our way single  file  up  the
remnants  of  the  steep path we used  last  year.   It  had
probably  been a wild pig path, but there were  no  pigs  so
near  to  town any more and every year the path was  getting
more  difficult to follow.  I led, my knife  undone  in  its
sheath  ready  to  draw, and Yue-Lin followed  his  crossbow
loaded though with safety on.
     A  sudden  explosion in the bushes had our weapons  up,
but it proved to be only a couple of frightened wild siedens
panicking upwards on their short leathery wings.  We  smiled
at  each other in unspoken relief and continued.  I had  not
paid  close  attention to Yue-Lin for a while.  He  was  now
taller  than I was, I thought, and looked stronger.  He  was
also becoming a man, even though he was a good 3 seventydays
younger than I was.
     It  took  a little while longer than usual to find  the
pool  and the level of brightness suggested late-morning  by
the  time  we  were  putting down our  weapons  and  sitting
against  the  rock wall behind it.  It was this  steep  wall
protecting  our  backs  but  leaving  a  good  view  of  the
surrounding forest that made us feel secure enough to  relax
when we were at the pool.  Even so, we laid our weapons  out
ready  for use as one never knew when one would meet a giant
lizlion.   We then proceeded to do something that  was  only
condoned within the family group.  We undressed, hanging our
sweaty clothes out to dry on the branches of a fallen tree.
     Before he undressed Yue-Lin said, "I have changed since
we were last here."
     "So have I."
     "I have some hair on my body."
     "So have I."
     "My dick is bigger."
     "So is mine."
     My  know-it-all replies caused him to stop talking  and
proceed to take off his clothes.  Then I saw what he  meant.
I  had changed, so I wasn't just trying to be annoying  with
my  replies.   There was now dark hair growing in  my  groin
area  and  my  dick was maybe 3 times as big as before,  but
when  Yue-Lin was naked in front of me I understood  why  he
had  thought to comment.  He had hair not only in his groin,
but  also  on his chest, belly, arms and legs, and his  dick
was at least double mine.
     "Does  your dick get hard and feel good when you  touch
it?" he asked.
     "Yes." I replied.
     "Have  you thought what it must be like having  someone
else touch it?"
     "No."  Yue-Lin looked at me expectantly.  "But we could
give it a try," I finally added.
     "Okay."
     We  stood close to each other, our young dicks  already
standing up stiffly.  Lin-Yui's felt very thick in  my  hand
as  it slid back and forwards within its skin, and mine  was
giving  me  a  quite marvellous sensation somehow  different
from when I touched it myself.
     "Have  you  ever  gone on for long enough  to  make  it
explode?" he asked as he started to pant.
     "Yes, of course."
     "Let's do it now then!"
     He  started  pulling me faster and soon  the  wonderful
sensation  spread  through  me causing  all  my  muscles  to
tighten, but I did not stop pulling his dick and after a bit
his  body  tensed also and he grunted once.  We looked  into
each  other's  eyes  and smiled, then I became  aware  of  a
wetness in my hand.
     "Did you piss on me?" I asked, somewhat offended.
     "No!   That's  what comes out when you do  this.   Hey,
you're dry, didn't it happen for you?"
     "Yes, it did.  But nothing ever comes out."
     "Oh,  I remember.  That used to happen to me too.   But
after a bit all this liquid stuff comes out at the end.  Its
much messier!"
     "Oh.  Maybe that won't happen to me?"
     "Maybe.  But it happens to my Father also"
     "How do you know?" I asked surprised.
     Yue-Lin  caught himself, as if realising  he  had  said
something he shouldn't have.  He gave me an appraising look.
"You won't tell anyone?"
     "You know I won't."
     "Okay.  I do this with Father in the bath."
     "You are bathing with your father already?"
     "Yeh.   Mum said I was too grown up to be with her  any
longer,  and  even though I wasn't six she  wanted  me  with
Father."
     By  this  stage they had edged their way into  the  hot
water.   "What  does  your Dad's dick look  like  when  it's
hard?"
     "Like  yours  I guess, but a bit longer.  It's  not  as
thick  as  mine.   His sack is smaller than  mine  too,  but
bigger than yours.  His balls are like sieden eggs."
     "I  wonder  what my father's will look like?"  I  said,
thinking that I would find out that night.
     Yue-Lin  led the way out of the water.  Our heads  were
as  wet  with sweat as with water and what had seemed  balmy
air  when we undressed now felt pleasantly cool.  I  lay  on
the  softfern patch where we usually cooled off, but instead
of  lying beside me Yue-Lin organised me so that I was on my
side  with  my lower leg bent up at 90§.  He then  lay  down
with  his head on my thigh, inserting his own under my  head
as  a  pillow so I found myself looking close range  at  his
dick.   It  was certainly a more interesting sight than  the
breasts of the wench in the market place this morning, and I
could feel my dick getting hard again. Yue-Lin's swelled  in
front  of me also, then I felt something warm and wet around
my dick.  Looking down I saw it was Yue-Lin's mouth.  He let
my dick out to order, "Suck me!"
     "Where did you learn this?" I asked.
     "I do it for Father.  I always wonder what it must feel
like as it always seems to feel good for him."
     So  I  cautiously took Yue-Lin's dick  into  my  mouth,
careful  with  my teeth.  It tasted interesting,  but  there
wasn't  much time to think about it as my body filled  again
with  the  sensation  as Yue-Lin moved his  mouth  back  and
forward on my dick.  At the same time as my body spasmed  in
delight he started pushing his dick in and out of my  mouth,
almost making me gag.  Soon though he also tensed, then  his
dick  started to shrink down.  I fell asleep with  his  dick
still in my mouth.
     We both woke at the same instant.  Something had pulled
us  from  our  post-orgasmic  sleep.   Yue-Lin  grabbed  his
crossbow  and  passed me my knife as we backed  against  the
security of the rock wall, ears alive.  Then a bubble  broke
the surface of the pool with a "blorp", and we both realised
that  that  was the sound that had woken us.  It  wasn't  an
immediate threat, and we laughed at our edginess.   Probably
being undressed made us more worried about being found,  but
the bubble was still strange.  We had never seen one come up
from  the  pool before.  Another "blorp" and a nasty  stink,
different  to  the usual sulpher.  We dressed hurriedly  and
made  our way without our usual caution down the steep track
to the fields.  Safe amongst the familiar we started to talk
softly, avoiding the curious ears of the field workers.  Two
topics  clambered for attention, what we had  done  together
and the bubbles in the pool.
     "You know we mustn't talk about what we did," said Yue-
Lin.
     "That's obvious.  But with me leaving school it's going
to be difficult to be together."
     "We'll find time now that we know."
     "I  guess  so.   Where do you think those bubbles  came
from?"
     "Maybe  a  monster was under the water," Yue-Lin  said,
chillingly.
     "Not likely cause it would have eaten us."
     "Yeh,  I guess.  I really don't know, but I don't think
I want to go back to find out."
     "Shame, I like it there."
     "We'll  find somewhere else we can do things,"  Yue-Lin
said knowingly.
     The  topic was dropped.  I left Yue-Lin at his door and
slowly  made my way home.  It certainly had been a different
day.   On  arriving home I found Mother to give her  a  kiss
then sat down with her to lunch.
     After  eating  she  asked, "How was your  last  day  of
childhood," smiling.
     "Good.  Chi-Da gave me the day off so as I could  teach
Yue-Lin about my right angled triangle theorem."
     "That's the one about the square of the two sides added
together being equal to the square of the long side?"
     I nodded.
     "But you told me that Yue-Lin already understood that."
     "Yes.  Chi-Da knows that too.  He was just giving us  a
day together."
     "Ah.   He's very nice, Chi-Da.  I was playing with your
theorem today.  It works every time, though I couldn't  test
it  with  numbers that are fractions.  How can you  multiply
one fraction by another?" Mother asked.
     The  explanation  took some time and  left  me  feeling
tired.   Mother had a little trouble grasping the idea,  but
when it clicked she was good, multiplying 3 5/8 x 2 3/7  and
all  sorts of other funny combinations in her head.  It left
me  feeling  very sleepy, and though I had thought  I  would
have trouble sleeping during the siesta as I had slept after
what  Yue-Lin and I did together and with the excitement  of
the  upcoming evening bath, I fell asleep instantly and  for
much  longer than usual.  I awoke with Father standing  over
me, hand on my shoulder.
     "The bath is ready.  Time to wake sleepy one.  You must
have  used  lots  of energy fighting lizlions."   He  smiled
warmly.   He was already wearing his bathrobe, a  long  robe
made from soft lizrab skin that revealed a bit of hair where
it crossed high on his chest.  It was held together by a tie
of  lizrab.   Father was a very handsome  man,  with  strong
white  teeth always showing in a smile.  His hair  was  dark
and  curly  and  his jaw strong.  He was very  powerful.   I
loved  sitting  on  his lap at night  as  he  told  stories,
snuggling  close  to his strength and man smell.   Over  the
last  6  seventy days I had also come to love seeing him  in
his  bathrobe, the hair peeking out of the V.  One  night  I
had noted he was in a very good mood.  It was bath night and
he was in his bathrobe, heading for the door, when I pounced
on  him.   I  wrestled  with him pretending  I  was  Xen-Li,
fighting  the giant lizlion and he was happy to fight  back.
Xen-Li  defeated the lizlion, and I knew Father would  allow
me  defeat him, letting me sit on him as he lay on his  back
on  the floor.  In truth I had been hoping that his bathrobe
would fall open.  I didn't know what I would see underneath,
but  I was very curious.  Unfortunately it didn't, but while
he  was  on his back he bent one of his knees and  the  robe
fell  back to reveal his leg.  Having never seen an  adult's
leg  other  than Mother's I was surprised by how  much  dark
curling  hair covered it and the massive size of his  thigh.
Having gained victory I started to set about tying him  down
with  pretend  ropes around ankles and wrists,  hoping  that
from  the  foot  end I would be able to see further  up  his
robe,  but  he  rolled me off instead so that  my  head  was
cradled  on his arm.  We stayed together like this for  what
seemed an age as he asked me about my day, what I had learnt
at  school,  quizzing  me on the more  complex  mathematics.
When he finally sent me away I rushed off to my room and for
reasons  I  did  not understand well started pulling  at  my
dick.  It was hard, I had realised as I had run away, though
I  didn't  know why.  I had wondered if Father had  noticed.
Closing  my eyes I again saw his thick hairy thigh  and  for
the first time felt the sensation swelling over me.
     Now,  especially after today, I knew a lot  more  about
the  sensation.   I had discovered that it wasn't  something
exclusive  to  me, as I had thought possible because  I  had
never heard anyone else talk about it.  I did not realise it
was  sex  though.  I followed Father down the wooden outside
path  to  the  bathroom with a sense  of  anticipation.   He
opened the paling door and ushered me inside.  The bath  was
steaming,  the hot water rolling over the top of its  wooden
sides  into the overflow tray as fresh hot water  pushed  up
from the underground source into the bottom of the tub.   It
smelt  of  bath time, of sulphur.  Both lamps had been  lit.
Fresh  soap was in the holder, and the oil bottle was  full.
Father sat on the bench.
     "Stand  here,"  he indicated a space in front  of  him.
"Take off your robe and let me see my boy."
     I  had  never undressed in front of Father, and I  felt
self-conscious.   Also I knew my dick was  hard,  and  after
what I found out today I didn't know what he would think  of
that.   But he put his hand out for my robe and I saw  there
was no evasion.  I slid out of my robe and handed it to him,
at  the same time trying to turn away.  He hung it on a peg,
then turned back to me.
     "Face  me  my  boy," he ordered.  I turned.   His  eyes
examined  me from head to toes.   "Ah, I see we are  growing
up.  And lusty too!"  The last was said looking at my dick.
     I  had  no reply, in fact did not understand.  He  then
stood and turned his back on me as he took off his own robe,
taking  his  time to hang it on the peg next to  mine.   His
back had a light coat of hair similar to what I had seen  on
his  thigh.   All  of  him was covered  in  fur  except  his
backside.   Muscles half disguised by his  comfortable  life
were outlined in his legs and chest.  I felt my dick twitch.
He  turned around and I'm sure my jaw must have dropped.   I
now knew what other boys felt to cause them to cry out "look
at  that!" in response to sights of female body parts.   His
chest seemed massive, his belly powerful.  His dick was much
bigger  than  Yue-Lin's, and seemingly  alive.   I  wondered
briefly if he would ask me to suck it like Yue-Lin's  father
asked of Yue-Lin.
     "What  do you think of your father?" Father asked after
a bit.
     "He's beautiful!"  This just fell out.
     Father seemed nonplussed.  It was obviously not what he
was expecting.  I think I remember that his dick twitched  a
bit,  but this could just be the distortion of my memory  by
time.
     "Thankyou.  You are rather beautiful too.  But  what  I
meant was who do you think I look like?"
     After swallowing on a very dry mouth I eventually  came
out with, "You look like a big version of Yue-Lin."
     "That's  your  friend, no?  The  son  of  Yue-Sin,  the
armourer."
     I nodded, mouth too dry to speak.
     He  watched me for a bit, then looked down.  "Does  his
dick get harder than this?"
     It was then that I noticed that his dick had swelled to
triple the size it had been, but it was not really hard  and
drooped down, though held away from his balls.
     I could only nod.
     "What  do  you do with Yue-Lin?" he asked  in  an  open
manner,   his  dick,  where  my  eyes  were  still  focused,
twitching.
     Father's  questions were never something that one  ever
had  the option of refusing to answer.  Nor could I lie, for
he  always knew.  So stumbling over words that seemed  stuck
to  my  tongue I explained what had happened today, even  to
what Yue-Lin did with his father when asked how Yue-Lin knew
about  such things.  I had thought he was going to be  angry
but instead at the end of my confession he called me to him.
His  lips were lifted in a warm smile and his eyes glistened
as  he  took  me  into his massive arms.  I  felt  his  dick
squashed  against  my belly as he held  me  tight,  my  face
buried in his chest.  "My son," he half moaned, "I have lots
to  tell  you."  Maybe a few moments, maybe an  age,  passed
before  he  said,  "Let's get into the bath  before  we  get
cold."
     Without thinking I said, "Can I sit on your lap?"
     He  looked  down  at his lap, at his swollen  dick  (no
harder than before) and looked back at me questioningly.
     "I'm still small enough," I said with an innocence that
was in truth only 25% fake.
     "Okay, we can give it a try."  He climbed the steps and
lowered  himself slowly into the water trying  to  make  the
exodus of water over the top of the tub gentle so it did not
splash into the room.  He sat shoulders leaning against  the
wall of the tub and feet supported on the opposite bench  in
the  shape  of  first 3/4 of a W.  I climbed  in  after  him
mounting  him like a horse, legs spread around his  powerful
belly.  Vaguely I could see his dick floating upwards in the
water before my bum landed on it.  It was still in its  half
hard  state and by chance its head ended up pushing  against
my  anus.  Father made no movement, but I though I  felt  it
pushing harder against the opening.  Father made a strangled
swallowing sound before saying, "Lift yourself up a little."
As  I did he reached between my legs and pulled his dick up,
then  indicated me to sit down again.  "That's  better."   I
felt surprisingly disappointed, but enjoyed the sight of  my
dick resting against his.  It made mine seem so small.
     "We  have  lots we to talk about Cavon.   Look  at  me.
Other than Yue-Lin whom do I look like?"
     I   had   never   thought.   He  looked  like   Father.
Reluctantly  I closed my eyes and visualised each  person  I
knew one by one.  Like Yue-Lin, Father also did not have the
slope of the eye, and when his skin was next to mine, as  it
was now, his brown made my brown look yellow.  I thought  of
people  of  our town, then the few I knew from outside.   My
eyes opened in wonder.  "You look like the King!"
     Father fixed my eyes for 30 secs before replying.  "The
King is my Father."
     "How!  Your father died when you were a child!"
     "That is the story.  The truth is Mother was the King's
mistress.  It was she he loved, and he married only so as to
achieve  the crown.  But he made sure that Mother was  cared
for  and under no threat.  He visited frequently, spent lots
of  time  with me.  He taught me things only known  by  him.
But I was illegitimate and I could never assume his name  or
have a title."
     My  mind  had  been  racing.  It should  have  been  in
overload  but was in fact running at peak.  "Then I  am  the
grandson of the King."
     "This  is the other thing I must tell you Cavon.  Don't
ever  think  that this is something that makes me  love  you
less, but I am not your father."
     "What!?"
     "My  friend,  Ti-Lung, had a sister.   His  sister  was
indiscreet  and  became pregnant to a childhood  love.   You
know the punishment for this and Ti-Lung was distraught.   I
tried  to find a way to help.  Father had always been  upset
that  I  could not take a place in the realm because  of  my
birth,  and  because of my birth I could not  marry  into  a
noble  position.  Of course you know that the Queen is  your
mother's  cousin.  So I suggested to the  king  that  I  had
found  a way out of my lowly status.  Spare the life of  Ti-
Lung's sister. I would marry her and declare that the  child
was  mine,  and in return I would be ennobled by  acceptance
into  her family.  As the pregnancy had been kept secret  it
did  not require much more than a premature delivery for you
to become my son."
     "I'm not your son!" I cried in despair.
     "By blood no, but in my heart you are more than any son
can be to a father.  Hold me!"
     I  fell forward onto to him, crying into his neck.   He
had no trouble supporting my weight, straitening his legs so
I  could  lie out flat.  Somehow during this his dick  found
its way between my legs, but I only became aware of it as my
sobbing  died  down.   It  was still in  its  semi-tumescent
state, and when I became aware I squeezed my legs together.
     "Careful!"  said Father.  "Sit up again."   He  brought
his  knees  back up and I resumed my previous position.   He
again  got me to lift so as to pull his dick out from  under
me.  "Look at this," he said, indicating his dick.  "It used
to be as lusty as yours, but now this is the best it can do!
Hold it and see."
     I  took its might in my two hands.  It was bigger  than
Yue-Lin's  by  far, but it was squashy, and it bent  without
any problem.  I wanted to leave my hands on it forever, pull
it  up  and  down within its skin like I had with Yue-Lin's,
but knew better so took them away.
     "Cavon," said Father, "it has never entered your mother
or any other woman.  Your mother is a wonderful, intelligent
lady,  but she was not a virgin so I could not.  I love  her
like  a  sister,  and  we have a better marriage  than  many
others I know, but as you know we sleep apart."
     We  looked  into  each other's eyes for  a  long  time.
Eventually I said, "Father, it makes no difference, I  still
love  you.   I respect you for what you did for Mother.   If
others knew they would say that you did it for self-gain.  I
don't think that's true, is it?" I said hopefully.
     "You  are a canny lad," Father replied.  "In truth  the
elevation in status was only important as a means of gaining
the  approval of the King, to help persuade him to hide  the
situation.  I did it for Ti-Lung, and because I knew through
him that your mother was at heart a very good person who did
not deserve to die for one mistake."
     "Is  it  common for women to be executed  for  becoming
pregnant?" I asked.
     "No,  most  of  the time the man accepts responsibility
and  marriage occurs before the birth.  But in the  case  of
your mother the man was denying responsibility."
     "Who was he?"
     Father  looked at me, his features briefly  stiffening.
"He did not want to know you.  I am your father.  And he  is
dead anyway.  Of fever, I think now 4 years ago.  It is best
that you don't know his name.  Now, it is time we got out of
this  bath  or we will dissolve.  But first it is  tradition
that  I  wash  you on your first birthday as  a  man.   Turn
around and sit down again."  He sat up straight while I  was
on my feet, so that when I sat down I was on his thighs.   I
lifted  and  moved back so that his dick was again  pressing
against  my anus, but this time he did not ask me  to  move.
After dipping his fingers into the tub of soft soap he asked
me  to put my head under the water to wet my hair.  He  then
leant  forward and lathered my hair and massaged  my  scalp,
moving  his  strong fingers from there down to my  back.   I
leant forward to put my head under water and he went with me
to  rinse the soap out, but down below the pressure  of  his
dick on my anus was increased. Soapsuds ran over the edge of
the  tub.    Then  he got me to stand and  with  fresh  soap
washed  my  buttocks and between my legs,  applying  counter
pressure with his big left hand spanning my groin to stop me
falling, running his slippery right index finger around  the
rim  of  my anus and even slipping it inside to make sure  I
was clean.
     The back of my legs clean he then asked me to turn.  He
rubbed  my arms and chest, moving down to belly.  More  soap
and  he  lathered my balls and rigid dick, pulling back  the
skin  to clean the head.  Almost as soon as he touched me  I
could feel the sensation building.  He seemed to notice  and
quickly  moved down to my legs.  "Now, out you get  while  I
wash," he said as the last of the soap was removed.
     "Can I wash you sir?" I asked hesitantly.
     He  looked  at me seriously.  "Not tonight  Cavon,"  he
said  after a pause.  "Lets make this something special  for
birthdays.   On your birthday your present is  that  I  wash
you,  on  my birthday my present is that you wash  me.   How
does that sound?"
     "But your birthday is two seventydays away!"
     "Patience my boy, I will still be here."
     As  I  stood cooling off and letting most of the  water
evaporate I watched father wash himself.  After his head was
clean he stood so as he could wash everywhere else.  My eyes
were  glued  to his dick, still half way up, as  he  washed,
fascinated by the site of the swollen head appearing out  of
the skin.  He was aware of my gaze but did not rush.  Rather
he ran his hand up and down a few times and closed his eyes,
then rubbed soap between his legs and downwards before going
back  under the water.  He forced the stopper back into  the
water  inlet then stepped out of the bath.  The skin of  his
dick  was  still pulled back and my eyes fixed on  its  head
again.   I had already dried myself.  "Put your robe on  and
run and get dressed.  I'll join you in the meeting room," he
said as he started working the drainage plug out.
     He  slipped the catch on the door after I went out, but
after  faking  returning to the house I stealthily  returned
and  put  my eye to a hole I knew was in one of the  timbers
near  the  door.   He  had not let the water  out,  and  was
instead standing on the steps leading up to the bath pulling
at  his  dick, an almost pained expression on his face.   My
hand  instinctively  went  to my dick.   My  sensation  came
rapidly but I managed to keep my eye open so I saw his  body
spasm  as white liquid dripped from his dick that was harder
than  any  time previous.  He grunted with the  contraction,
then stood still.  Terrified to be caught but afraid that if
I moved the noise would draw his attention, I waited.
     "Ti-Lung!"  whispered  from his lips  then  he  lowered
himself  to  wash his dick in the bath water  before  moving
back to the drain plug.  Though I wanted to stay watching  I
decided that I had to use the noise of the draining water to
cover my retreat.
     It certainly had been a momentous day, but it wasn't to
stop yet.  I took my time dressing.  My mother had laid  out
the  robe and accompaniments for a formal occasion but I was
unfamiliar  with exactly how they all went together  as  she
had always helped me before.  Tonight though I had to do  it
myself,  and  I wanted it to be right.  I experimented  with
the  robe, the position of the cape, the correct way to  tie
the  belt.   Finally satisfied I made my way to the  sitting
room.   Mother and Father were already there, standing close
together  taking rice wine by the fire.  They turned  to  me
and  I could see the pride in both their eyes.  I must  have
got  it  right!  Father then handed me a small cup  of  rice
wine  and  both he and Mother held up their cups.  "To  your
manhood!" Father said.  Not sure what to do I held up my cup
in  silence,  then took a sip.  It burnt  my  throat  and  I
choked.   Father  laughed as I coughed and my  face  burned.
"Ah  Cavon,"  he  sighed  through  his  laughter,  "I'm  not
laughing  at you.  It is so wonderful to see you  arrive  at
this  day,  and  I  remembered that  this  is  exactly  what
happened  to me when I took my first cup of rice wine.   And
don't forget who was laughing at me was the King, so you can
imagine how much more embarrassed I felt."  Mother was  also
laughing, her hand hiding her mouth.
     Dropping all decorum I put down my glass and ran up  to
both  of  them.  I fell to my knees and put my  arms  around
them both, burying my face in the space that separated their
thighs.  "Thankyou," was all I managed to say between  tears
of happiness.
     My  mother  bent  down to lift me up.  Father  let  her
speak,  which  surprised  me  but  probably  reflected   his
awareness  of  his  not  being my  father  by  blood.   "No,
thankyou  Cavon!" she said in her soft, musical voice.   "We
couldn't have asked for a better son!"
     We  walked in silence to where the carriage was waiting
to  take  us to the town hall.  It was the usual  town  work
cart  that had been cleaned and fancied up, for Father never
maintained a carriage.  We sat on gold painted chairs as the
driver  urged the horses into a walk.  As we approached  the
hall  the  number  of people in the street increased.   They
were  field workers and some poorer freemen, all out to  see
me!   They parted to allow the carriage to stop at the  door
and  formed a guard for our entry.  Father and Mother  urged
me  to  walk  in front.  People touched me as I  went  past,
stroking  my  shoulders and head.  I looked at Father  as  I
didn't know how I should respond to this.  Understanding  my
unspoken  question he nodded, which I imitated,  nodding  my
thanks to all.  Applause from those around the banquet table
sounded   as   I   passed  under  the  decorated   entrance,
accompanied by stamping and some whistles.  All  the  gentry
had  been invited to celebrate my passing into manhood,  and
an invitation from the Lord was not to be turned down.
     I  was  seated at the head of the table, between Father
and  Mother.   Father  indicated for  me  to  sit,  then  to
everyone  else  to do the same.  He spoke briefly,  thanking
all  for  their attendance, and for the traditional presents
that were arranged around the stuffed lizlion, the symbol of
manhood,  that had been placed behind us.  Two  sharp  claps
started  a  seemingly  never-ending procession  of  servants
carrying   trays  of  succulent  roast  slimchui  and   pig,
decorated  with  vegetables and greenery,  rice  fried  with
festive spices, finally finishing with a massive sweet  rice
cake topped with sugar and decorated with candles.  It was a
feast  as  I had never seen.  And all for me.  I was  served
rice  wine like all the rest.  This time I managed to  drink
without choking.  Maybe too much for I started to feel funny
and drowsy.  Silence accompanied the meal, but as people ate
their  fill  they  left the table and the volume  of  voices
rose,  till the hall was filled with laughter and  shouting.
Days  of  celebration were rare, and everyone seemed  to  be
feeling  the  effects of rice wine, with  glowing  eyes  and
reddened  cheeks and a joviality that I had not seen  before
in  these  people  that I had known  all  my  life.   Music,
started  by  a  disguised signal from Father, indicated  the
start of dancing, with everyone forming the long line of the
traditional  coming  of manhood dance before  breaking  into
more  informal sixes and eights of common dance.   I  danced
with Mother and Father, but was also pushed towards Win-Som,
a  woman  who  had only achieved that status recently.   Too
elated  to feel concerned about the significance of  this  I
danced  till the night ended and again mounted the  carriage
for our trip home.
     During this Father explained what I would be doing  the
following  day.  I tried to pay attention.  My  stomach  was
distended to the point of pain, my head high with rice wine,
my  legs jelly from exhaustion.  I attempted to hide this as
I  politely kissed Mother and shook Father's hand.  Boldened
by  the  rice wine I was about to turn this into an  embrace
such  as  we had enjoyed before bathing, but his  rigid  arm
informed  me that this action was not something  for  public
viewing.   Even if the public was only our staff within  our
entrance room.
     "Goodnight my young man," Mother called as I  left  the
room.   I carefully took off my formal clothes leaving  them
draped  over  the chair in my bedroom before putting  on  my
nightshirt.   I  cleaned my teeth with the piece  of  frayed
bamboo  left out by my servant and washed my face  clean  of
the grease of the meal.  Finally I knelt by the bed a prayed
to  the  One, thanking him for such a wonderful day,  before
crawling  under  the  fur bed cover.  I  was  asleep  almost
without any thought, the unaccustomed effects of rice wine.
     SECONDAY

     I  woke before light had dawned.  I felt my way to  the
door  and  down  to  the  kitchen to get  a  lighted  taper,
returning more rapidly by the help of its light.  My  candle
lit I prepared myself for my first day of manhood.  I pulled
up  my  loose filsal trousers and put on the matching shirt.
Over that was to go my tailored lizlion coat, waterproof and
warm, but that would wait till I was ready to leave.  By the
time  I  arrived  in the kitchen Father was  already  there,
eating his morning rice.  He had already served a plate  for
me.
     "Good morning Cavon."
     "Good morning Father."
     "Glad  to  see you up early.  Obviously a lad  who  can
hold his drink," he said proudly.
     We  ate in silence as was correct.  On finishing Father
said,  "Now  clean your teeth, and I will meet  you  in  the
stables."
     I  arrived before him so went over to his horse, Trugo,
and  scratched his nose.  Trugo snorted in greeting.   Light
had  commenced  outside but the clouds were at  their  usual
heavy  level today so it was still quite dim in the  stable.
Father came up to where I standing at the head of Trugo  and
put  his  left  hand around my shoulder  as  his  right  arm
embraced  the horse's neck.  He pulled me close,  enveloping
in  the warmth of his love, giving me confidence to face the
day that was coming.
     Father  mounted Trugo then leant down  to  pull  me  up
behind  him.  I tried to put my arms around him but my  coat
was making everything very awkward, bunching up in front and
keeping  me  at a distance so that I could not reach  around
him  and  the  lizlion of his coat gave no purchase  for  my
fingers.   His  coat  had been tailored for  riding  with  a
number  of  flaps forming its skirts rather than a continual
sheath  like  mine.  He suggested that I undo my  coat  then
slip  my  hands  between the flaps so as I could  grasp  his
thighs.  My arms could not comfortably grasp his thighs,  so
instead  I curled them closer where they gripped his  belly.
To my surprise my left hand encountered his swollen dick and
gripped it reflexly.  Father grunted what seemed approval so
I   didn't  let  go.   He  twitched  Trugo's  reins  and  he
obediently made for the stable door held open by the  stable
boy.
     It  was  fascinating  riding down  the  town's  cobbled
streets,  Trugo's  shoes making metallic clicks  with  every
pace.   I had never been on a horse, and therefore had never
seen  things from this elevated viewpoint.  It gave a  sense
of  power,  one  that I would one day inherit  from  Father,
though  I  was already feeling a sense of power as  my  left
hand  squeezed and stroked his dick through the soft  filsal
of  his trousers and it twitched and moved in response.  The
continuous  wooden  frontage  of  houses  with  their  doors
opening direct onto the street seemed so small from  my  new
vantage  point. When we were about a minute  from  the  town
stables  he said, "Let go now my boy, or I won't be able  to
talk to anyone sensibly."
     I  knew  what he meant, as I thought about  how  I  was
going  to  manage to get my coat closed before my hard  dick
was obvious.  I managed it, slithering down and clasping  my
coat  at  the  same time.  Father didn't seem  to  have  any
problems,  though  I  think his face was  looking  a  little
flushed.   As  I  turned  to complement  Hu-Wi,  the  stable
master,  a  new horse caught my eye so that my formal  "Good
morning"  came  out  rather  rushed.   It  was  a  beautiful
stallion standing proudly on the end of its reins that  were
held  by one of the stable boys.  I looked at Father and  by
his  smile  realised  that  this was  my  birthday  present.
Thinking  to hug him (how quickly this instinct had appeared
when  previously all physical contact outside of the privacy
of  our  home  had  been  forbidden) I  turned  the  nascent
movement  into  a  formal bow of gratitude.   He  nodded  in
acceptance  and  dismissal and I  raced  over  to  introduce
myself to my new friend.  I took his reins from the boy  and
reached up to scratch his neck.  "What's his name?" I asked.
     "Kito, my young Lord," replied the stable master.
     "Hello  Kito,  I  am  Cavon."   The  horse  snorted  in
acknowledgment and I stared him in the eye.  My  mind,  ever
leaping into the future, saw me proudly riding him from  our
family  stable, all my friends squashed against  the  wooden
house  fronts  in  envy, but then it saw  the  loss  of  the
intense  pleasure I had experienced riding behind Father  on
the way to the stable this morning.  I looked up at Kito and
realised that I would have to grow into him before  I  could
bring  him  home  so I could hope for a few  seventydays  of
respite from the loss of repeats of this morning's pleasure.
     With   confidence  refreshed  I  called  out,  "He   is
beautiful!" to be met by the happy smiles of Father and  Hu-
Wi.   It was then I noticed the new lizlion riding coat hung
up  beside  the  Kito's  stall.  My  questioning  eyes  were
answered with a confirmative nod and I jumped up in joy.
     "Okay  Cavon, back up here.  I wanted you to meet Kito,
but your first duty today is sword practice."
     Happily I ran back to Trugo and used Father's proffered
arm  to lever myself back up behind him.  As soon as we  had
exited  the  stable  my  hands  were  back  under  his  coat
searching   for  his  dick   "Hey!"  said  Father   quietly.
Chastised,  my  hands pulled away as if burnt.   "Its  okay,
just slow down, not so obvious boy."  We turned into a quiet
lane  and Father reached inside the front of his coat.  "Now
try,"  he  said.  My left hand encountered his to be  guided
inside  his trousers to his waiting dick.  The sensation  of
its  bare  skin against my hand was magic and I  immediately
began  examining it in earnest.  "Steady, just hold him,  or
I'll  fall off!"  A slight drizzle had started but I  didn't
notice  I  was  so warm with contentment.   Too  soon,  even
though it was on the opposite side of town from the stables,
we arrived at Yue-Lin's house.
     Yue-Sin, Yue-Lin's father, was expecting us and met  us
at  the  door.  "Now go boy, Ez-Ki will pick you  up  before
lunch,"  said  Father after complementing Yue-Sin.   I  slid
down,  again quickly bringing my coat together  to  hid  the
evidence of arousal.
     "Good morning Yue-Sin."
     "Good morning, my Lord."
     It  was  strange,  but good.  Yesterday  this  man  had
called  me Cavon.  I was just a friend of his son.   Now  in
one  day  I had become his lord.  Remembering yesterday  and
what  I had learnt from Yue-Lin my eye strayed to his groin.
His  filsal trousers were pulled high so that his  dick  and
balls  were  outlined  in a pouch.  I knew  that  they  were
nothing in comparison with Father's, but Yue-Lin had aroused
my  curiosity.  Then I wondered about Father leaving me with
this  man  knowing what he knew about this man's  activities
with  his  son, but Father had already gone and Yue-Sin  was
respectfully  showing me into his house.  "He  wouldn't  try
anything because of my status," I thought, with more  regret
than  relief.  But he did observe the bulge my  still  half-
hard  dick  was  making  in  my  trousers,  revealed  by  my
`carelessly' letting my jacket fall open.
     Yue-Sin was a barrel of a man.  He had a massive  chest
and  thick, though short limbs.  Skill and strength made  up
for  his lack of reach and he was a formidable fighter.  His
dark hair was closed cropped, as was his moustache.  He  was
about  19  years old, and Father said he was on the  decline
from  his prime.  I was sure that Yue-Lin would be a  worthy
successor.
     "My lord Cavon, I know you have had a little experience
with  the  bow  and  knife.  The first is  more  a  hunter's
weapon, or a foot soldier's, the second is for assassins  or
close  work.  Where I would like to start therefore is  with
the  sword,  the  true weapon of lords.  If  used  well  you
should  never  need  your dagger, though  a  dagger  is  not
something  one would ignore as a backup.  I will admit  that
daggers  have  more value for people with longer  arms  like
Lord  Srotyr  or  Yue-Lin,  but for  you  and  I  they  have
problems.  Later I will design a sword for you, but  if  its
okay I will wait to you have undergone your growth spurt  so
that  we  only have to do it once.  In the meantime we  will
begin  training with simple wooden replicas.  They are safer
(you  end  up  bruised rather than cut)  and  because  their
movements  are  crude they are actually more  difficulty  to
control  than  a  well-balanced sword.  Once  you  learn  to
control wood control of a real sword will be so simple  your
only thoughts will need to be in the area of tactics."
     During this speech he had periodically scratched at his
balls,  at the same time repeatedly eyeing my dick that  was
elevating instead of going down.  I wondered if Yue-Lin  had
spoken  to  his father, as I had spoken to mine,  about  our
actions  by the pool.  There was no doubt that the pouch  in
his  trousers  was growing.  "Adulthood is not  what  I  was
expecting,"  I thought.  We were quite alone in the  weapons
room, and any noise that occurred would be taken as part  of
training  and  ignored.  "But he knows I would tell  Father,
and  his  life  would  be  forfeit,"  my  thought  processes
continuing  along the lines of physical force being  use  to
make me comply.  "All he would need do is ask though, and  I
would  be  happy to oblige."  I certainly was very  excited.
He took an indirect approach.
     "My  Lord  Cavon.  I see you have a problem there  that
must  be distracting your attention.  Would you allow me  to
help you with it so that we can proceed more calmly."
     "What do you propose?" I asked.
     "I  think  I  will have to demonstrate.   Nothing  will
happen if you don't wish, but I need your word that you will
say nothing to Lord Srotyr."
     "Given," I replied briefly, feeling very noble.
     In  response he stripped.  Naked his body was even more
impressive than dressed.  His muscles were well defined  and
hard.   His chest was broad and solid, and his belly, though
big,  looked  as hard as rock.  As was his dick,  which  was
standing up at 60ř elevated by balls pushed forward  by  his
thick  thighs.   He  was  a little older  than  Father,  but
appeared younger.  Also in contrast to Father, his only hair
was  in his groin.   "What I propose is that I lubricate  my
arse  and your dick with that massage oil, I will then  bend
over  the table like so and you will fuck me till you  don't
need to any more."
     "And  you,  Yue-Sin?" I asked.  His eyes questioned  my
meaning.   "How  will you get satisfaction?"   I  felt  very
adult and formal.
     "Don't worry me lad," he said, dropping back to the Yue-
Sin  I  knew.   "I will cum all over the floor a  number  of
times before we finish!  Shall we continue?"
     I  had  lost my elite confidence, didn't know  what  he
meant  by "arse", "fuck" or "cum", though I knew I was  soon
to find out.  All I managed was a nod.  It was enough.
     He  gently  took  off my clothes.  "Let  me  suck  your
little  lizlion for a bit first," he said kneeling in  front
of  me and using the grip he took on my buttocks to push  my
dick  in  and  out of his mouth.  "Fresh from  last  night's
bath,  probably  washed  by  Lord  Srotyr's  own  hand,"  he
spluttered gleefully.  Feeling me start to tense he  stopped
and  applied the massage oil as he had described.   He  bent
over  the  table  and said, "Grab my arms to give  purchase,
then enter me slowly to give me time to adjust.  You're  not
very big so it shouldn't be too difficult."
     I  now realised arse meant anus.  Knowing what Father's
finger  had felt like when he put it inside I could see  the
attraction for Yue-Sin in what we were going to do.  I  took
a  few  goes  to get things lined up, then my  dick  slipped
inside him without difficulty.  He got me to hold still  for
a  bit  and then said, after giving his "arse" a  bit  of  a
wriggle, "Fuck me for all your worth!"
     "I sorry sir, what does "fuck" mean?"
     Yue-Sin laughed gutturally.  "It means move that little
dick  of yours in and out of my arse as fast or slow and  as
deep as you want until you cum."
     "Oh,"  was  all  I  managed, but promptly  applied  the
instructions,  surprised by how wonderful it felt.   Yue-Sin
started groaning so I asked, "Am I hurting you?"
     "No,  you most certainly ain't!  But if you could spare
one of your hands for my dick I would be obliged."
     With  my left hand I held his dick while my right still
gave  purchase.   Yue-Sin began his  own  fucking  movement,
pushing his dick (that I hadn't noticed he had oiled) in and
out of my hand, increasing the penetration of my dick in his
arse.   Soon I was tensing prior to the sensation, and  Yue-
Sin  was tensing under me.  He cried out then grunted and  I
felt  an  increase in wetness in my left hand, but soon  the
sensation overtook me I didn't notice much more of  what  he
did.   I  rested  on him, panting a bit as  he  was  blowing
underneath me.
     "Now  don't  pull  out boy," he said  between  breaths,
"just move slowly till the itch builds up again then go  for
it.  The second time is always better!"
     And in fact the second sensation was more powerful than
the  first, and as by the noise he made so was his.   I  had
now  worked out, in the small part of my thoughts that  were
functioning  rationally, that "cum" meant  "the  sensation".
Even so, the sensation even on the second time did not match
that  I  achieved watching Father through my  spy-hole  last
night,  or the loving warmth of holding his dick as  I  rode
behind  him on Trugo.  It still felt good though.  I  closed
my  eyes  and could clearly see Father standing on the  bath
steps,  left  hand  holding the base while  his  right  hand
stripped the shaft of his partially hard dick.
     "Had  enough," Yue-Sin asked after a bit, "or have  you
enough for one more time".
     Thinking  of Father had made me quite hard again  so  I
replied, "One more time if it's okay with you."
     "Let's go!" and he began pushing his dick again through
my wet, encircling hand.
     At  this  point  I  realised that his  dick  had  never
softened  even though it had jettisoned a copious supply  of
fluid each time he had cum.  This time took a lot longer for
both  of  us, and we were breathing too heavily  for  words,
sweat lubricating the smooth junction of our bodies, by  the
time we had finished.
     "Enough," I called, pulling out.  My dick felt battered
to the point of no recovery and was quickly softening.  Yue-
Sin  was still rock hard.  Looking back I am amazed  at  his
sexual  stamina for his age, at the time though  I  did  not
realise  sexual ability always reduced with age despite  the
knowledge of Father's problem.
     Yue-Sin  grabbed some wadding used for weapon  cleaning
and  first  wiped me down then himself.  He took me  in  his
arms and kissed me roughly on the lips after saying, "You're
not  a bad little fucker, you know.  We'll have to try  this
again!"   He  instructed me to dress, then  suddenly  became
formal.  "Lord Cavon, it's now time to learn how to use your
second weapon of the day!"
     I felt weak, but took the proffered wooden sword.  Yue-
Sin  had  dressed,  but his dick was still sticking  stiffly
forward  inside  its pouch.  "Doesn't it ever  go  down?"  I
asked, ignoring his mock formality.
     "It will with a bit of distraction, my lord" he said as
he  launched an attack on me without warning.   I  tried  to
defend,  but  was "dead" in moments.  "Just keeping  you  on
your  toes, so you don't think I'm always so easy," he  said
with a sardonic smile on his face.
     Then  began solid drill work, thrusting, parrying, Yue-
Sin  standing  by  me, correcting my line, making  sure  the
point  of the sword was always lifted so as to be ready,  my
knees  always  bent in a prepared crouch.  By  the  time  he
called  a  halt my arm was more exhausted than my  dick  had
been.   "That's  enough.  Now I want some simple  stretching
before  I  rub  you down," instructing me to  hang  from  an
exposed rafter that he lifted me up to.  The rub down to  my
surprise was a very professional, and after what had  passed
between us, quite impersonal, massage, followed by a hot tub
to  remove the oil and further relax my muscles.  I  suspect
it  was because he knew Ez-Ki was arriving soon that he  did
not  join  me  in the tub (though he didn't  cover  me  with
towels  so he wouldn't see my body while he massaged me  and
he  did stand watching me from when I undressed till when  I
was  dry and putting on my clean clothes, though after  what
had  already  passed between us I couldn't really  complain)
nor let the massage become personal.  Tubs were an exclusive
domain  of  nobility and the rich, so Yue-Sin, and therefore
Yue-Lin,  was  lucky to have one.  It was installed  at  the
cost  of  the  local men of wealth because Yue-Sin  was  the
trainer of all their sons, who couldn't be sent home wet and
cold with the cooling sweat of a hard work out.
     A   knock  at  the  arms-room  door  announced  Ez-Ki's
arrival.  Yue-Sin quickly embraced me before allowing entry,
whispering  that  he  looked forward  to  our  next  lesson.
Father had organised a roster of weapon, horse, then day off
for  my  mornings,  with the afternoons spent  learning  the
administrative side of his position.  God-day was  naturally
free.
     Ez-Ki  brought me to Father.  He was seated at a  table
outside  the  back of the tavern despite the  light  drizzle
that  had  continued to fall, talking with a man who  looked
like  an  artisan by his dress but proved to be  the  town's
chief engineer.  He had been supervising a wall repair  near
the  tavern  that explained the state of his dress  and  the
location of the meeting.  Father had already been to inspect
the work.  "Thankyou Ez-Ki," said my Father, dismissing him,
and  indicating  for  me to sit by his side  on  the  bench.
After Ez-Ki had left Father said, "Wi-Su is going to tell us
about  possible methods of cleaning the square.   He  is  an
intelligent man and a good designer, and a week  ago  I  set
him the task of finding a solution to the growing problem."
     Wi-Su  started nervously, probably because he  knew  he
was  indirectly criticising the idea of the  King,  but  his
confidence  built quickly as he warmed up.   "Hot  water  is
going to be the best thing to soften it, but bringing it  by
the  bucket is going to take too long.  Once softened it can
be  scraped with wooden scrapers, but there is no  where  to
scrape it to."
     "Now Wi-Su," said Father, smiling, "you only ever bring
up   problems  when  you  have  solutions.   What  are   you
suggesting?"
     Wi-Su  smiled.  "You know me well, my lord.  I  propose
that  a  pipe be sunk similar to those used for baths,  then
water  by directed to enclosed troughs like the water supply
that  will  spill into a trough that will run the length  of
the square.  I suspect that a hot water source will be found
closest  to the northern end.  The trough running the  width
of  the square will be closed at its southern end, and  will
have  holes bored all along its length at decreasing  height
so  that water will be spread equally along the top  of  the
square.   At  the low end we can then construct  a  drainage
system  similar to under the market to remove the water  and
filth.  It will need to be constructed in stone so that  the
debris can be pushed down towards the town wall and out into
the fields."
     "That sounds like a very big job Wi-Su."
     "Yes  my  lord, it is. But the filth will be an ongoing
problem,  that  I  believe  will be  best  and  most  easily
controlled  by a regular schedule rather than  attacking  it
haphazardly when complaints get loud enough.  I would  think
you  would  be  looking  at maybe one  half  seventyday  for
completion of the construction, then the cleaning would take
a  team  of field workers no more than a day I would  think.
Chipping  it  away with hoes would I believe take  twice  as
many  workers at least 10 days.  You can see that  soon  the
time  would be made up, and also the square would be out  of
action for less time, and be useable all year round."
     "Yes,  I  see your logic.  But how can you confirm  it?
What do you think Cavon?"
     "Sir,  if  you took a group of maybe three workers  and
let  them  work with hoes for a day, we could then calculate
how  long it take to clean the whole square by this  method.
As  to  the construction, I assume there is a record of  how
long  it  took  to prepare and install the troughs  for  the
water  system, as well as the cost of the timber.  The drain
could  be similarly based on the cost of building the market
system with an added cost for the stone work."
     Father  was looking at me with a smile of pride on  his
face.   "What  do you think, Wi-Su?" he asked in  a  serious
tone.
     "My lord, I think the young lord shows amazing insight.
With  your permission I will undertake what he suggests  and
report next week."
     "Permission granted.  You may request the workers  from
the  southern fields.  That land is fallow at the moment and
they  are on loan to other areas.  Three can be spared  once
the  rice  crop is planted.  Report in 4 weeks  after  these
workers have become available.  By the way, why three Cavon,
why not one."
     "Sir,  one person will work very hard as he knows  that
he  will  be judged by his work.  Two will work as  a  team,
each motivating the other to keep going.  We're talking of a
large group of field workers working here though if the plan
is put into full effect.  In a big group everyone slacks off
thinking  they  will not be seen and someone  else  will  do
their  share  of  the  work.   Three  working  together  may
approximate this so that a reasonably close estimate of real
time can be made."
     "I like your logic.  "Wi-Su?"
     "My  lord,  the next time you set me a task do  I  have
permission to approach Lord Cavon as an adviser?"
     "We'll see, though if your not careful you may not have
a job Wi-Su!"
     Seeing Wi-Su's look of fear, and realising that he  had
not seen Father's phrase in the jovial tone it was intended,
I  said,  "Don't  worry Wi-Su.  With my  program  of  weapon
training  and horse lore I will not have time to  take  over
from  you.  I know Lord Srotyr respects your work  and  your
position  is  not in jeopardy."  I looked at  Father  to  be
greeted  by  a  beaming smile.  "But one  thing  you  didn't
mention.   To get the sludge out into the fields,  where  it
will  in truth act as a very good fertiliser, you will  have
to  breach  the  town wall in some way.  This  could  act  a
potential  weakness in case we are under attack.   What  are
your thoughts?"
     Wi-Su  was nonplussed.  He had been rescued only to  be
thrown  to  the  lizlions.  "My lord, I  have  none  at  the
moment.   May I have permission to think on this matter  and
present when we meet next week?" he asked meekly.
     "Of  course," said Father, still smiling broadly.  "Now
go,  and ask Ez-Ki to come to me."  Wi-Su bowed his way into
the  tavern and soon Ez-Ki was in his place.  "Bring Trugo,"
he  ordered, then said quietly to me when Ez-Ki was  out  of
earshot, "Don't do anything till we're in the little laneway
out of sight."
     We walked to where Ez-Ki was waiting for us with Trugo.
I  mounted  behind  Father and, after dismissing  Ez-Ki,  he
urged  Trugo  to  a  slow  walk so I wouldn't  have  trouble
keeping balance.  At his word though my arms slipped  around
him,  my  left hand finding the waiting gap in his  trousers
and  his already hardening dick.  I sighed contentedly,  the
source of his manhood in my loving grasp, I think echoed  by
Father, and though I was now quite secure and we were  clear
on  the opposite corner of the town from home Father did not
encourage  Trugo to move much faster as we headed for  lunch
and the siesta.
     Mother  was waiting for us at the dining table,  having
been  warned  by the stable boy who Father had  sent  saying
that  he  would see to Trugo.  When he took of  his  coat  I
realised  that  the reason for this somewhat unusual  action
was  that his dick was still fiercely pushing out the  fisal
of  his  trousers  even  though  I  had  stopped  giving  it
attention when he had requested.  I had thought that he felt
harder than last night.  "Now I have bought us a little time
to  regain our composure we can use it for your first lesson
in  horse lore.  It's a bit arse about," he grinned  at  the
crudity of his expression, "but you will learn how to take a
saddle  off  before  you put it on."   By  the  time  I  had
concentrated on the intricacy of the series of ties and  the
order  for  releasing  them, and of course  questioning  the
reason  for  the  large number and suggesting  alternatives,
both  of us had recovered sufficiently to enter.  Before  we
did  though  Father took me in his embrace.  As  much  as  I
longed for the feel of his arms around me holding me against
his  strong body I pushed away.  He looked at me  almost  in
disbelief  that  I  would deny his direct  request.   "Sorry
Father,  I  mean  no disrespect," I said quickly.   "I  have
worked  hard  to  regain my composure while I  learnt  about
removing a saddle but it will only take moments to return to
the  state  that  required the lesson in the  first  place."
Father  eyed  me with fire in his eyes saying  nothing,  but
after a bit it died and he nodded.  "Cavon, what I was going
to  say was that you made me a very proud father today.  The
way  you comforted Wi-Su when you saw he was distressed  for
no reason, but then reminded him in the same breath that you
are truly his superior, was the height of the art of being a
ruler.   And now you have done the same to me!  And you  are
quite  correct.   I am sorry for my anger  when  you  pushed
away.   To my benefit I did not express it, but should  have
known  that anything you did to contradict me would  have  a
very  good  reason.  I guess I have become arrogant  and  am
accustomed  to  being obeyed.  Your intellect  and  maturity
humbles me."  In response I said, "Father I want to hold you
now  more  than  before.  It tears me in two.   Maybe  after
lunch you can find an excuse to see me to my bed?"
     As  I said Mother was waiting for us, full of questions
for  me as to my first day.  Father told the story of Wi-Su,
of  the  pride of the logic of my answer, how he  could  see
that in a very short time he was going to be quite dependent
on  me.   Mother  smiled her happiness behind  her  hand,  I
looked meekly into my food, eyes feeling heavy.  Next  thing
I knew my mother called out and I was pulling my face out of
my empty rice bowl.  Father came to my aid, cleaning my face
with my serviette, then suggested he see me up to bed.
     "Good tactic," he said quietly after shutting my door.
     "No sir, just fatigue I'm afraid," I smiled.
     He  took  into his arms and held me tight against  him.
In  return  I  hugged  him as tight as my  weary  arms  were
capable.   "You can never know how much I love you,"  Father
said softly.
     I  found  some  extra strength and  squeezed.   "It  is
returned  many times over.  My greatest pleasure  is  to  be
with you." I said quite honestly.
     I  could  now feel his dick firm up against  my  belly,
just  as  mine  was rigidly pushing into  the  area  of  his
thighs.  Finally Father broke the hold, looking down at  the
swelling in his pants.  "I'll now have to go direct to  bed.
I'll  come and get you when I wake."  He had his hands  down
his  pants in the action of scratching his balls to  obscure
his  aroused state as he opened the door, telling my servant
who  had  been waiting nearby to tell the Mistress that  his
Lord was going direct to bed and that he was then free to go
to  his siesta as I would not be needing his help.  I  slept
quickly and deeply, but not for that long.
     Two  days  of  remarkable events had  turned  my  world
around.   I  now knew about sex and cumming, but still  felt
quite at a loss about sex between men.  Sexual union between
man  and woman was a concept I had been aware of, being  the
necessary prerequisite for having a child.  It was the  same
as  with animals that I had witnessed many times, but I  now
knew  that what I had been feeling for Father for  the  last
six  seventydays had been the stirrings of what drove a  man
and  woman to sexual union.  I had thought that sexual union
occurred  sort of like a duty thing, like one bowed  to  the
King, not aware of the strong passions that truly drove  it.
So  why do those strong passions drive me towards men rather
than  women?  And why towards Father?  A boy surely  doesn't
normally feel what I feel for Father for their mother?   And
why do other men share those passions?  Now that I was aware
that  what I felt was not unique to me, and included others,
even  mature men like Yue-Sin, I could recognise Father  had
the  same feelings for me as I had for him.  Why did he hold
back?  If he is going to leave the door ajar why not open it
completely?   And  why did he whisper the  name  of  Ti-Lung
after he had cum last night (I realised I had included  Yue-
Sin's  crudity in my thoughts and smiled, but  it  was  much
quicker  than  "the sensation" and I didn't have  any  other
word)?
     Ti-Lung  was Father's friend from childhood and  Father
still  visited on a regular basis despite the fact that  Ti-
Lung  was the lord of a town on the Yan-Se river, three days
horse  ride  away.   Now  I knew he married  Mother  at  the
request of Ti-Lung it told me that his relationship with Ti-
Lung must have been very close.  Three days ago I would have
said that this reflected friendship like I had with Yue-Lin,
and  now I would say the same thing but mean something quite
different.  (Life is quite confusing!)  But what I felt  for
Yue-Lin was nothing like what I felt for Father and thinking
about what we did yesterday had no effect on me, and despite
the  fact that thinking about what I did today with Yue-Sin,
the  image of his powerful frame and ever hard dick made  my
dick  get  quite  hard, the emotion wasn't  there.   Though,
logically  that  didn't  mean that  Father  could  not  have
feelings for Ti-Lung similar to mine for him.  Maybe when he
looked at me he was in fact looking at his memory of a young
Ti-Lung,  who  after  all  was my  uncle.   Yet  Father  had
specifically said he loved me personally, and Father did not
lie.   And  besides, Father did not have his own  father  in
competition with all other comers like I did.
     But why did he not relax so we could enjoy freely on  a
physical  level  what  we  had emotionally?   It  seemed  so
simple.  Yet life always seemed simple, and adults had  ways
of  making  that simplicity complex.  Maybe it was  complex.
Looking at the risk Yue-Sin had taken today was possibly  an
example  of  that.  He already had his wife to  satisfy  him
sexually,  and as that did not appear to be enough  he  also
had  his  son who was much more developed than I.  Why  then
take  the  risk of exposure and approach me?  Unless  danger
was  an  excitement of its own?  Now that's getting too  far
from  my  understanding!  Or maybe it is power.  Yue-Sin  is
obviously  very aware of my position.  That sex between  men
is  never  spoken of suggests that there must be some  taboo
against it.  Possibly Yue-Sin thinks by have sex with me  he
is  corrupting  me,  and this is a way  at  hitting  out  at
Father.  Why would anyone want to hurt Father?
     Somewhere during these mental meanderings I fell asleep
again,  to  wake to the soft touch of Father's  lips  on  my
forehead.  He was seated beside me on the bed.
     "Wake up Cavon.  Time to go."
     I  smiled  up at him, reaching up to catch his handsome
face  between  my two hands then seemingly  floating  up  to
place  my  lips on his.  He was surprised, then relaxed  his
lips into a soft kiss.  I fell back content, one hand on his
arm  he  was  using to support himself on my far  side,  the
other on his thigh.  "I'm very happy Father."
     "So  am I, my son.  It is wonderful to have you in  the
adult world, in my protection."
     My  mid  siesta ramblings surfaced as I looked lovingly
into  his  eyes.   "He does not let things  go  any  further
because he is protecting me," I thought.  "If only he knew!"
     "Let's  go  before problems surface," the loving  smile
still present glowing down on me.
     "Okay."
     Mother  was  still  asleep.  The stable  boy  had  been
allowed to saddle Trugo, and Trugo was eagerly awaiting  us.
Before mounting father put his hand inside his coat and  did
something, then looked at me.  "We forgot to bring home your
new coat," he said.
     "It's okay.  I'll just undo this one again."  I mounted
behind  Father and as soon as the stable boy had  turned  my
hands  were  inside his coat to find his trousers  loosened,
waiting  for me.  Like a lizrab down its hole my  hand  dove
in, but found only hair.
     Realising the problem Father said, "Uh.  I'm sitting on
him.  Wait till we're in the lane."  There he lifted himself
in  the  stirrups,  slipped a hand inside his  trousers  and
delivered  his dick to me.  He had to stretch it as  it  was
quite soft and small.  I held it tight so it did not escape.
Seeming  to  hear  my almost-thought-of  question  he  said,
seemingly  embarrassed, "I masturbated after  siesta  so  he
would stay under better control."
     "Masturbated?" I asked, not recognising the word.
     Even  more  embarrassed he replied.   `"Ah,  you  know,
like, touch yourself till you achieve orgasm."
     I  almost asked `Orgasm?' when I realised that it  must
mean  "cum".   I  contentedly  cuddled  in  behind  Father's
jacket, finding that my left hand was free to fiddle  to  my
hearts  content without causing the distraction even  slight
movement  caused this morning.  It was interesting examining
Father's  limp dick, noting how even at rest  the  head  was
quite big, how the skin slipped backward and forward easily.
I felt an urged to examine his balls, and was skewing myself
to  achieve further reach with my left hand when Father said
sotto voice, "Whoa!  I'll let you have a feel of them in the
court office.  Here you're making a show!"
     Realising  I  had got so involved that I had  forgotten
where  we  were I sat up straight and lost hold of his  dick
all  together.  The Town Building was in sight so  I  didn't
bother trying to regain a grip, rather turned my thoughts to
what  the  afternoon would teach, mainly in  an  attempt  to
soften   my   dick.   Father  never  said  much  about   his
afternoons.  I know he settled disputes between towns  folk,
made  judgements  on  wrongdoers,  but  he  never  spoke  of
individuals.  He said that people deserved privacy, even  in
their errors if they were not too severe.
     By now I had become quite good at slipping off Trugo at
the  same  time  as  pulling  my  jacket  together.   Father
dismounted  leisurely and hand Trugo  to  Po-Wei,  the  Town
Building's  assistant, asking at the same  time,  "How  many
cases have we today?"
     "Only  two  my  lord,"  replied Po-Wei  with  his  eyes
correctly on the ground.
     "Difficult ones?"
     "No, I don't think so my lord."
     "Good!   Give  me a while before you come in  with  the
robes."
     "Yes my lord," bowed Po-Wei.
     Father  and  I  entered by the Lord's entrance  at  the
front of the building into a meeting room.  Behind this  was
the  dressing  room.  The meeting room was empty.   "Through
here  Cavon," he said, leading me into the dressing room  at
the  same  time as loosening his trouser tie.  He  let  them
drop to knee level giving me free access.
     I lovingly examined his balls, moved them around within
the  relaxed  sack, felt their texture and size,  committing
them  to memory.  They were certainly bigger than Yue-Lin's,
but  softer.   Feeling I had taken enough time, rather  than
having lost interest, I let go and stood straight.  I tipped
my  head up and this time there was no surprise, Father  met
my  lips  in a gentle kiss.  He then readjusted his trousers
and  began telling me about the room.  There was a  peg  for
his lizlion jacket, and a new one beside it for mine.  There
was a basin of water, two sitting mats and a small lacquered
table  with  writing equipment and rice paper.  Illumination
was  provided by the new roof light, a clever  flap  in  the
shingled  roof to allow day light to enter, another  concept
introduced by the King.
     Looking  up  the roof light I said, "The King  has  had
many interesting ideas.  He must be a very clever man."
     "He is indeed a wise man, but he does in fact have some
assistance to arrive at his discoveries."
     At that moment Po-Wei knocked at the door.  At Father's
call  he  came  in  carrying  two  sets  of  robes.   I  was
instructed to observe how the robe was organised, where  the
ties were, where the arm outlets.  Like outdoor robes it was
designed  for  arms  to be kept inside  out  of  sight  (and
wetness)  except  when  needed.   My  robe  was  a   smaller
duplicate,  but in cream rather than deep burgundy.   Father
lead  into the hearing room.  Po-Wei, bringing up the  rear,
showed me where to sit (I was to be an observer only and was
placed in the corner) then brought in the first case.
     Both cases for the afternoon seemed so petty, a chicken
that was stolen, or maybe just went astray and fell into the
neighbours cooking pot, an insult levelled by a man  against
the  wife of another that was maybe just swearing into empty
space.   I  admired Father's gravity in handling  them,  not
letting  them  see the minuscule nature of  their  problems,
pronouncing his judgements with wisdom and allotting fitting
punishments.  The fowl issue was straightforward - the chook
had  to be replaced, but I found the second intriguing.  The
profaner  was  ordered  to spend his non-work  hours  as  an
unpaid servant for the offended lady for a week, to not  see
his  family or go home but rather to sleep on the  floor  of
the hut by the door to protect against outside dangers.   He
had  to provide his own food.  It seemed fair, demeaning but
not  cruel.  Mother said that Father had  a  reputation  for
being a wise, good judge of people and their characters, and
rarely was their any significant complaint about his rule in
the  town.   If  new  evidence did  arise  that  showed  his
judgement was incorrect Father was not afraid to re-open the
hearing  and  do  what  ever was necessary  to  correct  the
situation.
     This did not take long and in less than an hour we were
handing  our  robes back to Po-Wei.  Father  looked  at  me.
"There's  nothing urgent for the rest of the day.   What  do
you  think  we go for a ride around the estate?"  he  asked.
"Specially seeing this is your first day."
     "That would be marvellous, sir," I replied.
     Father  handed me my coat and then put on his.   Before
he  closed  it  he made a show of undoing his  trouser  tie,
though  not  loosening them.  His smile was a glowing  fire.
"Let's  hope  they don't fall down before I get onto  Trugo!
But don't reach in till we're out of the town.  We'll be  on
the main street all the way to the gate."
     I  nodded.   The morning drizzle had turned into  light
rain.   Po-Wei was standing holding Trugo when we  came  out
(though  I'm  not  sure how he had managed  to  get  him  so
quickly)  and  we  pulled up our hoods  to  keep  rain  from
entering  our  coat's  collars.  Having  my  coat  open  was
obviously a bit of a problem, but I wasn't going to miss out
on what was on offer for anything.
     Father  stopped and spoke to various town folk  on  the
way  down the main street, introducing me to those I had not
met,  informing all that I had entered adulthood.  The  last
was Hi-Tui, the gate watchmen.  He was also in charge of all
those  who  watched from the walls and Father  would  always
expect a report of anything seen in the last day.
     Hi-Tui  never had any fear of Father, though  he  never
faltered  in respect.  This was reflected in his  answer  to
the usual request for report of observations.  "Only someone
who  entered yesterday as a boy and is leaving  today  as  a
man,  my  lord!"  he  said, somehow  managing  to  have  the
appropriate  head bow and smile at me behind Father  at  the
same time.
     "Yes, that's a wondrous thing, is it not!  Thankyou you
Hi-Tui."
     Outside  the gate we made an immediate right turn.   "I
often  inspect  the  town wall before  going  out  into  the
fields,  when  there is time."  After we had  moved  out  of
sight  of  Hi-Tui he slipped his hand inside his  coat  then
said, "Okay."
     The  first  thing my hand found was his.   He  held  it
tight for a bit before introducing it to his dick, not quite
as  soft  as it was before.  Returning both of his hands  to
the  reins he encouraged Trugo into a faster walk.  The wall
consisted  of  tree trunks cut into sharp  points,  cleverly
fixed  together so nothing external could be cut  or  damage
them,  buried in the ground and angled outwards to  make  it
harder  to scale.  The logs were obviously of various  ages.
It  had  always seemed enormous when I was on foot,  but  on
horseback  it  was less impressive.  Still I could  not  see
anyone being able to reach its top to clamber over it.   Not
that  I had ever heard of any threat made against it.  Every
now and again father would stop and mark a notch in an aging
log with a small axe.
     "What are the walls protecting the town from?" I asked.
     "To  understand  the walls you have to  understand  the
region.   20 years ago when the King was young and  had  not
yet  ascended  the throne this area was rich in agriculture.
But  it  was on the fringe of the realm and was often raided
by  small,  mobile  groups  of tribesmen  taking  lives  and
animals.   Frequently  enough  that  though  none   of   our
neighbours  coveted the area it was starting to decay.   The
previous King set Father a task, I think in part to test his
worthiness  to  rule.   That task was  to  reinvigorate  the
region.  After exploring he decided that what was needed was
a  secure  place where people could live and  where  animals
could be stabled at night.  Also a local authority had to be
instituted.  You know the King is a clever man with many new
ideas.  He realised that if a few houses were built, even if
a  local  lord was installed, raids would continue unabated.
He also knew that none of the nobility of the realm would be
tempted  to  come and rule anyway.  So he had two  problems.
He  put  his  solution to the then King for  his  agreement,
because it wasn't a cheap solution, but he thought it is one
that would pay for itself quickly.  The King agreed.
     "The  solution rested on a number of points.   One  was
the  easy  defensibility  of this  location.   The  strange,
rectangular cut out shape of this small valley off the river
valley  with  its sheer rock walls, the tops  of  which  are
difficult  to  access, made it safe from rear  attack.   The
second  was  the natural hot spring.  Father suspected  that
this was just the small surface of a larger underground body
of  water,  and  its presence could make this a  comfortable
place  to  live.   He then designed a town, something  never
previously  heard  of.  He first laid outlines  of  all  the
principle  buildings  and  the streets  of  the  town,  then
allowed  room  for expansion to decide the position  of  the
wall.   All the floor of this side valley was forested,  and
was  cut  to  supply the logs for the wall.   Wall  complete
construction of the buildings began.  First was  the  lord's
residence.  Father figured that this had to provide a  level
of  comfort  that made up for its distance from  the  King's
court.   He conceived the idea of sewer trenches and of  the
hot  tubs.  Initially he had thought to use tank water  like
in  other parts of the realm but the low rainfall here could
make  that  unreliable.  He puzzled  over  this  for  weeks,
roaming around the hills, till he came upon the spring  that
supplies  our water.  He then saw the solution.   A  channel
was  dug to the edge of the cliff at a point where there was
a natural vertical chute in the rook.  The tank was built at
the  base  of  this chute and overflowed into  a  number  of
smaller  calibre pipes for distribution along  the  streets.
The canal external to the town was a liability he recognised
- it could be easily damaged or poisoned.  The tank supplied
a stand-by if this happened, as he made sure that the inflow
could  be diverted into the waste system if necessary  where
the overflow went anyway to keep it rinsed.  The area at the
top  of  the  cliff could be accessed only  with  difficulty
anyway, and would require inside knowledge to recognise  its
importance.
     "Sewer  lines  were dug and lined, and brought  through
the  wall using the grilled, shallow opening which you  know
well  at  the lowest point. It was another area of weakness,
but an unattractive one for any would be pilferer and easily
defended!   The lord's house was to be modern  luxury.   Hot
bath,  running  water, sewer.  You take if for  granted  but
there is nothing else like it in the realm.  It was built at
the  back to have good drainage and increased safety  as  it
was to be the last bastion of defence in case of an invasion
that  breached  the  walls of the town,  and  so  was  built
strongly from stone.  When it was complete he lived  in  it,
bringing  mother, as his wife would not leave the luxury  of
the  KingsTown, to stay with him while the rest of the  town
was  completed.  I was born here.  Everything else was  made
from  the abundant timber of the area.  Finally streets were
paved  with  river stone to reduce the mud that plagues  all
towns. When completed the King gave the area to Me-Lin Wong,
a  distant  relative of the then King's wife, as a  fiefdom.
He jumped at it of course and for 10 years the area thrived.
By this time Father had ascended the throne and the strength
of  his  rule made the realm more secure, and the  need  for
constant  vigilance had diminished.  Then Me-Lin  died,  and
his  son,  Me-Wei, became lord.  Unfortunately he  had  been
spoilt  as  a  child  and  lived  only  for  pleasure,   and
consequently  the  area started to decay.  Town  maintenance
was neglected, fields left uncultivated, and then he stopped
sending  the  required tribute to the King.  Father  put  up
with this for some time, as he knew it would be difficult to
persuade other reliable men to take Me-Wei's place, then  my
marriage  occurred.  I was asked if I would  come  here  and
readily  agreed.  Me-Wei and all his family were ordered  to
attend an audience with the King.  Father knew Me-Wei  well,
knew  that  he would use any dishonest trick to  thwart  the
justice  he  was going to administer, knew that  this  would
cost him dearly in soldier's lives and would continue to  do
so  until  Me-Wei  had died.  Fortunately Me  -Wei  and  his
family never arrived at the King's residence.
     "Some  say  that Father orchestrated his assassination,
but  knowing  Father as well as I do, though  he  would  not
hesitate  to  remove scum like Me-Wei, I doubt if  he  would
hurt  Me-Wei's  innocent family.  Nothing  was  ever  found;
neither  stray horse nor body of man or beast; of the  whole
retinue,  and the event remains a mystery.  All of  Me-Wei's
remaining  portable  wealth was missing though,  and  Father
suspects that Me-Wei read the situation and rather than face
punishment fled into the wilderness to build himself  a  new
life.   When  it  was  realised  what  had  happened  I  was
immediately placed in the town as caretaker, and when it was
declared  that  Me-Wei wasn't returning I was  anointed  the
Lord of the region."
     By  this  time we had come to the junction of the  wall
with the sheer rock of the cliff.  We turned back for a bit,
then  headed down a path between fields of neatly cultivated
vegetables.    My  education  continued,  moving   onto   an
introduction  to agriculture.  I learnt about the  cycle  of
land  use,  plants that liked the dryness of  summer  versus
those  that liked the constant dampness of winter.  In truth
a  lot was familiar territory and Chi-Da did include biology
in  his classes, but I was quite happy sitting behind father
and  what he said did relay some additional information  and
give  a  practical slant on Chi-Da's theory.  Too  soon  the
light  was fading and we were riding back through  the  town
gate.   Father  slowed Trugo for the leg through  the  town,
finally asking me to do up his trouser ties.  Reluctantly  I
let go of his dick that had been in my grasp for so long and
carefully tied his trousers.  Our coats were wet so we  hung
them  in  the  stable before going inside to  clean  up  for
dinner.
     It  was my turn to tell of the events since we last saw
Mother.   After  the traditional silence of dinner  we  took
rice wine cross-legged in front of the sitting room fire  as
I  recounted the afternoon.  Mother expressed her  happiness
at  my  ongoing  learning,  smiling  into  her  hand  almost
constantly  in pride.  Soon though my eyes were starting  to
get  heavy and I begged permission to retire.  I was in bed,
and  had just fallen into sleep when a knock sounded  at  my
door.
     "Enter," I called.
     Father's  servant appeared in the open door.  "My  lord
requests your presence," he intoned.
     Puzzled, I sought Father in the sitting room.   It  was
empty,  so  I  made the trek deeper into the  house  to  his
chambers.  I knocked on the door in trepidation,  as  I  had
never been here before.
     "Yes," sounded Father's voice.
     I  cautiously  opened the door and put  my  head  round
through  the  gap.  Father was sitting at a  desk.   He  was
wearing  an  embroided white silk robe that he  was  holding
together with his left hand.  A pen was in his right and  he
continued  writing  for a little before  looking  up.   "Ah,
Cavon  my boy!" he exclaimed warmly, letting go of the robe.
It fell open to reveal his bare chest.  "Come in.  You don't
need  to  knock.   Just come in.  There's  nothing  to  hide
between us!"
     I  came  in  and shut the door.  After 6 years  without
seeing any more of Father's body than a bit of bare thigh on
one occasion I had been feasted with vistas of his bare skin
since last night.  "Thankyou sir.  You sent for me, sir?"
     "Yes,  but  please  drop the formality.   There  is  no
formality between us in these chambers."
     I  nodded, then took this as permission to look  around
the  room.  It was large, with the desk at which Father  was
seated near the back wall on the left.  There was a door  in
the wall to it's left, and another in the wall to its right.
The  walls  were  lined with cloth hangings, decorated  with
paintings  and  tapestries.  The floor was covered  in  rush
matting.  A combustion stove sat in the middle of the  room,
and  there  was also an open fire in the wall  opposite  the
desk.   In  the right hand wall was another door.  All  were
closed except that to the left of the desk, but I could only
see  a  portion  of wall through it.  Several large  closets
were situated around vacant areas of wall.
     "You've never been in here," said Father in response to
my  gaze.  "I'll show you around but I wish to talk with you
first.  Come and sit."
     I sat on the matting in front of the desk.
     "I  have  a  suggestion I wish to make.   You  are  not
obliged  to  take it up in its entirety, but  one  thing  is
essential.   The personal liberties that we have taken  with
each  other  outside of these walls must stop.  We  run  the
risk  of  scandal."  In response to my fallen face he  said,
"Wait  till  I  finish.  We cannot go back on the  closeness
that has developed so rapidly between us.  It would cause us
both  pain and there is no need for that.  In these chambers
we  can have the freedom to express ourselves, but this will
not  be  of much benefit if you remain sleeping adjacent  to
your Mother's rooms.  We will now be sharing the same hours,
so  I  would like to suggest that you move into these  rooms
with  me.  This was designed as the parental suite, and  has
two bedchambers.  One can be yours if you wish."
     He  did  not  need  to ask my answer,  it  was  written
clearly  in my smile.  "So, I'll show you around," he  said,
standing.   The desk had hidden everything below  his  waist
and  I  had  assumed  he was wearing  trousers,  but  to  my
surprise  and pleasure I discovered he had nothing on  other
than  his robe, that did not have a tie.  "But first embrace
me."
     My  arms reached under his robe to try to encircle him.
"Anything is okay?" I asked.
     "Anything we wish."
     So I let my arms explore down his back to his buttocks,
then  let  one hand slide around to find his swelling  dick.
For  the  first  time I was able to explore it  in  comfort,
slide  the skin up and down.  Father tensed but did not  ask
me  to stop.  With one hand he lifted my chin and kissed  me
softly on the lips.  "I'll show you around now," he said  as
he  broke his embrace.  First he walked into the room to the
left  of the desk.  "This is my bedroom."  It was also lined
with  hangings, had a door out to an enclose  courtyard  and
contained only a large bed.  "It backs almost directly  onto
the  cliff wall - separated only for ventilation.  The cliff
wall is quite wet, and special drainage channels were dug at
its  base  to take away the water.  Still, it can  be  damp,
which is why I keep the stove burning at all times."
     The  next  door revealed bathing facilities.   A  basin
with  its  own supply of hot and cold water with a  glass(!)
mirror  on the wall in front of it, a tub, smaller than  the
one in the washing room but big enough for one person, and a
further  door  leading into a toilet.  The bench  containing
the  toilet seat backed onto the cliff, and a tank for water
sat beside it for flushing away the waste.  The washroom was
truly  luxurious.  The final door led into another  bedroom,
but  other than wall hangings it was empty.  "This  has  not
been  used  since we moved here.  Tomorrow I will  have  the
servants move your bed and possessions in for you."
     "Does  that  mean I will sleep one more  night  in  the
other room?" I asked, feeling intense disappointment.
     "I  guess,"  Father  replied then paused  for  dramatic
impact, enjoying seeing the pain in my face for the pleasure
of relieving it, "unless you want to sleep in my bed."
     I  jumped on him and hugged.  "I'd love to, of course,"
I cried.
     "Get your immediate personal gear then."
     I  raced  out,  grabbed  my clothes  for  tomorrow,  my
pillow, my comb and a fresh bamboo for my teeth.  When I got
back Father was standing at the basin.  He had taken off his
robe and was cleaning his teeth.  He interrupted to tell  me
to hang my clothes in the closet and put my comb in the wash
room.  After depositing the comb I kissed his bare shoulder.
     "Now,  remove that childish night gown.   Its  warm  in
here always, and men don't wear clothes in bed."  I complied
without hesitation.  Father paused to look at me then  said,
"One  thing  that I should have said.  We cannot  hide  away
here all the time.  It would not be fair to your Mother, and
even  though our servants are discreet even they might start
to  talk.   So  we must spend as much, or more time  in  the
communal  rooms  as we ever have.  Understand?"   I  nodded.
"Good!  Now into bed, I won't be long."
     I scampered under the bed cover after putting my pillow
right  beside Father's.  Soon he joined me.  We lay embraced
initially,  forehead resting on forehead.  I was  unable  to
resist  the  free  availability of his  dick  and  was  soon
playing  with  it  again.  Father kissed  me  on  the  lips,
followed  with,  "Now leave it alone  for  a  while  boy  or
neither of us will get any sleep.  Roll over."
     I   slotted   myself  into  the  curve  of  his   body,
luxuriating  in  his warm presence, his embracing  arm,  his
hand that cupped my balls and hard dick.  "Goodnight Father.
I love you."
     "Goodnight Cavon.  I love you too." He said and gave my
dick a squeeze.
     I  fell  asleep  quickly, as  content  as  I  can  ever
remember  being.   I  woke at some time  during  the  night.
Father  had  rolled away, lying on his back snoring  softly.
There was enough light from the dying fire in the main  room
for  my  dark-accustomed  eyes to make  out  a  large  bulge
lifting  the bed cover in the area of his groin.  Cautiously
I  slipped under the cover to discover what it was, to  find
his  dick, harder than at any time I had touched it to date,
lifting  the bed cover.  It felt marvellous in my hand.   It
still  bent, but it was much less squishy.  Father's snoring
paused  and  he rolled on his side away from me.  Frightened
that  I  had  wakened  him I remained very  still,  but  his
breathing continued with a slow regularity.  I slipped  back
up  to  the  pillow, contemplating these newly found  facts,
both  that  Father's dick was hard while he was  asleep  and
that  it  was much harder than when he was awake.  I cuddled
up behind him and was soon asleep again.
     THIRDAY

     Father  kissed me lightly on the forehead, bringing  me
awake.  I smiled up at him, then joined my lips to his in  a
long  kiss.  When Father got up I noticed that his dick  was
quite  hard, as it had been during the night.  "Is you  dick
better?" I asked.
     "No.  I just need to pass water," he replied.
     "Oh," feeling disappointed.  "May I feel it while  it's
hard?"
     "Sure, but not too long.  I really need to pass water."
     He stood in front of where I was sitting on the edge of
the  bed.   His dick, sticking straight out, seemed  massive
now  it  was  hard.  I wrapped my two hands around  it  then
started  pulling backwards and forwards.  A  drop  of  clear
fluid  glistened in its eye.  To touch it was slippery,  not
like  urine that I thought it might have been, and I started
rubbing it around the smooth skin of the head.
     "Steady there!" exclaimed Father.
     So   I   stopped,  satisfying  myself  with   a   close
examination of its swollen head.  Having it so close  to  my
face  led to the next obvious step, and before Father  could
react its head was in my mouth.  It tasted different to Yue-
Lin's,  better, though it stretched my jaws something awful.
I  ran  my  tongue around a bit leading to  a  "Whoa!"  from
Father and he pulled away.
     "I'm  busting," he said, leaving me to watch his  hairy
back as he exited.
     I  followed him into the wash room as I needed to go as
well.  My dick was just as hard as his, but this was nothing
unusual so I couldn't say it was related to my full bladder.
I  watched him pass water, fascinated how his dick sagged as
his  bladder emptied.  "Maybe there is a connection  between
the bladder and the dick, and the dick swells because it  is
full of water," I thought.  I suggested this to Father.
     "No, it is full of blood," he replied, "though when you
look at mine you would think it was as you suggested."
     "How do you know?" I asked.
     "I have seen a man have his dick cut off as punishment.
Blood came out."
     "What  did he do?  I have never heard of this  type  of
punishment."
     "He showed his hard dick to a woman in public."
     "Why  would he want to do that?" I asked.  By this time
it was my turn at the toilet.  My dick did not go down as  I
emptied my bladder, ruining my theory.
     "It  excites some men to do this.  This happened in the
days  of  the  old  King.   Father  dropped  this  kind   of
punishment  when he became king as the man who was  punished
died  afterwards nearly every time.  That's why you  haven't
heard of it."
     "Oh."
     "I  have  a room just outside where I take my breakfast
rice.   You will not need to dress, just a robe, as  no  one
will  be  there," Father said after washing his hands.   "We
can clean up after eating."
     After  the morning rice I had another treat -  watching
Father  shave.   Something else I had never seen.   "Will  I
have  to  shave?"  I  asked.   It  looked  complicated   and
dangerous scraping a sharp knife across his face.
     "Yes, when you've matured a bit more."
     Eventually we were both ready.  "Now remember, hands to
yourself when we are outside this room," said Father.
     "How will I hold on behind you?"
     "Grab something else, but not my dick!"
     "Okay."   I lifted my face for a kiss that Father  bent
down  to  give,  warm  and tender.  Our coats  were  hanging
outside the door, brought in from the stable by our servants
after  they  had  dried.  We both needed them  to  hide  our
arousal.
     Life  had become a continuing surprise for me  since  I
reached adulthood.  Waiting for me in the stable was a small
pony!   I  thanked  Father formally as the stable  hand  was
present, though wanting to hug him.  The stable hand  helped
me onto the pony.  "Now you will only need to hang onto your
reins," Father said smiling after we were in the street.
     And  I was holding on.  I felt very nervous, sure I was
going  to  fall off, even though the pony sedately  followed
Trugo  on his way to the main stables.  "You'll get used  to
it  quickly.   When you're a bit bigger you can transfer  to
Kito, but for the moment this little lady will allow you  to
get started."
     I  was  left in the care of Hu-Wi that morning to learn
the  basics of horses.  Father was going to call past on his
way  home for siesta.  Unlike Yue-Sin, Hu-Wi treated me with
full respect. He was a man in mid years, slim and wiry.  His
hair was quite white in spite of his years and was worn long
in  a  pony tail. He had a wispy white beard.  He first gave
me  a guided tour of Kito, showing me all the good things to
look for in a horse, comparing Kito with other horses in the
stable.   It  seemed  Kito had all the good  points,  and  I
realised  I had received a magnificent animal.  I wanted  to
grow  on the instant so I could ride him, but had to  settle
with the pony, which I must admit was a sweet little animal.
     "What  will  happen to this sweet pony when  I  am  big
enough for Kito?" I asked Hu-Wi as he led me around the yard
on  the pony's back explaining the use of knees for guiding.
I feared he would say that she would be killed for meat.
     "She  will go onto to teach another young man, my  lord
Cavon.   She  is a sweet tempered, intelligent  beast.   Her
only fault is her size for otherwise she is a fine steed."
     "Good,"  I  said, giving her a hug.  "Does she  have  a
name?"
     "Of course my lord.  It is a tribute to your nature  to
ask.   Most young men don't care, they seem to almost resent
her as she is not their horse.  Her name is Lika."
     "Okay  Lika,  I  think it is time you and  I  did  this
solo!"
     "You feel ready, my lord?"
     "Sure am!"
     Hu-Wi handed me the reins and I walked Lika for a  bit,
the   pushed  her  into  a  slow  canter.   Lika   responded
beautifully  and  soon  she  was dodging  back  and  forward
between the obstacles set up in the centre of the yard.
     "You learn quickly, my lord," said Hu-Wi.
     "Thankyou  Hu-Wi.   But  I have  no  reason  to  accept
praise.  I have two very good teachers."
     "Two teacher's, my lord?"
     "You."  I paused for effect.  "And Lika."
     "Ah  yes,  my  lord.   You have  noticed!   Lika  is  a
wonderful  teacher.  I must tell Lord Srotyr how  quick  you
are.   I  have  not  had  one other young  man  notice  that
before!"
     "And,  of course, you did not tell them, though I  hope
you complemented Lika in private!"
     "Yes,  my lord.  She is a fine steed and deserves every
reward I give her."
     "What does she like?" I asked.
     "She  likes  carrots, my lord, and if she can  get  it,
sugar."
     "Ah,  the  lady has a sweet tooth.  Do you think  I  am
good enough to ride out to meet Lord Srotyr, Hu-Wi?"
     "On Lika I would think so, my lord.  She does not spook
easily.  But if its okay I would like to see if you can stay
on if she were to take fright."
     "Yes, of course."
     "Now  take hold with your knees, my lord.  It  is  with
your  legs that you hold onto a horse, not your arms.   Your
arms  are for your sword, The One forbid that there is  ever
need  to use it." Hu-Wi then made a gesture to Lika and  she
lifted her front legs into the air.
     I  hung on for all I was worth, and managed to stay  on
despite  all Hu-Wi had Lika did.  I was pleased to  dismount
though.
     "Excellent,  my  lord. I would like to  show  you  some
details about grooming before you go."
     "Certainly,  Hu-Wi," I said, following  him  on  wobbly
legs.   I was sure that my legs would be as sore tonight  as
my  arms  were  last  night.  But I was  happy,  and  looked
forward  to surprising Father by coming to meet him.   Hu-Wi
showed  me  how  to  rub down a hot horse by  grooming  Lika
before letting me re-saddle her.  Soon I was riding sedately
towards  the  Town Building.  I was only part way  down  the
street when Father turned in to the other end
     He  let  me  come to him, then said, "I can see  you've
have  learnt a lot in a short time.  You now sit well.   Let
me  talk with Hu-Wi before we head home."  Father dismounted
and  entered the stables, handing Trugo's reins to me.  Soon
he returned, a dazzling smile lighting face.  Just his smile
melted  me inside.  "You know how to make your Father  proud
Cavon.  Let's go home."
     I  followed behind Trugo.  Lika liked following the big
stallion so there was no effort needed on my part.  We  left
the  horses  in the care of the stable hand and  I  followed
Father  inside.  Just like Lika, I liked following  the  big
stallion,  hardly  aware  of my aching  legs  as  I  floated
behind,  still alight from the warmth of his smile.   Inside
our  rooms  he  corked the drainage plug  of  the  bath  and
unplugged the hot water.  "Undress and lie on the bench here
Cavon.  I'll massage your legs."
     Father  undressed as well then firmly massaged my  legs
and  buttocks  with  a sweet smelling oil.   "How  are  your
shoulders?" he asked.
     "Starting to stiffen."
     Before getting me to roll over he massaged my shoulders
and upper back, then after rolling he dug his strong fingers
into  the  front  and  inside of my  thighs.   My  dick  was
throbbing  stiffly above this, but Father did not touch  it,
even  though  my right hand was gently stroking his  swollen
organ  when it was in reach.  "Now, into the bath with  you,
soak some heat into those muscles."
     "Do you use this bath often?"
     "It  is  a habit I have developed.  I bath every night.
I  only use the large tub on GodDay for appearances as  this
is  more convenient, though sitting up to one's neck in  the
big tub is pleasant."
     "What is it made of?  The surface is so smooth."
     "I  believe it is shaped from the resin of a tree found
on  the other side of the mountains, then painted over  with
alum  which for some reason makes it water proof.  The basin
is the same."
     "It feels so nice sliding up and down on it."
     "It does," Father replied as he left the room.  After a
while  he returned.  "Now its time we got to lunch.   Kneel,
and  I'll  make sure all the oil has come off your back  and
legs."   He  soaped his hands and rubbed down  my  back  and
legs,  once  again  running his finger around  my  anus  and
letting  it  slip  inside.  This time  in  response  to  the
pleasure  this gave I pushed back on his finger so  that  it
penetrated  further.   Father cooperated  and  I  think  his
entire finger entered.  It felt exquisite, but all too  soon
he  took  it  out.  "Rinse the soap off and  get  dry."   He
washed  his  hands  in  the  bath,  plugged  the  inlet  and
unplugged the drain, then stood in the entrance of the  wash
room  watching me.  His dick was wonderfully swollen, though
not a shade on what it had been like in the morning.
     Dry, I gave him a hug, then reached up to pull his head
down for a kiss. He met my lips willingly, his mouth relaxed
and a little open.  His tongue slid along my lips, seemingly
requesting  entry.   I complied and his  tongue  explored  a
little  inside  my  mouth for a moment  before  he  suddenly
pulled  his mouth away.  He did not let go of me,  squeezing
me  tight against him.  "Can I lick your dick a little bit,"
I asked.  He did not reply, but his arms loosened their grip
enough  for me to slip down.  The varying moods of his  dick
were fascinating.  It was swollen, almost as long as when it
was hard in the morning, but quite malleable.  I rolled back
the  skin then gently ran my tongue around the flange of its
head.   I  took  the head into my mouth and  was  caught  by
surprise as the sensation built up rapidly in me to  climax.
I  was not even touching my dick!  My body tensed but I took
care not to bite down of the wondrous organ in my mouth.
     Father  lifted  me,  holding me  at  arm's  length  and
looking at my dick.  It was still hard, and as usual nothing
came out.  Seemingly satisfied, though I wasn't sure what he
was  looking for, he held me again and said, "Get some clean
clothes  on.  You don't want to lunch smelling of horse!   I
need  to  use  the toilet so I'll meet you  in  the  dinging
room."
     Mother  was  in  the  meeting room, kneeling  over  her
embroidery,  when I entered.  I told her that  Father  would
not  be long and sat close along side her, telling her about
my  morning.  When Father entered, looking a little  flushed
in  the  face, we sat at the dining table.  Grace was  said,
and  we  ate  in traditional silence.  After completing  the
meal Father briefly told Mother of the complements Hu-Wi had
expressed  about  me.   I blushed, and  defended  myself  by
saying  that any compassion I had I had learnt from  Mother.
Mother hugged me warmly before we separated for siesta.   On
entering  our  room  Father kissed me,  wishing  me  a  good
repose,  then  turned to his bedroom.  "Can't I  sleep  with
you?"  I asked to his retreating back.  He faced me,  nodded
without  saying  anything, and  I  tripped  after  him.   He
undressed, his dick quite as small as I had seen it, and got
under  the  cover.  I slipped my naked body, less tense  now
the  desire that had built in it since my time with  Yue-Sin
the  previous day had been released, into the curve of  his,
twisted my head to kiss him again, and was quickly asleep.
     Father  was not in bed when I awoke.  Worried  that  he
had  already  left I ran naked into the main room.   He  was
seated at his desk, his white silk robe open as it had  been
when  I  entered for the first time last night.  "Ah  Cavon,
you  are awake.  Put on your robe and join me."  In response
to  my puzzled look he pointed to one of the closets.  In it
was a deep blue version of the robe he was wearing.
     "Thankyou  Father!"  I  exclaimed,  thrilling  at   the
sensation of the smooth silk against my skin.
     "Thank  your  Mother, Cavon.  It is  she  who  did  the
embroidery."
     The  image was of flowers and leaves in red, yellow and
green.  It was beautiful.  "I will."
     "Look at this with me."  I joined him at the desk.   In
front of him was a map that, on scrutinising, I realised was
of our town and the immediate surrounds.  "We have a problem
that  will become urgent within a year or so.  Though Father
allowed room for expansion within the walls of the town, the
area  is so rich that it has been able to support many  more
people  than he could have guessed.  We need to  expand  the
town,  but  this  needs to be done in a way  that  will  not
jeopardise  our  security.  We have been at peace  with  the
Kingdom  of Wingso ever since father became King, but  there
is  no  guarantee that this will last while a  new  wall  is
built.   Also,  the  town gate is a major structure  and  is
still  in  good  condition.  It  would  be  shame  to  build
another."
     By this time I was sitting on Father's lap, my new gown
lifted  from under me so my naked buttocks were against  his
bare  skin.  I had never seen a map of the town, and it  was
interesting to see how everything slotted together, the same
but  at  the  same  time  different  from  my  street  level
understanding.
     "Look  at  this for me while I'm away and let  me  know
what you think."
     "I can't come with you?"
     "You'll be better resting your legs.  I don't have much
to  do and will be back soon.  Tomorrow we can go for a long
ride.  I want to inspect our most recent fields."
     "Okay."   Father dressed.  I got up to  kiss  him  good
bye,  then went back to the map.  The side valley was  drawn
as  a perfect rectangle.  I hadn't thought of it before, but
it  was a strange shape for a natural structure.  Everything
else  around was made up of weathered slopes and curves.   I
knew  that  the  walls sloped up gradually  where  the  side
valley  joined  the  main  river  valley,  not  reaching   a
significant height for some 100 paces.  The town wall  began
some  600 paces back from that.  An idea came and I  drew  a
quick sketch on a piece of rice paper, looked at closely  to
see  if  there were any obvious faults, then put  it  aside,
filled with a happy anxiety to explain it to Father.
     I  passed the rest of the afternoon with mathematics. I
had  had  a  new idea, about numbers that only divided  into
themselves.  I was curious to see if there was any  pattern,
so one by one I checked every number up to 100.  I could not
see   a  pattern,  but  wrote  them  out  neatly  for  later
contemplation, filing them in a drawer in my desk.  It  took
up  a  long  time  but  Father still had  not  returned.   I
wandered  out  to see Mother, had tea with  her  and  talked
about  numbers.   I  ran back to get the  list  I  had  just
written  out, but she could see no pattern either.  We  both
wondered  where Father had gone, though it was  not  unusual
for  him  to head out into the fields to solve problems  the
overseers were unable to solve.
     I  had  just returned to my room to wash up for  dinner
when Father came in.  "Run me a bath," he said.  His clothes
were  quite  grubby.   I looked at him  questioningly  after
complying.   "A man fell down a deep hole in the  new  area.
Quite  a strange hole, we can look at it tomorrow.  I helped
get him out."
     "Was he hurt?"
     "Yes,"  replied Father, taking off his clothes  in  the
washroom.  "Broken leg.  I set it for him, but it was a  bad
break I think he will always be lame.  We will visit him  in
the morning to treat it further."  He sat on the edge of the
bath waiting for it to fill.  His face looked drained,
     "You look tired," I commented after a while.
     "Not  so much tired as upset.  I feel it deeply when  a
man  is  injured doing work for me.  I almost feel his  pain
myself."
     "A  hot  bath will help.  Would you like me to  massage
you?"
     Father  smiled.  "I don't know if your  hands  will  be
strong enough to make much impression, but why not."
     Like  father  had  when he massaged  me,  I  undressed.
Father lay on his belly on the wooden bench.  I got the oil,
but  could  not apply much force from ground  level  as  the
bench was quite high.  "Jump up and sit on me," said Father,
"you will be able to apply more pressure."
     Sitting on his buttocks I rubbed the sweet-scented  oil
into  his shoulders.  The muscles felt tight and tense as  I
dug  into them with all my force, but slowly they did  begin
to  relax.   I  moved gradually down his back, enjoying  the
feel   of  his  powerful  body  under  my  hands,  but  also
fascinated by watching my rigid dick slipping down the crack
between his buttocks.  When I had moved all the way down  to
the  bottom of his calves he asked me to slip back up again,
pointing to an area of his mid back that was troubling  him.
As  I slid along his oiled thighs my dick seemed drawn to  a
target  of its own, slipping into the crack of his buttocks.
It  was  pushing against an obstruction, but  this  suddenly
disappeared  as  I  reached  higher  up  his  back  on   his
direction.  I had entered him!  Not quite sure what I should
do I kept massaging, but keeping my dick quite still.
     "Now  your in you may as well fuck me," said Father  to
my surprise.
     "Are you sure?" I questioned.
     "I'm sure.  It will give me pleasure."
     So  I  lay on him and started to move rhythmically.   I
took  a while to finish, but Father did not complain, though
nor  did  he moan and groan like Yue-Sin.  When I  finished,
lying panting on top of him, he said, "Now we'll both need a
bath."
     He entered first and I followed, facing him, legs
intertwined.  Father's face had relaxed, and was looking at
me contentedly.  "Did you enjoy that?" he asked.
     "Yes Father, very much."
     "Hmm.  I'm pleased.  Would you like to wash me?"
     "Yes, immensely!"
     "I'm all yours!"
     Rubbing   soap  into  every  crack  and   cranny   felt
wonderful.   I  specially  enjoyed washing  his  dick,  even
though  it was largely unresponsive.  Father then washed  me
before  we dried and dressed for dinner.  He gave me a  long
pensive  look  as we left our room.  "This is all  happening
much  quicker than I would have imagined," he said with  his
hand on the door handle.  "I thought I was stronger."


                           BOOK 2

      CHAPTER 1


     Cavon looked up from the page he had been writing.
Bright sunlight shone through the windows of the low-level
flier.  It was skimming over endless blue ocean on its way
to the first island he was due to audit this trip.  He had
set the flier speed to slow to give him time. Its auto-
guidance and roof of solar cells meant he had to pay it no
more attention until he arrived at the island.  It just
skimmed over the water surface on its ion cushion without
causing as much as a vibration.  He had wanted the time so
as to re-capture his childhood.  He had decided that to do
this he must use the tools of his childhood, but his hand
was now cramped by hours of unaccustomed writing.  It was
taking much longer than he thought it would, but time was
something of which he had an abundance.  Pages of his tight
hand littered the small bench he was using as a desk.
"Maybe I should have just dictated to the computer." He
often found himself thinking aloud on these trips.  After 10
years (galactic standard, not NuChin) on this planet he was
starting to feel that he was loosing contact with his early
years.  The only physical things he had left were the three
recordings of Father with William, but these were not really
part of his life, and a note left for him by Father.  They
were part of his past though.  William had introduced him to
this job on this remote planet, one that no one else had
wanted and which had been vacant for so many years prior to
his taking it up that it had become notorious throughout the
civilised galaxy.  Most of the problem lay in the fact that
one had to pay for one's passage to and from the planet, and
the salary being offered was not enough to compensate for
such a cost.  William had organised for him to be left here,
on Planet T7G8.  A strange planet, he was told that there
was none other like it anywhere else in the universe.  In a
binary star system it had somehow come to rest at the point
of equal attraction between the two stars.  It spun, and
revolved around the two stars at the same rate they revolved
around each other, so effectively it stayed still.  It was
therefore sunlit constantly, with the edge in the plane of
the junction of the two stars receiving light from both
stars at the same time.  The two stars were slightly
different colours, and you could tell which you were facing.
Currently it was Blue that was in the sky above him, Yellow
was in eclipse.
     The planet was also strange in that it did not have any
landmasses or any tilt.  It was like a billiard ball covered
uniformly with a coating of water some 60 metres deep.  With
the uniform heating and equal gravity pull at all times
there were, no tides, no waves and very little wind.  There
was a slow current moving the warm equatorial water to the
slightly cooler polar regions twisted a little by the
planets spin and air masses gently followed this.  The only
things above water were a scattering of coral atolls.  It
was an ideal environment for coral, but only on a very few
spots on the planet was the water shallow enough to allow
its growth.  But when it grew it grew with vigour, forming
ever-expanding islands.
     There was no animal life on land more advanced than
insects despite the teeming sea life, but vegetation had
colonised the land.  Every island had its own unique plant
life, isolated genetic systems.  They had adapted to the
unusual environment, one that did not see rain or darkness,
each in their own way.  It was one that formed a communal
root system that dipped into the salt water of the ocean and
desalinated it for its own use that had caused the human
colonisation of this otherwise useless planet.  Or rather it
was a parasite plant that tapped into this root system for
its own water supply that was the cause.  It had taken the
botanists a while to realise that they were in fact
different plants.  The parasite plant stored water in little
fruit like projections from under its leaves, with a central
nut-like seed.  The water was to provide the moisture for
the seed to germinate until it could send its own roots into
the host communal root system.  For reasons that are unclear
the water also contained a sugar and a chemical that
enormously heightened sexual sensation for the human
species.  Why the plant bothered producing this novel
chemical was unclear.  It did not seem to play any obvious
role in its own lifecycle, except that it had now caused it
to be grown on every single coral atoll of the planet!  An
unpredictable genetic advantage.  It had also received the
enigmatic name of XTC.
     Of course the chemical had been easily synthesised, but
the fruit had quite a delicious flavour, especially the nut,
and in a universe starved of novelty it was in great demand
amongst the wealthy elite.  It was an essential after dinner
fruit at any party of worth.  It was only for them that it
was available as the plant had resisted all attempts to
culture it anywhere else in the known galaxy.  It was its
rarity as much as its delicate flavour that caused its
demand, an enormous snob value.  Cavon's poorly paid job was
to monitor the production of the fruit for Lind Inc, the
company that owned the planet and had the galaxy wide
monopoly for its distribution.  It was a joke of a job as
the production quotas were set not far from the maximum
possible growth capacity, and even if a little was traded
illegally it was so little and the demand was so great that
it would make no difference to their pricing structure.  In
truth any surplus was generally consumed by the growers
themselves, one of the perks of the job.  But the accounts
department on the company's home planet, ZurichSide, wanted
everything quantified in nice spreadsheet form, so Cavon
went from island to island counting beans.  That no one had
done this for so many years made his job easy, as not even
Lind Inc's heartless accounts department expected to receive
much information.
     It was an interesting job however for the range of
people he met.  An odd mixture came to live on the isolated
atolls to cultivate and harvest this plant.  There was only
one farm per atoll, so they had to have an ability to live
in isolation.  It was quite lucrative, but many people still
lost their investment capital and ended up in debt to Lind
Inc for the next couple of hundred years as they couldn't
handle being so alone.  This of course was not bad for Lind
Inc, as there was always a queue of new applicants.  If one
could last one's 50 year lease the profit generated, even
after paying out one's loan that had provided the exorbitant
investment capital, was enough to set one up in a standard
of living that could actually afford to buy, on a daily
basis for at least the next 300-400 years, the fruit that
one had produced for the previous 50 years.  Even if one
lived on the best planets in the galaxy!  And if one had
good financial advice one, in theory, should never have to
work again, though most people eventually took up some kind
of employment to maintain interest.
     Having lay in the total exerciser for the necessary 30
minutes, eaten duck l'orange with broccoli produced by the
food synthesiser along with his AgeStop pill, stood in the
cleanser unit and changed his clothes, Cavon sat once again
at his improvised desk to resume his task.

                     BOOK 1 - CONTINUED

     WEEK ONE - CONTINUED


     FORDAY

     Father  felt  the leg of Xi-To.  It was badly  swollen,
but  the  splint  seemed to be holding well and  wasn't  too
tight.  The leg was crooked though.  "We'll have to put your
leg  in  traction  Xi-To, or it will end up healing  wrong,"
said  Father.   He  wrapped Xi-To's leg  in  bandages  after
removing the splint.  Rope dipped in resin was run down  the
sides  of  the  leg and another bandage wrapped  around  it.
Resin  was painted over the top.  It took a little  time  to
dry.   While  he waited he padded a wide leather  belt  with
fisal fluff and bandages.  He slipped it under Xi-To's  arms
and  tied  it  to the bed head then he spliced  a  piece  of
rounded  timber  to the end of the bed.  He draped  the  leg
rope  over this.  I held up the lead ring while father  tied
the rope ends through it.  He then let the weight ease down.
Xi-To groaned.  "Be strong, my man, and try to keep your bum
on  the  bed,"  said Father.  Xi-To's leg  had  elevated  as
desired, but his whole body had started to follow!    "Drink
a  bit  more  of  this,"  handing the tincture-treated  tea.
"You'll  need to stay here for 8 weeks.  I'll  send  down  a
bedpan, and my servant will come down and show your wife how
to  wash you without upsetting all this.  I'll come  to  see
you tomorrow."
     I  mounted  Lika and followed Father on  Trugo.   Cloud
cover  was  medium, and there was no rain.  The servant  who
had  accompanied  us returned to the house  to  collect  the
bedpan  while we headed for the town gate.  When Father  had
received  Hi-Tui's report we walked the horses  through  the
gate  then  upped  the pace. Once out of  earshot  he  said,
"Tomorrow  the  muscles  of his leg will  be  more  relaxed.
We'll give him a big dose of tincture then we'll have to try
to pull his leg straight."  Father sounded quite grim at the
idea.  Nothing more was said until we had crossed the bridge
that  forded the river in the middle of the principal valley
following the temporary road to the rising slope of the  far
side  of  the valley where we joined the permanent road  and
headed  to  the  right,  up river.  The  winter  floods  had
subsided  only  a  few weeks ago, and everything  was  still
quite wet.  Bright rice shoots showed through the dark  soil
up  to where the field workers could be seen planting in the
near  distance.   It was a busy time of year.   Rice  stores
were  getting low and it was important to have the new  crop
in  as  quickly  as  possible.  It was in  an  area  of  new
planting  upriver  that the accident had occurred  yesterday
and  this  was  where we were heading to  investigate.   But
there was no hurry.  We had planned to spend the day and had
brought lunch with us.
     I  had slept soundly the previous night, snuggled up to
Father.   I had wanted to wake to check out if his dick  got
hard  every  night but the first thing I was  aware  of  was
Father kissing me awake.  Father started talking.
     "You  know some of the history of our country, but only
what  everyone knows.  I didn't want to trust you with  more
sensitive  information until you reached maturity.   Do  you
know why field workers receive money?"
     "No  Father,  and  I  can't say I  had  given  it  much
thought."
     "Nowhere  else  in  the realm are field  workers  paid.
They are basically the property of their lord.  I guess they
are  here  as  well,  but I introduced salaries  to  try  to
improve efficiency.  Father is very proud of his model town,
and  though it did well under the rule of Me-Lin Wong it was
no  better than anywhere else.  When I came here I  spent  a
time talking to the workers, seeing what motivated them.   I
became aware that many reported ill, at best 8 out of 10  of
the  workforce actually worked, and usually only 6.  And why
should they?  In return for their work they received nothing
more  than  their food and accommodation, and they  received
this whether they worked or not.
     "So  I  thought: how to motivate the field  workers  to
want  to  work?  What I decided was to introduce a  currency
that had validity only in our town.  A worker would earn  10
coins  a  week if he worked, with an extra 2 for each  child
over 2 and under working age.  He would need 7 coins to  buy
food, more if he had children.  So each week he would have 3
extra  coins that could be used to buy things to  make  life
more  comfortable.  Now this coinage cannot  be  traded  for
gold by the field workers so this encouraged spending.  Free
persons could exchange their coinage for gold, and the coins
of   the  field  workers  provided  work  for  tradespeople,
attracting  them  to our town.  I set up a childcare  centre
where children could be left during the day at the cost of 2
coins  a  week.   If a woman of a family worked  instead  of
looking after her children she would earn a further 6 coins,
in addition to what her husband was earning.  This allows  a
family  to  live very comfortably!  If a worker says  he  is
sick but the overseer is not convinced he is genuine he will
only  receive the minimum 7 coins, reduced to 5 if his  wife
is  working.  If he is genuinely sick he will receive his 10
coins  plus  the child allowance, and if he  is  injured  at
work,  like  Xi-To,  he  will  receive  15  plus  the  child
allowance so that his wife can stay home and look after him.
     "Now  95%  of  able bodied men work and 60%  of  women.
Traders  come  from all over the realm to  buy,  with  gold,
goods  from  our tradesmen.  The concentration of  tradesmen
and  the  large  local  market of  coins  from  the  workers
encourages competition, and with competition each  tradesman
tries  to  do better than his neighbour.  New ideas  surface
and  spread  across the realm on the backs of  the  traders'
mules.
     "I control the food and its price.  Workers buy it with
coin,  but tradesmen must use gold, like everywhere else  in
the realm.  They trade their coins for gold at the treasury,
but much of their gold comes from elsewhere in the realm.  I
put  a  higher  price on the "luxuries" that  the  tradesmen
love, even though they cost little more to produce, and so I
am  constantly accumulating gold.  I repaid the gold  Father
loaned  me within 1 year, and I am now one of the wealthiest
men  in  the realm.  Though I must take care that the amount
of  coin  in circulation does not exceed my gold store!   So
now  the  town needs to expand because of its  success.   We
didn't  end up talking about it last night.  What  was  your
idea for the wall?"
     "I  thought that if the new wall was constructed at  an
angle,  starting  at or near the gate and extending  as  far
down the cliff face as you wish." I replied.
     "Why?"
     "If  you build out in a rectangular form you will  have
an  area  outside of the new wall that is hidden from  other
points of the existing wall until the new wall itself can be
manned.   If  we  were  to be attacked  this  would  provide
shelter  for an enemy to group.  If instead it is an  angled
wall then all will be visible from the gate.  When the first
extension  is  complete  then logs can  be  moved  from  the
unneeded  old  wall to start construction  of  the  opposite
wing.   When  completed this will also provide a  funnelling
effect so that any invader will have defenders on both sides
of him as well as in front.  Having arrows coming from three
directions  would put terror into the heart of any  soldier,
would it not?"
     "It would at that!  That is an excellent idea!"
     "The  only  problem I can foresee is when  we  wish  to
expand  beyond  this.   I cannot see  a  way  of  additional
expansion  that  will  not provide cover  for  an  advancing
enemy."
     "No,  nor can I.  But that will be a long way off,  and
we  may be able to build a temporary barrier at the entrance
of  the  side  valley to discourage any  assault  until  any
further wall is built."
     At  this  point  the  road cut  through  a  ridge  that
deformed the valley wall.  The cutting was very old, but was
through rock as hard as that that made up the walls  of  the
valley  where  the  town was located and  likewise  remained
quite  clean.   I felt prompted to ask, "I had  not  thought
about  it before, but when I was looking at the map  of  the
town  I  noticed how geometric was the shape of the  valley.
And this cutting also has these walls cut through hard rock.
Nothing we have could cut this rock."  I left this up in the
air, without making a direct question of it.  It puzzled me,
and I expected Father to make a comment regarding The One as
the origin of them.  He surprised me.
     "When  you've grown enough to ride Kito I am  going  to
ask  permission of the King to take you on a  journey.   The
destination  of this journey will be a hut one  week's  ride
from  KingsTown, away in the hills.  Here you  will  witness
the  answer to your question.  But I will tell you a  little
first.   Though I was not able to understand  much  of  what
rests in this hut, it is quite clear we are descendants of a
people  of great power, who destroyed themselves in a battle
using  weapons  so  powerful I could  not  comprehend  them.
These  oddities that you have astutely noted I  believe  are
the works of this race."
     "Where did they come from?"
     "I  don't know.  Though there is a lot of material that
contains  symbols, presumably some kind of  writing,  I  was
unable  to understand any of it.  Maybe you, with your  fast
intelligence, will do better than I."
     "You  talk of a great mystery Father, but you also talk
of  yourself as a man of little intelligence.  You know that
this is not true."
     "No,  Cavon.   I do not say that I'm a stupid  man.   I
understand many things, I understand people.  What I say  is
that  you have climbed on my shoulders and see over the  top
of  mountains.   And that is something that  makes  me  very
proud and very humble."
     "Father, I hope I can live up to your faith."
     "I have no doubts."
     This  killed conversation.  I felt like a child  again,
but  given the weight of the world to carry on my shoulders.
I  didn't understand how Father could see such things,  even
though  I  felt  very flattered that he  did.   I  tried  to
distract myself by concentrating on the land we were passing
through.   To our right were the fields.  We were  currently
in  an  unplanted area.  Smooth mud with frequent protruding
branches and other debris spread out to the brown river.  On
our  left hills rose steeply, forested predominantly by tall
whintox trees with dense underbrush of miscal, its dull  red
foliage emphasising the numerous white flowers.  Heavy  gold
insects   buzzed   around,  drunk  on  nectar.    Red-shaded
iconogills camouflaged so well they only became visible when
their long, bright-green tongues flicked out feasted on  the
abundance.   Iconogills cannot last long out  of  water,  so
there  must  be a pool somewhere near.  "Shall  we  let  the
horses find the pool father?"
     Father  was always aware of what was around  him.   "No
need,  I  have  found  it before.  It is  just  over  there.
Follow."
     Lika followed Trugo off the road.  Trugo just managed a
gap  between  a  leaning whintox and a large  boulder  after
which  Father  dismounted.  Being smaller and on  a  smaller
mount  I was able to remain seated for longer, right  up  to
the lily-covered pool.  "This pool is not big enough to hide
lizlions,  so  the horses can drink safely.  We  can  eat  a
little  seated  on  the  rock on the  other  side."   Father
divided some rice-bread and cold chicken onto two large lily
leaves  while I pulled up some of the succulent lily  roots.
I  then  sat  close to him.  During the traditional  silence
that  accompanied eating I enjoyed the sounds of the forest.
"We  lose  so  much  living  in  towns,  everything  is   so
artificial," I thought.  Though the comfort of sitting of  a
dry  cushion was preferable to this damp, moss-covered rock.
The  horses were browsing on tufts of winterweed that  still
grew greenly around the pool.
     I finished eating before Father.  I took the cup he had
brought  to drink some water, collected more for  him,  then
lay  down  using his leg as a pillow.  It had  been  a  long
morning  of  unaccustomed activity, and though it  was  well
before  normal  siesta time I found myself dropping  off  to
sleep.   I awoke to the nervous whiney of Trugo.  The horses
were  making  their way back to our rock seeking protection.
Father  took  out his sword and dagger, silently instructing
me to get the bow from Trugo's saddlebag.  I loaded an arrow
then  passed  it  to Father in exchange for the  dagger  and
squatted, my back against Father's so we couldn't  be  taken
unawares.   Nothing  emerged, and after  a  bit  the  horses
quietened.  Whatever had spooked them had seemingly  decided
on  discretion.  We packed up and returned to the safety  of
the road.
     It  was only a further half-hour before we came to  the
new  fields.  Lengths of timber had been planted to mark the
danger  area  and Father led us cautiously to its  edge.   I
looked  down into the hole. It was maybe 5 arm lengths  deep
and  was  lined with an evenly textured rock like  material,
too  smooth and even for natural rock.  Only a small portion
was visible through the hole in its roof through which Wing-
To  must  have fallen.  "I noticed that it extended quite  a
way  when  I was down there, but it was dark and I was  busy
with  Wing-To,  so  there was no time to  explore."   Father
tested  the  strength  of one of heavier  pieces  of  timber
before securing a rope to it.  "Do you feel confident to  go
down?" he asked.
     "I think so."
     "Good.   It  will safer if I can support the rope  from
above  as  I  will be able to lift you out if  needed."   He
secured  the  rope around my waist then made a  loop  a  bit
further  along.  "Sit on the edge here and put your foot  on
the loop."
     Seeing  his intention I used the loop as a foot support
while holding to the rope.  I had a flint and some paper  to
light  a  candle.  Father lowered me down.  Once I  had  the
candle lit I carefully started to explore, leaving the  rope
around   my  waist  for  safety  (and  comfort).   But   the
precaution proved unnecessary.  The structure proved to be a
circular  tank  of  maybe 150 paces in diameter,  completely
empty and clean except for what had fallen through the entry-
hole with Wing-To.
     While  we were making our way to the shelter for siesta
we  talked  about  the possible uses for such  a  structure.
Storage  was  the  most obvious, but of what  we  could  not
decide.  There had been a faint but definable odour  in  the
tank, though it was not like anything I had smelt before.  I
also   mentioned   to   Father  my  idea   of   standardised
measurement.   Currently  anyone  who  wanted   to   measure
something used their own pace, or their own arm or  hand  to
make  a measurement.  This obviously would lead to different
measurements  being  recorded for  the  same  distances.   I
suggested that we could use Father's hand, arm and pace, and
mark  these measurements onto pieces of timber, or as  knots
in  a length of rope, and these could be then copied so that
all measurement units would be the same.  No longer would  a
building  foreman leaving a job lead to a disaster when  his
replacement  had  hands and arms of different  size  to  the
original.
     Father  saw the point.  "You're going to give  Wi-Su  a
headache  with all your new ideas!  I'll have him  institute
it."
     In  the  shelter  we  lay down on  travel  blankets  on
benches  along  side  the field workers  then  wrapped  them
around us.  "Sleep well," said Father.
     "And  you," I replied.  It was strange trying to  sleep
with  so  many other people around.  This hut was  used  for
night  time as well as it was too distant from the town  for
easy  daily  coming and going so it had more  comforts  than
closer  shelter's.  It had walls, a fireplace with  a  brick
chimney and a stove for cooking.  Usually a designated  cook
came with the workers.  The advantage of working so far  out
was  that  food  was supplied free, leaving all  the  weekly
wages  for luxuries.  After a bit snores and snuffles filled
the silence, but soon they faded as I also fell asleep.
     After  sleeping we returned to what we were now calling
the  tank.   Using  a  strong piece of timber  we  carefully
tested  the strength of the rest of the ceiling.  I  pointed
out  to  Father  the staining and the smooth nature  of  the
edges   of  the  hole  through  which  Wing-To  had  fallen,
suggesting  that  this part of the ceiling might  have  been
made   up   of  a  different  type  of  material  that   had
disintegrated with time.  Father decided that a  wooden  lid
could  be constructed to cover the hole, but that the  whole
area  above  the tank would be fenced off.   Neither  of  us
could  think of any practical use for the tank.   Now  there
was  a  break in its roof it would fill with water, but  the
water  would  be  stagnant and useful only  to  insects  for
breeding.
     The  journey  home was more leisurely than the  outward
leg.   Father stopped to speak to each supervisor,  checking
that all was going well with the planting.  "Patience is one
of Father's strongest virtues," I thought, as we listened to
the  similar  reports from each supervisor, and Father  made
the  same comments to reinforce the line he wanted followed.
It  seemed that would not be enough rice seedlings to  plant
the  traditional area and all of the new area that had  been
planned  to  be  introduced to cultivation.   This  was  the
result  of  one  of  the seedling fields being  washed  away
during  the  winter  floods. All the supervisors  were  very
concerned that it was going to effect their personal  yield,
and  that  they  would  be reprimanded  for  their  failure.
Father  reassured each individually that he  understood  the
problem and of course it would be taken into account.
     Eventually we were passing through the town  gates  and
hearing  the  horses hooves click on cobblestones.   I  felt
sore, seated so long in the saddle.  As I dismounted I  felt
the shape of the saddle had permanently deformed my legs and
was  forcing my legs to spread apart.  I kissed Mother.  She
glowed, proud of her young man returning from his work  day,
though  laughing at his bowed legs.  As soon as we got  into
our  chambers  Father started a bath.   Soon  we  were  both
luxuriating  in  the heat, Father's legs over  mine  like  a
puzzle.   It  didn't take long for me to  be  distracted  by
Father's  attractions  however.  I sat  up  straight,  which
placed  me right between his legs.  I ran my fingers through
the wet fur of his chest, circling his nipples till they sat
up.  Both hands then moved downward to his belly then gently
smoothed over his hardening dick.  When there was no protest
I pulled back the skin and traced a finger around the rim of
the  head.   Soon  my  right hand was performing  a  pulling
action, rewarded by little twitches each time it bumped over
the  head  as my left hand swirled, first around  his  balls
then  down  further to his anus.  My index finger trace  out
the circle then gently penetrated, soon moving in and out to
the same rhythm as my right hand on his dick.
     "Put  your  dick in there," Father gasped as he  lifted
his  body with his arms on the rim of the bath and his  legs
that  he  had put over my shoulders.  Somehow I  got  to  my
knees and put my dick inside, using my left hand to grab his
belly  for  support as my right hand and  pelvis  thrust  in
time.  It was awkward but magnificent feeling Father move in
time with me, hear him grunt and groan in pleasure.  All too
soon I felt the sensation starting, quickly enveloping me in
what  felt like an explosion.  Father noticed and it  seemed
to  trigger a strangled cry and a pulsation in his dick, and
for  the  first time under my stimulus I saw his white  seed
erupt.   We  collapsed down, panting and flushed,  into  our
original positions.  Smiles seemed etched permanently on our
faces  as  we  looked  into each other's  eyes.   Eventually
Father  said, turning his eyes in the direction of a  rather
wet floor, "That caused a bit of a stir!"
     I found no words, but did a flip so that I was lying on
top of him.  Our lips met in a long, tender kiss.
     "That  was  exciting, no!  But a bit  like  acrobatics!
Like being with Yue-Sin.  Next time I'll show you what it is
like to make love!"
     I  digested nothing but Yue-Sin.  "You know about  Yue-
Sin?" said I, shock making my voice squeak.
     "Of  course!.   Apart from the fact he is an  excellent
swordsman, I invited him to the town because he and  I  have
been having sex since I was 7 years old.  But there is never
any emotion with Yue-Sin, it is all action.  I knew he would
approach  you,  but  I also knew that he  would  do  nothing
against your will.  He is a good man, a gentle man.  I think
he  is upset with me because I stopped having sex with  him.
I'm  sure  he  thinks I am seeing someone else.   I  stopped
because  of the problem with my dick. Yue-Sin is  not  happy
unless  he  has dick up his arse, so there is  no  point  my
being  with him.  I had hoped your being with Yue-Sin  would
distract you, delay what we have done.  But it seems we love
each other too much."
     "But  how  did you know that I had done something  with
Yue-Sin?"
     "That was simple.  Yesterday I told you to fuck me.   I
knew  that  unless  you had heard it from Yue-Sin  that  you
would never have come across that word before.  And you were
too quick and competent in performing the action as well."
     "Father, I can't hide anything from you." I exclaimed.
     "But why would you want to?"
     "I have no reason.  My heart is completely yours."
     This  naturally  was  followed by  another  long  kiss.
During what I thought would be a pause Father indicated  for
me  to stand.  "Now it is time for me to take your dick into
my  mouth for the first time!"  He tenderly pushed  back  my
skin then ran his tongue around the head, then like Yue-Sin,
used  his big hands on my buttocks to push it into his mouth
to  increasing depths.  Soon my pubic hair was pushing  into
his  nose  at  the  peak of each thrust  and  the  sensation
overwhelmed me again.  He kept my dick in his mouth until  I
had quietened.  "Nothing comes out yet."
     "No.  Does it feel different when something comes out?"
I asked.
     "Can't  remember.  Too long ago, my  boy!"   We  kissed
again, then started to wash each other, by the end of  which
I  was  hard once again.  "No, we must meet your Mother  for
dinner!"
     "That's  okay,  he seems unable to know when  he's  had
enough."
     "Yue-Sin will keep up with you, I have no doubt!"
     "You  want me to keep having sex with Yue-Sin?" I said,
dismayed.
     "Of course.  I cannot keep up with you, and a couple of
times  a  week with Yue-Sin will not cause me to  miss  out.
Yue-Sin is great fun.  I'll not be jealous.  That's as  long
as you love me the most!"  This was said with a smile.
     "How can you question that!"
     "And besides, you may divert him from his activity with
his son.  He is too young."
     "Why does Yue-Lin look like you?" I asked.
     "I  was  not  aware of this until you  mentioned  it  a
couple  of days ago.  I had not paid much attention to  Yue-
Lin.   There was talk about a liaison between Yue-Sin's wife
and  the  Prince Regent, and it was this I think as much  as
his  relationship with me that prompted Yue-Sin to  move  to
the  wilds.   It would seem that this liaison involved  more
than talk over cups of tea!"
     "So Yue-Lin is your nephew?"
     "It would seem so.  I had better pay more attention  to
him, if for no other reason to protect him from whom we  are
assuming is his father."
     "Why?"
     "The Prince Regent is a calculating man.  His sole goal
is  to be King, and nothing will stand in his way.  I'm sure
if he considered me a threat my lifespan would be short.  He
is  without morality of any kind.  If he was to know that he
had  an  illegitimate son, who could be possibly be used  by
forces  against him to be placed in his stead,  then  it  is
doubtful than Yue-Lin would see manhood."
     "And he will one day be king!!!" I exclaimed.
     "To the shame of our land, he will one day be king."
     "Does  the  Prince Regent know that the  King  is  your
father?"
     "Father  was  very careful to keep the details  of  his
private  family away from his public family.  Of  course  he
couldn't do the reverse.  When I meet Father it is always in
secret.   I'm  sure the Prince Regent must have  wondered  a
little  why I, who to his knowledge had no Blood, was  given
this  fiefdom, but I don't know if he has drawn the  correct
conclusion.   I  have,  with Father's help,  always  avoided
meeting  him so that he has not seen my physical resemblance
with  Father, but it is possible he has had spies  informing
him of this fact."
     We  were now exiting our chambers and consequently  the
conversation had to cease, though my thoughts  didn't.   The
adult  world was proving to contain more than I  could  have
possibly  envisaged, and not all of it was good.   Childhood
innocence  was  very appealing but I knew this  would  never
return.   Logically Father should try to do something  about
the Prince Regent, but what he could do I had no concept.  I
knew  nothing, probably would not know anything till I  took
Father's role of lord of South County, about the politics of
the  King's  court.   And odds on by this  time  the  Prince
Regent  would  be  King, and consequently  unassailable.   I
pondered  this through the silence of dinner, and was  eager
to  return  to our chambers and talk more about this  topic,
but Father asked Mother to sing for us after dinner.  Seeing
the  pleasure in Mother's face I could not begrudge her  our
time,  and  her gentle voice served to calm  me.   She  sang
traditional songs of love and courtship, gentle  songs  with
happy  endings.  My concern subsided enough so that when  we
were going to bed the activity of the day and the glasses of
rice  wine  I had taken allowed fatigue to take  me  rapidly
into sleep within Father's strong arms.
     FIFDAY

     The  next  morning saw me with Yue-Sin.   My  legs  and
backside  were quite sore and I had decided to walk  to  his
house  rather than ride Lika.  Father had left early  as  he
wanted  to  review  the rice planting to the  south  of  the
bridge  but  had  to  stop  to treat  Xi-To  first.   I  had
breakfasted  with him, kissed him goodbye then  returned  to
bed  to  sleep  a  bit more. I arrived at Yue-Sin's  feeling
rested and relaxed.  Yue-Sin noticed the lack of activity in
my trousers, laughed at my bowed legs, and began the morning
with  stretches  and light exercises before running  through
sword  drills.  He began with traditional formality but,  in
view of what had passed between us, I requested that he drop
this   unless  other  people  were  around.   He   smilingly
consented, taking me in his arms and kissing me.  During the
sword  drills he introduced a few activities where I had  to
parry  strokes he made, then at the end strung this together
into  a  series  of moves.  It was good feeling  the  sword,
though it was only wooden, doing as I commanded and blocking
his  attacks.   On the last drill he let me know  that  this
only  was  happening  because he  was  orchestrating  it  by
launching an unrehearsed attack that had the sword  piercing
my belly in a few moments.  I had laughed at this, amused at
my  own vanity, trying to replay in my mind what he had done
to  gain such an easy victory, and his eyes misted as I made
a mock bow of acknowledgment.
     "Cavon,  I  see  why my son and Lord  Srotyr  speak  so
highly  of you.  You have a largeness of spirit that I  have
never  witnessed before.  I have seen men of  lower  station
than  you  threaten my life for what they  believed  was  my
attempt  to make them look foolish.  You saw it for what  it
was,  a  reminder that we are all mortal and  we  can  never
assume  that all is under control, and could smile  at  your
exposed weakness.  But in that smile I can see you were also
analysing  what I had done, and I will not be  able  to  use
that feint so successfully again.  Let me hold you."
     He  took me in his arms, lifting me to kiss me tenderly
on  the  lips.  Looking into his eyes I could not understand
how  Father could feel that there was no emotion in Yue-Sin.
He  undressed  me  and lifted me on to  the  massage  table.
Unlike  the  last  massage, on this  day  his  fingers  were
sensual and loving.  I thought he had finished as he  teased
my  hard dick to the edge of no return one more time and let
his  arms  drop, but rather than step away he had  leapt  up
onto  the  bench and knelt over me.  His tongue  entered  my
mouth  in  the  most passionate kiss I had ever  experienced
then  he  impaled  himself on my rigid member  and  we  rode
together to the first of a number of orgasms.
     He joined me in the bath after, still holding me close.
Nothing  much  had been said during our love making  and  he
remained tranquil now.  However, just before I left he  took
me  in  his arms one last time and said quietly in  my  ear,
"Cavon, I have never said this to anyone else in my life.  I
had never thought I would have the joy of this happiness.  A
man  who  prefers  men to the point where he  is  unable  to
service his wife, who's only child is in fact from the  seed
of  another man, does not expect to find love in  his  life.
But I have found love with you, Cavon.  I love you more than
my life!"
     Fortunately  he did not seem to require a reply,  so  I
kissed him and walked home thoughtfully.  That he could feel
like  this  about me, and not Father, who I believed  to  be
more  noble  than me, made me think about the complexity  of
emotions.  My feelings for Father were so overwhelming  that
I  could not see how anyone else could not share them.  Then
I wondered how Mother felt about the long years of rejection
she  had  suffered.  I tried to imagine  how  I  would  have
responded  if Father had refused to share his bed  with  me,
and failed.  I vowed that I must never let Mother think that
I   did  not  love  her,  that  my  childhood  emotions  had
disappeared with my entry into manhood.  With this in mind I
invited her to walk with me after siesta.  She accepted with
a  pleasure that she tried to hide with a bowed head and her
hand but shone through her whole body.  I felt very happy as
she  took my arm, as a woman takes the arm of a man,  as  we
walked through the streets through light drizzle towards the
Town  Square  then onward down the wide avenue to  the  town
gate.   We  were  greeted with bows on all  sides.   I  knew
Mother  was  renowned for her charity and graciousness,  but
for  the  first time I saw how genuine were the  smiles  and
compliments of all we passed.  I, who would one day be Lord,
felt proud to have her beside me.  I realised in this moment
that  I  had  always  looked down on her  for  her  lack  of
education, even as I struggled to correct it, and other than
loving her as my mother I was unable to see her as a person.
Suddenly  I  became aware that she was a very grand  person,
and  that Father was lucky that fate had seen to it that she
had consented to be his wife.
     In  the fields I spoke of what Father had informed  me.
Mother was distraught.
     "We must return.  You must not walk beside such shame,"
she said, her head falling.
     "There is no shame!  Never before have I felt the pride
that  I  have felt today, to have had the privilege to  walk
beside you.  In all the love I have had for you as a child I
have never appreciated your goodness as I have today!"
     "Cavon!"  She called out and then appeared to swoon.  I
managed  to  catch her in my arms and support her,  cradling
her on my legs as I sat on the ground.  "I was so young,  so
innocent, so trusting.  I thought I loved him and he said he
would  marry me.  It was the saddest day of my  life!   Then
Srotyr  stepped  in  to save me, yet treating  me  with  the
respect  of  a virtuous wife.  And now my son,  knowing  the
truth, can treat me likewise.  I don't deserve this, my fate
has been too gentle!"
     "Mother,  you  deserve  all  and  more."   My   fingers
lovingly traced her brow.  We remained like this, hidden  by
the  tall stems of lolux around us, for what seemed an  age.
"We must be getting back," I eventually said, helping her to
her  feet,  brushing the dirt from her lizlion coat  as  she
brushed mine before again taking my arm.
     By  the  time we had entered the front door Father  had
returned.   "I was starting to worry," he said, his  concern
clear on his face as we met him in the meeting room.
     "We  were just walking," said I, handing Mother to  him
and leaving them together as I went to clean up for tea.   I
was soaking in the bath by the time Father joined me.
     "I had given much thought about whether or not I should
tell  you  the truth about your birth.  I decided to  do  so
because of the nobility I believed you contained, even as  a
child.   Your  attention  to your Mother,  teaching  her  of
things  that  women  are not supposed  to  know,  showed,  I
believed,  that your love was not something  that  could  be
curtailed  by the prejudices of our society.  You have  made
me  very happy to know I did not misjudge you!  Could I have
the honour of joining you in the bath?" he asked.
     I  just nodded, stunned by the revelation that he  both
knew  and approved of the lessons I had given Mother.   "How
long have you known of the lessons?" I eventually got out.
     "Since  they began," said Father as he lowered  himself
into  the  bath  with  me.  When I just  stared  at  him  he
continued.  "Just one thing I told you on the night  of  our
first  bath together was not true.  I told you that my  dick
had  never entered your mother because she wasn't a  virgin,
and  that  it  had  never entered another  woman  because  I
remained  faithful to the marriage despite  this.   But  you
know  in  the  true sense of the word that I have  not  been
faithful to the marriage.  I have been with Yue-Sin,  and  I
suspect you have guessed the nature of my relationship  with
your   uncle,  Ti-Lung.   And  though  he  is  married  that
relationship continues every time we meet.  And now there is
you.   The truth is that my dick has never entered  a  woman
because,  for reasons I don't understand, it has no interest
in  women.   That your mother was deceived and  consequently
not  a  virgin  when  I  married  her  would  have  made  no
difference at all if I had that kind of interest  in  women.
Rather it served as a convenient excuse.  Maybe it's because
I  feel  that  I  am different from everyone else  that  has
stopped  me judging those things that are seen as `sins'  by
our fellows, things that in fact cause no harm to anyone, as
being anything other than human frailty.
     "There  is no need even for forgiveness, for  in  truth
there is nothing to forgive." He continued.  "For example, I
don't  feel that I need forgiveness for the love I feel  for
you.   Your mother saw that I felt this way, and this formed
the  basis  of  our marriage, and it is where it  draws  its
strength.   We have always been fully open with each  other,
the only thing that I have not told her is my preference for
men.  She is a wonderful person so she would probable accept
even that, but I don't feel that it is fair to test her.   I
did  feel  ashamed that I did not see in her the thirst  for
knowledge  and  understanding that  led  you  to  start  her
lessons.   If  I had I would have started them  myself,  but
once you had started I realised that you have a natural gift
of  sharing knowledge, and that you could do it much  better
than me, so I let things be."
     During  all this Father had been holding my hands.   We
were in our intertwined position, so this put them on top of
our  balls.  I squeezed Father's hands and said, "I  know  I
have said this before Father.  Each day I am with you I feel
happier and happier.  I have a joy within that seems that it
cannot  grow more, but it does.  I also feel no interest  in
women.   My friends often made comments about women  and  in
truth I could never understand what they were talking about.
I  now  know, with what I have felt with you, what in theory
they  must be talking about, but I can't understand  it.   I
guess they couldn't understand what we feel.  And Father,  I
think you misjudge Yue-Sin.  He is like us in that his  only
interest  is in men, and his lack of emotion comes from  the
fear  this  engenders at putting himself  at  the  mercy  of
someone stronger.  I'm sure when he started with you that he
would have felt very insecure and frightened of letting  go.
Now, he is older, your patronage gives him security, and  he
feels strong.  He can love, Father."
     "Did he say he loved you?"
     "Yes  Father,  he  told me he loved me  more  than  his
life."
     "And you?"
     I could see the start of jealousy in Father's eyes, and
knew I needed all my diplomacy.  "I feel a fondness for Yue-
Sin.   He  is a simple man, a straightforward man, a  honest
man.   In a way I love him.  I also love Mother, and I  love
Yue-Lin.   But it is all like water compared with rice  wine
for what I feel for you!"
     "Come here, my boy!"  Father crushed me within his arms
after  I  had fallen onto his broad chest.  "You  are  truly
magnificent!"
     "But not as magnificent as you!" I exclaimed.
     "That I cannot agree with."
     When we later sat down to tea I think we both must have
been  glowing.  We had not made love, but what we had spoken
about  had  brought us even closer together than we  already
were.  As I watched Mother I was sure that she noticed,  and
she gave a little nod that I assumed signified her approval.
The  breadth of human understanding that this showed crushed
even  further the childhood belief I had in her inferiority.
Later,  when  I  was  lying in bed in  Father's  embrace,  I
commented, "I believe Mother knows about us."
     "I  think you are right.  We formed a mutual admiration
society early this evening, but your Mother is greater  than
us both put together."
     "Did  you  know Mother before you sought  her  hand  in
marriage?"
     "No, only what Ti-Lung had told me.  As you know, girls
of  noble birth are kept away from society except for formal
occasions  until they have married.  Of course Ti-Lung  told
me of her.  He spoke of her in glowing words, but even so he
is  controlled by the conceit of our society.  His words did
not  talk  of  her  spirit,  of  her  intelligence,  of  her
understanding.   He  spoke  of her  female  attributes:  her
beauty;  her  grace; her skill at singing; the sweetness  of
her voice."
     "But he cared enough to save her from death."
     "Yes,"  said  Father with a sigh, "that  he  did.   And
because of that I'm here with you."
     I cuddled in, my eyes heavy, closing.  I lifted my head
for  a  kiss,  but think I may have fallen asleep  before  I
arrived!
     SIXDAY

     Sixday.   My  day  "off".  I wanted to  spend  it  with
Father, but he told me that I must remember the other people
in  my  life.  Young love makes its own world, Father  said,
but  you have to look outside this.  Especially when no  one
must  know  of the love.  So here I was walking out  of  the
town  gates  with  Yue-Lin and Loa-Lech.  I  had  left  Lika
behind  as Yue-Lin did not have access to a horse.   Yue-Lin
had  wanted to be alone with me, but Loa-Lech had  spied  us
and  we were unable not to invite him.  He had seen our bows
and  realised we were heading for the archery range, me with
the  rights of manhood and Yue-Lin with those of  being  the
armourer's son, and did not want miss the chance of  getting
a jump in ability of the other boys approaching manhood.
     "You  are developing an entourage," Hi-Tui said, bowing
in respect but smiling mischievously.
     "So  it  would appear," I smiled back, nodding  to  his
bow.  "But I think they only love me for what I have, rather
than for my person!" I laughed back, indicating the bows Yue-
Lin and I wore over our shoulders.
     "I wouldn't be so sure, Lord Cavon," said Hi-Tui.
     I looked at him.  I had known him all my life, knew him
to  be  a  man with wife and numerous children, but had  not
looked at him with adult eyes before.  The eyes of childhood
saw  him  as  a  big man, a figure with power  delegated  by
Father  who  could order me in Father's name and report  any
wrong doings.  They did not see Hi-Tui, the person.  Now  my
adult  eyes looked at him.  He was a big man, with  a  round
face  and  flashing white teeth.  It was warm,  but  with  a
light  drizzle, so he wore his pigskin coat (the  type  most
people  who  could afford coats wore, with a tie around  the
neck and no sleeves, only slits to slip them out at shoulder
height) left open. His arms were inside, and he lifted them,
spreading  his coat further.  He was a strong man,  a  heavy
man, with broad chest and thick arms and legs and a powerful
belly,  and  with my awakened sexuality I also now  saw  the
full  pouch in his pants as well.  I sensed that the  reason
why  he had lifted his arms was to allow me to see this, and
I  felt  myself  blush  at my own thoughts,  imagining  what
filled  that pouch, aware that my own pouch (luckily  hidden
by  my lizlion coat) was being pushed out.  The boy who  had
never  seen an adult naked and had not been able to  imagine
what  he  would see was now undressing every virile male  in
his thoughts!
     "Why do you think that?" I asked.
     "I   think   you  don't  see  the  handsome,  charming,
intelligent  young man that the rest of the world  sees,  my
young  Lord,  otherwise you would not have  to  ask  such  a
question."
     He  was being very forward.  I knew he would never talk
so  in front of Father, but I was beginning to realise  that
this  was  a  difference between myself and Father.   People
would  treat  me with familiarity, but never  lose  respect.
They knew I did not need servility, that my own humility did
not  require subservience, but at the same time they  seemed
to  recognise  a strength that stopped the familiarity  from
becoming contempt.  But I think that Hi-Tui had also noticed
my longing glance at his pouch, and his flattering words and
the  stirring  that  was now visible in  the  aforesaid  was
letting me know that its contents were available to me if  I
so desired.
     I  nodded  my  head  in acceptance of this  complement,
delaying a little to let Loa-Lech and Yue-Lin race on  ahead
and  leave me to say in private to Hi-Tui, "Maybe you  could
explain  to  me in private why you believe this at  a  later
date?"
     "I  would  look forward to that my Lord.  Nothing  more
than  to  have such a private conversation with  you.   Your
wisdom I know could teach me much."
     "I'll talk to you again," I said, nodding goodbye as  I
hurried  to catch up with my companions.  But then I  slowed
again,  in thought.  My dick was quite hard, eager to expose
itself  to  its  new  interest, but my mind  questioned  its
morals.  I had Father, who I loved to distraction, I had Yue-
Sin,  who  loved  me with his life and who I  respected  and
loved  as  a  simple,  honest man, and  I  had  Yue-Lin,  my
childhood friend and also the first person with whom  I  had
had  sex.   And  my  dick was thinking of another!   Also  I
pondered  on the first week of manhood.  Only a week  ago  I
had  been a child, with no concept that sex between men  was
possible let alone understanding my own preference.  Only  a
week  ago I had believed that man married woman for the sake
of having children, not for physical satisfaction from which
children  came as a by-product.  Only a week ago I  did  not
realise  how many men shared my unrealised interest  in  sex
with  other  men, and now Hi-Tui was added to  that  growing
list.
     I  caught  up  with  Yue-Lin and  Loa-Lech  before  the
archery  field,  a slim break in the fields  of  the  town's
valley with a small hut at its end providing shelter for the
straw  filled  target, and joined in with their  joking  and
laughter.  Together we dragged the target out into the  open
and set up the field markers so no one accidentally ran onto
the  field  into the path of an arrow.  Loa-Lech  had  never
used  a  bow before, and for the first round he just watched
what  Yue-Lin  and I did.  Yue-Lin, with his  greater  size,
strength, experience, and ability, was more accurate than I,
hitting the target with more than half of his arrows,  while
I  only managed 8 from 20 on my first round.  Loa-Lech raced
to  the  target to collect the arrows, keen  to  have  a  go
himself, leaving Yue-Lin and I alone.
     "I  had wanted to do more than just fire arrows today,"
said Yue-Lin as soon as he thought he could not be heard.
     "Likewise,"  I  said.  "But we couldn't  have  said  no
without it seeming very strange."
     "No,  but  my dick was hard at the thought of being  in
your mouth!"
     "Mine too," I lied.  "I didn't know that coats had uses
beyond  keeping one dry!".  We had shed our coats so  as  we
could shoot unrestricted, and I could see a shape lifting in
Yue-Lin's  pouch.  "But you had better think about something
else, or you will have to explain the reason you have a hard
dick to Loa-Lech."
     He  turned to face me, checking first that Loa-Lech was
still  on  his  way to collecting the arrows, then  let  his
stiff  dick out into the open.  "That's not going to  be  so
easy!"
     I  gave  the offered dick a quick squeeze and  replied,
"You have no choice.  Put it away before he turns!"
     "OK."   He  tied his dick against his belly  under  the
waist rope of his trousers, something I couldn't do for lack
of  length, then let his shirt hang loosely over the top  to
disguise  its presence.  "Something is worrying  me,  Cavon,
and  it was to talk about it that I also wanted to be  alone
with you."
     "We can get together next week.  FirstDay?"
     "We can't talk now while Loa-Lech collects arrows?"
     "It  would not be fair to ask him to collect them every
time.   And it will be better to talk without interruptions,
no?"
     "OK," replied Yue-Lin unhappily.
     On  Loa-Lech's return I put a bow in his hand, and took
him  through  basics of firing an arrow.  It was surprising,
though  Loa-Lech was close to my age and was physically  the
same  size as me, how much older I felt.  As I put  my  arms
around  him  to correct his hold on the bow I  felt  like  a
father instructing a child.  I lined him up and he let  fly,
hitting  the  target.  Yue-Lin and I applauded.   It  was  a
fluke  of  course,  but by the end of  the  session  he  was
hitting as many as 7 of his 20.  Yue-Lin got his eye in  and
hit as many as 15, my best was 12.  I was surprised how much
my  arms  ached.   They  had had a tough  week,  with  sword
training  and  riding, and I was punishing them  again  now.
Well  before we finished I was letting Yue-Lin and  Loa-Lech
do all the firing, while I did all the collecting.
     As  we  dawdled  back  down the  road  towards  town  I
realised that I was eager to say hello to Hi-Tui.   I  hoped
the  gate  would be quiet so that he would be  alone,  hoped
that  he  again held open his coat.  It had started  raining
heavier  while we were on the archery range and I was  quite
damp under my coat.  As I contemplated ways I could separate
myself  from my companions to be alone with Hi-Tui  my  hand
(my  arms  were inside my coat because of the  rain)  played
with  my  dick almost with a will of its own.  When we  were
about 100 paces away my heart sunk as an elderly man exiting
the  town stopped to talk with Hi-Tui.  But at 20 paces  Hi-
Tui  bid  him  farewell and he turned to us.  His  coat  was
closed,  arms inside against the rain.  I had  not  come  up
with  a  plausible  reason to stop and  talk  with  him,  my
disappointment was as palpable as my hard dick.  I would not
even get another look at his pouch!
     Hi-Tui  bowed  to us as we came near.  "Did  you  shoot
well, my Lord and friends?
     The thrill at hearing this voice surprised.  A voice  I
had  heard  all my life, one I can given no more thought  to
than the rain, now set my heart racing.  "Yue-Lin shot well,
15 from 100 paces.  The rest are novices."
     Yue-Lin  chimed in.  "Don't believe him!   He  shot  12
himself, even with arms exhausted from their first  week  of
horse and sword training!"
     "I would have thought so.  Lord Cavon, though your arms
are  tired,  is  your quick brain working?  I have  received
some  packages,  and  am  having trouble  understanding  the
letter that accompanied them."
     Now  my  heart  really raced.  He  was  setting  it  up
himself!   "I  can help, of course.  I'll see  you  both  in
church  tomorrow," I said to my friends in farewell.   "Yue-
Lin, could you return my bow for me?"
     "I'll carry it," said Loa-Lech.
     I handed my bow and quiver of arrows to him, waved them
goodbye,  then followed the waiting Hi-Tui into  his  little
cabin  next  to  the gate.  It was very public  here  and  I
wondered what he was contemplating.
     As  we  entered he undid his coat (coats buttoned  from
the  inside in a way that there were no holes on the outside
surface to allow water to enter) and let it fall open.   His
back  was to the door, and to me, and he gestured for me  to
come  around in front of him where there was a table.  "This
is  the  letter, my Lord.  I don't read very well  and  this
hand is difficult.  I would appreciate your help?"
     I  looked at the few lines of clearly written script on
the page and was about to comment when I saw something else.
"I think maybe I could if it had a little more air."
     He  quickly  untied  the string  of  his  trousers  and
dropped  them far enough to put his hard dick on  view.   It
was  different  from those I knew.  It was not  as  long  as
Father's,  but was very thick and curved upward.  The  shaft
was  somewhat flattened and the head was free of  the  skin,
shiny and purple and fat.
     "You  put me to shame, Hi-Tui.  This is all I  have  to
show."   Likewise I opened my coat and dropped my  trousers,
using the bulk of his body to shield me from the door.
     "It  will grow with you, my Lord, and it is very nicely
formed.   Would  you like to touch me?"  he  added  after  a
pause.
     "Yes.  But is it safe?"
     "Not  very.   Just give it a few little strokes  and  I
will put it away till later."
     I  tentatively  stroked  its underside,  exploring  its
curve.   I  tried  to encircle it with my  thumb  and  first
finger and failed.  "It is very thick!"
     "Thankyou."  He then bent down as if he was picking  up
something from the floor, but instead of his hand going down
it  grasped my dick and squeezed.  "I'd love take you in  my
mouth!"  he whispered as his head passed my ear on  his  way
back up.
     "Me too, but I don't think it would fit!"
     "No, I doubt it.  Touch me again and I'll put it back."
     A  drop  of clear liquid had formed in the eye  of  his
dick  and  I  used  my thumb to smear it  around  the  head,
causing  his  whole body to tense.  "How  can  we  meet?"  I
asked.
     "Can  you  meet  me  out  in the fields  somewhere  one
afternoon after your duties are finished?"
     "I  know.  My archery is not very good.  If I asked you
to  give me lessons would you be able to get someone to fill
in  for you?  No one would think this strange as you are the
town's best archer."
     "Excellent!"  He had now done up his trousers  but  his
dick  was  so hard it was clearly outlined as it pushed  his
pouch  out  and  up, and it was forming a wet  spot  on  the
material.   He  hid it from my view and did up the  internal
buttons.   "Maybe  if you asked Yue-Sin we could  make  this
part  of your regular lessons, and then we could be together
every week."
     "Does  Yue-Sin  know you like this type  of  thing,"  I
said,  indicating my dick that I had not put away yet  as  I
had been too fascinated watching Hi-Tui.
     "Yue-Sin?  Of course not!  Why?"
     "No matter.  Yes, I will ask him."
     "Good.  Now you better go."
     "The letter?"
     Hi-Tui's  face  assumed  a  puzzled  expression,   then
laughed.  "You know I have no problem reading!"
     "Yes.  But maybe I can help you again, anyway!"
     "Well,  maybe  you can.  I'll call next time  a  get  a
letter!"
     By now we were outside, and the last was said as Hi-Tui
bowed  in a formal farewell.  I nodded and turned away.   My
dick  was  so hard that I was holding it back with  my  flat
hand  as  I felt even it would be pushing my coat abnormally
forward.   I thought Hi-Tui, by his posture, had been  doing
the same.  All the way back home my head was filled with the
image of its thick, curved shaft, skin stretched tight,  and
its  bulbous shiny head, but as I came closer other thoughts
entered.  Should I tell Father?  Why did I even want  to  be
with  Hi-Tui.   When a man married a woman it  was  expected
that  he would not have sex with anyone else.  I was married
to  Father  as  far as I was concerned.  Why should  I  want
anything more?
     I  would  have to tell Father.  He would know something
was  up anyway.  Even though it was wet I wore my coat as  I
kissed Mother in greeting and all the way to our chamber.  I
hung  it on the peg outside the door and quickly entered  as
my  dick  was still like rock.  My heart stopped  as  I  saw
Father  sitting at his desk and instinctively my hands  went
in front to hide.
     "Why  do you need to hide from me?" asked Father.   His
tone was quite serious, and there was no twinkle to say that
he was otherwise.
     "I don't know Father.  I must feel guilty."
     "Explain!"   I  felt  my  knees quiver,  but  then  the
twinkle  appeared.  "But let me have a suck first, it  looks
wonderfully hard!"
     I  bent  down  to kiss him where he was seated  on  the
floor  as his hands loosened the string and pulled  down  my
pants.  Then his mouth took it completely inside.  I was  so
pent up that I finished in an instant, so quick that I found
myself saying sorry.
     "No  sorry," he said while helping me step  out  of  my
trousers and sat me on his bare lap, holding me tight.  "But
why guilty?"
     "Father,  I don't understand.  I have changed so  much.
Last week I didn't know what sex was and now I look at every
man and want him."
     "And I'm sure they want someone as pretty as you!"
     "Am I pretty?"
     "You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,  my
boy."
     "I didn't know that."
     "And who were you looking at?"
     Here  I paused, uncomfortable a letting out the secret.
"Hi-Tui," I eventually said.
     "Hi-Tui," Father whistled.  "And did he look at you?"
     "Yes Father."
     "I  would have never thought of Hi-Tui.  He is  such  a
male man!"
     "So are you, Father.  So is Yue-Sin."
     "Yes, I guess.  Did you see his dick?"
     "It  is  not long like yours, but it is very thick  and
has a big head that comes completely out when it is hard."
     "How did you manage to look?"
     So I explained about the subterfuge, and about the idea
of archery training.
     "Leave that to me, I'll speak to Yue-Sin.  That way  he
will  suspect  nothing.  It would not be good  to  make  him
jealous.
     "You're not jealous, Father?"
     "You  still  love me most?" he asked, pulling  my  face
around and holding my eyes with his gaze.
     "You know that Father!"
     "Then  I'm  not  jealous.  When I was your  age  I  was
having  sex  with everything with a dick, as  well  as  your
uncle.   Though I must admit my conquests were with  men  my
own  age,  not  with older men.  Experimenting  is  part  of
growing  up,  and growing up is a time when one  has  sexual
capacity  to  burn.  I would not tie you to an old  man  and
deny you that."
     "You are not an old man!"
     "My  dick  says  otherwise, my  dick  says  otherwise,"
holding  me  tight, a glisten in his eyes.  Then,  suddenly,
"Now  clean  up  for  lunch.   Lets  not  keep  your  Mother
waiting."
     After  lunch Mother announced that we would  be  dining
with  Win-Bui  that  evening, but it was  not  until  I  was
cuddled  up  with  Father for the siesta  that  I  saw  this
announcement as ominous.  Win-Bui was the father of Win-Som,
and  we were to be dining with them just a few days after  I
had  been pushed into Win-Som's company at my party.  I fell
asleep  contemplating this, but left it till  Father  and  I
were having our second bath in the big outside tub to ask of
its significance.
     "I  have  had  talks  with Win-Bui  about  your  future
marriage with Win-Som," Father stated without emotion.
     I  think my jaw must have fallen off my face.   I  felt
that  the  loving hand that embraced me had used the  loving
embrace  as  a cover to insert a knife between  my  shoulder
blades,  penetrating my heart.  I stuttered out some  noise,
but I'm not sure it had any verbal content.
     In  response  Father continue harshly.  "Do  you  think
that  you  can live with me forever?  That the  world  won't
expect an announcement of your upcoming marriage in the near
future.  I had the luxury of avoiding marriage because as  a
young man I had no social standing, and no one thought me  a
worthwhile  catch.   But you are the  future  Lord  of  this
estate.  Do you think that you can avoid marriage?"
     I collapsed into painful sobs, clasping to the man that
I  believed  had guided the knife between my ribs.   But  he
held  me  as  I  had  only learnt that he could  during  the
previous  week, as if nothing was different.  He  kissed  me
repeatedly  on  the head, lifting my face to  lick  away  my
tears.   I did not understand how he could be so cruel  then
pretend  to love me.  Only later was I to realise  that  the
apparent   harshness  in  fact  came  from  the  degree   of
abhorrence he had for the announcement he had made.  Yet  he
was  stating reality, and if I had lifted my head above  the
honey  pool into which I had fallen during my first week  as
an adult I would have seen it coming.
     Looking into his face, where tears ran as freely as  on
mine,  I repeatedly croaked "Father, Father, Father." as  he
similarly chanted,  "My Cavon.  My Cavon.  My Cavon."
     "We'll  still  be able to be together!" was  the  first
structured phrase that either of us managed.  It  came  from
Father.   "You  will be my second, so we will have  lots  of
reasons  to be alone in my chambers."  There was a sound  in
his  voice that suggested he was trying to persuade  himself
as much as me.
     I was still unable to talk.
     "Your mother suggested Win-Som.  And in truth she is  a
sweet, submissive woman who will make a good wife."
     At  this  point  I think I may have lost consciousness.
This was something that has happened to me at only one other
time  in  my  life.  The reason that I believe that  I  lost
consciousness was that the next thing I knew everything  had
become quiet.  I was still sitting on Father, my legs spread
around  his belly and my buttocks resting against  his  bent
thighs,  but his crying had stopped and he seemed  calm.   I
remember feeling his soft dick squashed up against  my  anus
that  was  made  available by the  sitting  position  I  had
assumed,  riding him like my pony, Lika.  I pushed my  torso
off his wet-haired chest so as to look at him.
     "I  know that what you say is correct, but I'm not sure
if  I  am capable of it.  It will destroy me to be separated
from you, though I guess I won't die, but what am I to do in
the  marital  bed?  I'm sure that my dick will no  more  get
hard  with  Win-Som than yours does with mother or Yue-Sin's
does  with  his wife. I am not a Hi-Tui who can  respond  to
both  demands.  And then what will be said, when  the  world
hears that I am impotent?  How will I ever be able to govern
this  province when I take your place if everyone knows that
my dick does not get hard?"
     "I  don't know but let's wait until it is time to worry
about  it.  We can delay your marriage for a year at  least,
saying you are too young and not sufficiently developed.  In
that time we will have each other, and in my experience life
has a way of solving problems."
     Happy  to  accept anything that would allow me  not  to
think  about  this future I kissed him, then began  to  wash
him.   Not  surprisingly, after all  the  emotion  that  had
passed  between us, after I had soaped up his rear and  dick
(spending  a disproportionate length of time on  this  small
percentage  of  his  body) he turned over  so  that  he  was
kneeling,  head and an arm over the edge of  the  bath,  and
suggested  that  I  enter him.  He pulled  himself  while  I
fucked  his  hairy arse with my arms wrapped tightly  around
his  chest, and then begged me to stay in after  I  had  cum
until  he  had climaxed.  Then things became more  business-
like as we had already spent a long time in the bath and  we
were due to go out.  He washed me quickly then we dried  and
returned to our room to dress, finally joining mother  where
she was waiting in the sitting room.
     We  were  all  in our best clothes, and it was  raining
fairly  heavily,  so our tallest servants carried  the  four
corners  of a large piece of canvas for us to walk under  on
our  way to dinner.   It was not very far, Win-Bui being  an
affluent man with his house in the more secure central  area
of  town, but far enough for our clothes to be sodden if  we
had walked unprotected.  We were greeted at the door by Win-
Bui  himself, in honour of his visitors, and he led us  into
the  dining  room.   Dinner was served immediately,  as  was
custom.
     After the formal silence of dinner we moved out of  the
dining  room and rice wine was passed around.  I was  seated
next  to  Win-Som,  who maintained demure  silence,  and  we
listened  to the men talk about the health of the king,  the
politics  of the court and how things seemed to  be  turning
bad, the briskness of trade since metal clad wheels sped  up
transport.  Here my name was brought in, as the idea of heat
shrinking a hoop of metal to the outside of wooden wheel had
been my idea.  Win-Som smiled admiringly at me when this was
mentioned, and though I played it down and complimented  Ba-
Nol  for  his practical implementation of my vague  idea,  I
decided that Win-Som was nice, and that my future might  not
be so unpleasant.  It was also my fourth glass of rice wine.
Win-Bui then began an old tale of how the King, when he  was
a  young  man,  entered  the palace of  the  then  King  and
presented  himself  as  the future  husband  of  the  King's
daughter.
     "King Boris was an adventurous young man, who left  his
home to wander in unknown lands.  He lived by his skill  and
wit,  spending  much time in silent contemplation.   It  was
such  an  unusual thing for a man to do that God, seated  on
his cloud seat, noticed him, and decided to talk to him.  He
discovered  that  he  was  filled with  new  ideas  for  the
betterment of mankind, and thought it was a shame  to  leave
him  wandering on his own.  So he gave him a magical weapon,
and suggested he visit our kingdom and speak to King Gui-Lin
about his ideas.
     "Now Boris knew that a King would not pay any attention
to a wild man, hair long and unkempt, who had been wandering
in  the wilderness for years, so he came up with a plan.  He
explained this plan to God, who thought it was a good  plan,
as  long  as  nobody was hurt.  So Boris put his  plan  into
action.
     "He  walked for many weeks to come to the seat of  King
Guilin,  and  when at his gate challenged  the  guard.   The
guard of course laughed, so Boris pointed his magical weapon
at  a wild sparliz that was perched high on the palace wall.
The  sparliz  fell to the ground.  The guard again  laughed,
though  asked  how the trick had been performed.   So  Boris
pointed  his magical weapon at a stray dog that was not  far
from  the  feet of the guard.  The dog fell in  its  tracks,
dead.  The guard now was frightened, and tried to close  the
heavy  gate in Boris's face, but Boris quietly informed  him
that  the gate would not interfere with his magic, and asked
rather that he be presented to the King.
     "`But how can I trust you not to harm the King?'"
     "`The same way you can trust me not to harm you.  If  I
wanted to harm the King I could just point my magical weapon
at  anyone  who came in my path until I came  to  the  King.
That I don't do so shows my honour.'"
     "So  with  he  knees quivering in the face  of  such  a
powerful magician, and also for fear of what the King  might
do  to  him,  the guard lead Boris to the King.  `Bring  the
dog,' Boris had ordered.
     "After  a  bit  of negotiation with the house  servants
Boris  was  present to the King, the guard behind  with  the
dead dog.
     "`How  do  I know that you killed that dog with  magic?
How do I know that maybe you didn't just pay this guard with
gold  to  tell  a story, and you are the same as  any  other
madman?'"
     "`Is  that cat there important to you, my King,'" Boris
asked quietly.
     "`It is important to my daughter.  She has had it since
she was a child.'"
     "`Can you then organize an animal that is not important
for me to demonstrate?'"
     "`Come to the kitchen.  I believe they have a pig  that
will  be  killed today.  You can perform that task, if  your
magic will not effect the quality of the meat.'"
     "`In no way will it be affected.'"
     "So  Boris  and  the  King  followed  servants  to  the
kitchen.   The pig was dragged squealing from its  pen,  and
Boris  waved everyone away as he raised his magical  weapon.
The pig started to race for the open door, then fell dead in
its tracks.
     "Satisfied then that what the guard had reported was in
fact  truth,  he asked Boris what it was he  wanted.   Boris
indicated  that  he  would like to  speak  to  the  King  in
private.   The  King  looked  at Boris  questioningly,  then
suggested  that they go to his throne room.   The  door  was
shut behind them.
     "No  one  knows  what  was said between  them  in  that
private  room, but when they came out they were arm in  arm,
and  the  King declared to all present that he was  standing
beside his future son by marriage.
     "And as we all know he has proven to be a good king,  a
wise king, a just king, who has stepped off the shoulders of
his father-in-law and gone higher."
     Polite  applause  followed the  completion  of  Win-Bui
recitation of this old story.  In truth he had spoken  well,
with  voice changes for the different characters and actions
and  facial  expressions to complement.  Once  the  clapping
stopped a servant brought in Mother's harp and all joined in
with  requests of her to sing.  Like Win-Bui,  Mother  chose
tradition,  but  she sang and played so well  that  everyone
spontaneously clapped at the end of each, Win-Som almost  as
loudly  as  the  men.   This  further  promoted  her  in  my
judgement  and  I decided that mother had  not  made  a  bad
choice  for me.  I felt warm and protective to her, and  put
out of my mind any difficulties in the marital bed.
     At  the conclusion of mother's singing Win-Bui asked if
mother  could  continue to play to accompany  Win-Som  in  a
dance  she  had prepared for the night.  Win-Som, not  under
the  effects  of  rice  wine as much  as  the  rest  of  us,
protested,  saying that she hadn't been able to  perfect  it
adequately, but Win-Bui autocratically order her  to  dance,
confidentially saying that she just lacked confidence,  that
he  had seen her dance and she was as prepared as she  could
be.  So, looking self-conscious, Win-Som asked Mother if she
would  play  "The Spring Day", a song written by  Mother  to
celebrate  the  annual rebirth of our  rice  crop  with  the
falling waters, a stately piece that started slow but with a
lively  end, and took a pose waiting for the music to start.
Her  dance won me completely.  She was so graceful,  turning
one  pose  into another and into another with such a  smooth
transition  that it was hard to tell where one  started  and
one  ended.  Then she finished with such a lively little jig
that  I  found myself on my feet joining with her and Mother
extended  the  music  and Win-Bui and his  wife  joined  us,
Father clapping counterpoint to the rhythm.  This new  dance
became quite a success that season.
     GODDAY

     Not surprisingly I had some trouble getting up next
morning, as did Father.  We lay together drifting in and out
of sleep, till Father forced us up.  He spoke in Church
every Godday that he was home.  The priest usually wrote the
piece so as it would link in with the topic of the day's
sermon but Father liked to familiarize himself with what he
was to say, modifying the style to his liking, adding his
own thoughts.  Having had his week taken up so much with me
he had not managed to sit down to this task yet and he now
had to peruse it at the last moment.  We donned robes to eat
our morning rice, then I contented myself watching him,
seated at his desk with his robe open, contemplating the
magnificence of his hairy chest and the beauty of his face.
A face I had known all my life, but that had transfigured
during the last week.  Obviously it hadn't changed, but like
all things in life what is important is not the structure or
object that one is watching but the interpretation of that
structure by our eyes and thoughts.  I had seen Father as a
stern man, a proud man.  I was his son, and he beamed on me
his love and smiles, but he was still stern and did not
tolerate wrongdoing.  He was the Lord, so the people of the
Province accepted his arrogance as natural and right, to the
point that comment was only made regarding his care for his
field workers, his fair and intelligent sense of justice.
Some thought he showed more care for his field workers than
he did for the wealthy merchants and trades people, the
common people who made good under his stable rule.
     I still saw Father as a stern man, a proud man.  I was
still his son, though I now knew not of his loins.  But
every eyelash, every pore, was now transformed by a love so
intense that when he looked at me I no longer felt the
subtle fear that I had grown up with.  Now I felt that I was
basking in front of a huge fire, luxuriating in a palace of
warmth and dryness.  Quietly I made my way over to him where
he was concentrating on his speech and kissed him on the
forehead.  He looked up, surprised, then a smile of such
warmth spread around his gleaming white teeth that I felt
that I was melting.  I slumped onto his naked lap and
embraced him with all my strength, rubbing my face in its
new pillow, his furry belly.
     "Ah, Cavon," he muttered, "how have I lived without
you?"
     I just squeezed harder and drew in his wonderful scent
in a deep sigh of contentment.
     "Let me go now," he said after a while.  "I would like
to finish this.  Could you help me by copying the first page
with the changes I have added?"
     Of course he didn't need to ask, but I also didn't
offer to move to my own desk.  I sat so my body was in full
contact with him as I carefully transcribed the page he had
given me.  I asked now and again if I could change this or
that, and was told, after his seeing the reason for the
changes, to stop bothering to ask and write as I saw fit.
The speech was on the celestial world, the palaces and
dwelling places of God and the spirits, above the sky.  How
we lived under that world, dwelling where the roots and
earth of its underside were visible.  We lived with the hope
of moving up to that world, and not falling deeper still to
the worlds below us for which we were the sky.  How the
spirits of the righteous and good would rise up to be
supreme, while those with mean souls would sink and in
future lives would have to once again try to be reborn in
this world to have another chance of achieving eternity.
     It was a familiar topic, one that I had listened to so
many times, spiced with the scent of incense, in the rich
baritone of my Father's voice, that I had stopped hearing
what was being said.  Now, writing it out in word for word,
I found myself asking, "Is this all true, Father?"
     "Do you doubt, my boy?"  There was no sense of threat
in Father's voice.
     "No.  Yes.  In truth, Father, I don't think I have
given it very much thought before, just accepted it like the
rice that we eat.  But now I am thinking of something you
spoke of the other day, about the great people who existed
before us in the world.  If they could cut through mountains
could they not also fly up through the clouds to the spirit
world?"
     "That is a question I cannot answer Cavon.  It raised
in my mind the same doubts that you express and I haven't
been able to satisfactorily put them to rest.  Maybe when
you see what is in that hut you may be able to explain
better than me.  But for now I live as though all that is in
the Book is true, for it is a way of persuading people to
look after each other and not to live on the principle of
selfishness.  Even with The One we still have numerous
examples of people doing wrong by their fellow beings,
imagine what it would be like without?  I live with it more
as an allegory for how one should live one's life than as an
accurate text, but I still try to live within its
principles."
     I nodded, taking in the new gospel.

     In Church I sat with Father and Mother on the family
seat.  We had arrived late and I had not had time for my
usual conversation with Loa-Lech and Yue-Lin, maybe
fortunately because the new ideas regarding the Book were
swirling around my mind.  What was interesting was that
though I had found myself questioning the words I had
committed to paper, when I heard them expressed in the
powerful voice of Father, even the parts I had written
myself, the questions I had previously raised seemed absurd.
I returned to my childhood of faith absolute, with every
word signifying its literal meaning.  I became so engrossed
with these thoughts that instead of joining up with my
childhood friends after church I found myself trying to get
Father by himself so as to sound with him my new thoughts of
rational and emotional meaning.  Rational was what you
expressed with symbols on paper, emotional was how those
symbols could be taken and manipulated in ways that made
them much more that they were on paper, with Father's voice,
its innate power and authority, being the tool that caused
this transformation.
     Father, however, was involved with the men of the town,
as Godday was also the traditional day of town business when
Father could be approached by anyone with suggestions or
grievances.  Usually these were conversations revolving
around general gossip, but Father felt they were important
to maintain the smooth running of the town, so I was waved
away to join my childhood friends.  I felt aggrieved that
Father did not think me sufficiently adult to join in,
though later he explained that it was rather to save me the
boredom that all to soon would become a routine part of my
life, and discontented I went in search of Yue-Lin.
     I found he and Loa-Lech in the usual place, the Square.
It was a site where older boys and young men just out of
childhood tended to congregate.  There was talk, games,
dares, and the new sport of sliding.  Not feeling like
joining in I asked Yue-Lin when Loa-Lech was out of earshot
if he would like to join me for a walk.  I was surprised at
the eagerness his face expressed - and thought that my face
must have changed for him like Father's had for me.  But I
had not only become an adult I, now manhood had enveloped
me, had become the heir.  After a week during which more
changes had occurred than I could have dreamt this was just
one more, and one that seemed a natural expression of the
rest.  Yet it was one that I was not sure that I liked, for
it seemed that I was no longer looked upon as a friend but
as a superior deigning favour.
     We picked up our weapons from his house, and as I no
longer needed to hide the fact that I was carrying mine I
took a long knife as well as a bow.  Yue-Sin was with the
group with Father, and his mother was with a ladies group,
but there was always the risk of a servant returning early
from the post-Church functions so we did nothing more than
kiss rapidly and fondle each other before making our way
down the main street toward Town Gate.  It was a day of
moderate wafting rain and we walked sweating under our
closed coats.  Hi-Tui was at his position, even though Town
Gate was typically quiet on Godday it was his responsibility
to man it at all times the gate was open.  He winked at me
after greeting us, then found an excuse to call me back.
With Yue-Sin out of earshot and no one around he gestured
for me to enter the guard house.  By the time I had entered
and turned he had his coat open and his hard dick out on
display.
     "He is anxious to see you, my Lord," was all he said.
     I reached out and took it in one hand, once again
amazed at its rigidity and girth, but not satisfied with
this he pushed my head down towards it.  Finding it stuck in
the centre of my face, I put out my tongue and licked it,
then took the tip of its rampant head into my mouth,
sticking my tongue in its massive eye.  Hi-Tui shoved his
hips forward convulsively forcing more of his dick into my
mouth than I could comfortably take, and I came up rapidly
with the pain of an overstretched jaw.  When he saw that he
had hurt me he apologised sincerely, gave me a quick kiss on
the lips, then sent me on my way before anyone could chance
along.  I gave his still exposed dick a squeeze before
leaving, looking forward immensely to our meeting on
ThirDay.
     "What did Hi-Tui want," asked Yue-Sin, without any
trace of suspicion, after I had caught up with him.
     Caught out, having nothing prepared, I must have
blushed as Yue-Sin gave me a questioning look.  "I'm hot
after running to catch up with you," I said to explain my
dark face.  "This jacket is like an oven."  But he kept
looking, until I realised that I had not answered his
question, only gave an excuse for my embarrassed face.  "He
wanted my to help interpret a directive from Father relayed
by your father regarding his duties at the gate," I
improvised.  This seemed to satisfy him and we walked in
silence for a while.
     Eventually he started, but hesitantly.  "Did you speak
with Lord Srotyr about what I spoke with you about?"
     Not sure about what he was referring to, having the
sensation of so much time having passed since we spoke, I
asked, honestly vague, "What are you referring to?"
     "About what I used to do with my father when we
bathed."
     "No," I lied, but only partly as I don't think Father
actually spoke to Yue-Sin about what I told him.  "Why do
you ask?"
     "Unlike most people, I guess because we have a private
bath, we bathe almost every day.  Since I spoke to you
father has not asked me to touch him.  Sometimes he would
not ask for one night, but it is now 6 nights and he has not
asked.  His dick always was hard when he undressed but it
never is now.  Are you sure that Lord Srotyr has not spoken
with him?"
     "I don't know everything Father does, but as he doesn't
know what you do with your father I don't know how he could
have thought to speak with him.  Maybe your father just
realised that what he was doing was wrong, that you were too
young, and decided to stop."  I felt at a loss to explain
this.  I guessed that Yue-Sin had focussed all his emotion
on me and had no need for his son any longer, that his son
had only been a choice of last resort for him as I believed
that Yue-Sin was a good man who would not intentionally hurt
someone.  But from what Yue-Lin had said this change had
commenced before my first contact with Yue-Sin .  "Tell me,
how did it start, these things with your father."
     "It started the first time I bathed with him.  Mother
had insisted that she would no longer bathe with me, I think
because my dick got hard and she saw it.  Mother has nice
tits, and though I had grown up as a child seeing them every
day, I found I was seeing them in a different way and this
is what caused me to get hard.  Father was very reluctant to
have me bathe with him, but Mother would have it no other
way.  Mother rules our house, as you probably know.  On the
first night I bathed with father he seemed very
uncomfortable.  At the point that he was to undress he sent
me away to get a clean robe for him, and by the time I
returned he was already in the bath.  I undressed quickly
and joined him.  I didn't know what to do with him.  Mother
had usually washed my back, and I hers, so I asked Father if
he would like his back washed.  He said yes, but when I
finished he turned around, asking me to wash his front as
well.  Thinking this was just because he didn't have tits so
it was OK to do so, I washed his chest and belly, but before
I could finish he pushed his hand lower onto his dick.
     "I had never seen his dick before, and other than yours
I had only seen my own, and did not realise his was hard.
It seemed no bigger than mine when it was soft, and I
thought his was just a different shape to mine.  He asked me
to wash it well, and soon he was spurting his white liquid.
I knew what that was about, as I did it to myself, though I
hadn't thought of father doing it too.  His dick did not
change though, so I thought that was normal for his dick to
stick out and feel hard.  I thought I was the one who was
different.  From then on every bath I washed his dick until
he spurted.  After a while he asked me to put it in my mouth
as well.  He never touched me though, and thinking about it
I don't think my dick has ever been hard when I have been
with him.  When I am with you I feel excited, but with him
sucking on his dick is like sucking a piece of carrot.  Its
not bad, its not good, its just there.  Maybe it is because
you and I have always been very close, and I have never been
close to father.  There are many things I can't explain.
But I have discovered that his dick doesn't always stick
out.  When it is soft it is disappears into his skin and
just looks like a blob in front of his balls."
     This all sort of fitted in with my knowledge of Yue-Sin
, especially his dick never going down (thinking about it I
had never seen it soft, either), but why was he not hard on
the night of my party?
     "Did you bathe with your father on the night of my
party?"
     Yue-Lin paused, his mind flowing back.  "No, I didn't.
He was in late and mother did not want me late to get
dressed, so I was sent down to bathe before father got home.
Why do you ask?"
     I knew why I had asked.  It was to see if Yue-Sin had
stopped getting sexual relief from his son after he started
getting it from me, and it was confirmed.  I now understood
and I guess, was flattered.  But what could I say to Yue-
Lin.  I, who was usually so honest, was weaving a web of
lies with my closest friend.  I felt that the adult world
was very difficult, and not honest like a child's.  Then I
realised what I could say.
     "Do you remember Father's speech at my party, about how
with adulthood came many new responsibilities and then he
paused before saying, and pleasures.  Remember how everyone
laughed at this.  He talked very clearly that one waited to
become an adult to obtain these pleasures so that one could
truly enjoy them, and he implicated that marriage was
necessary as well.  Do you remember?"
     Yue-Lin nodded, his face very serious and absorbed.
     "Your father must have heard this and decided that what
he was doing was wrong because you are still a child."
     Watching Yue-Lin's dawning understanding, even though I
knew it to be spurious, gave me a sense of power that I had
never felt with another before.  It felt good, but worried
me also for I didn't think that it should feel good.  Even
though I was lying for his benefit I was lying for mine as
well.  I decided not to analyse it.  Then he asked something
that caught me completely off guard once again.
     "It doesn't mean that we have to stop doing things,
does it?"
     I was caught between two desires.  One, mine, was to
say yes.  I had enough with Father, Yue-Sin , and soon Hi-
Tui, that I really didn't need anything additional other
than my longstanding friendship with Yue-Lin.  But seeing
Yue-Lin's adoring gaze I realised that he was wanting a
"no", with some rational as to why it should be different
between us.  Feeling the need to give something, I
suggested, "I don't think so.  What is wrong between a
father and son is the same as between father and daughter.
Now though you are technically a child and I technically an
adult, if you were to ask someone to look at us and decided
who was who they would without doubt say that you were the
adult.  We grew up together, we are childhood friends.
Neither has a power over the other that can force the other
to do something against his will.  I got to adulthood a
little before you, but soon you will be there also.  That
only leaves the marriage bit.  We can't marry, so I guess
there is no need for us to wait for marriage.  I don't know
where what we do fits in with the concept of marriage.
Maybe it is how we can get sexual relief prior to being
married without the risk of causing a girl to be pregnant?
I'm sure it is not wrong."
     The look of gratitude and relief that Yue-Lin directed
at me was heart warming.  I had committed myself to an
ongoing sexual relationship with him, but despite its
disadvantages I felt good.  I could also see that when Yue-
Lin was embraced by the arms of marriage he would have less
desire to be looking my way for sexual satisfaction.  It
brought to mind Father and my uncle, a partial contradiction
to the previous thought.  Putting this out of my mind I
changed the topic and began to talk about the dinner the
night before in the house of Win-Bui, of the new dance of
Win-Som.  By this time we had gained the privacy of our
pool, to which we had decided to return to despite the
bubbles as we were better armed, and I demonstrated the
dance after undressing.  Yue-Lin joined me in the final
part, adding his clap to my singing, taking the male role
and constantly pushing his hard dick into my belly.  Our
love making that followed was more mature and satisfying
than the previous time, filled with more joy of youth than I
had experienced with Father or Yue-Sin , and I no longer
questioned the wisdom of continuing the sexual side of our
friendship.
     Talking with Father that night he said that he believed
that I had done the correct thing, admiring my skill as a
diplomat.  When I questioned whether building a tangle of
lies was a skill he agreed that it was not.  But then
jokingly said that the skill lay in remembering each of the
lies, and to whom it was told!  He did not agree with it,
but unfortunately it seemed to be a necessary part of the
life of a leader.  He also confirmed that he had not spoken
with Yue-Sin .  He turned to his day, about the many
complements of the power of the morning's speech.  It was
usual to receive polite complements, but today there had
been many references to different images, their beauty and
solidity.  "One of the traders said that he had overheard
some of his servants talking about the White Tower as if it
was something that they had heard of for the first time.
Even the priest had, in private, said that from his position
at the front, he observed the look of rapt attention on the
faces of all present, something that he couldn't say that he
had witnessed before.  He also peevishly commented that I
had not stuck very closely to his text, and if I was going
to modify it so much he would no longer bother to write it
out for me, just note down a few points.  He then smiled,
letting me know that he had been joking.  He is too
intelligent that priest!  He will raise my wrath one day
before I have realised that he is joking.  So I told him
that it was not I that who was to blame for the
modifications, rather it was you who was the culprit and it
was you to whom he had to express his ire.  To this he
responded by asking if he had my permission to approach you
to ask for help in his own writing!  Yes, he is too
intelligent!  He thinks he can play me and flatter me like a
fool!"
     Father had in fact worked himself up into anger.  "Oh
Father, you know he is intelligent, and he has little
contact with other intelligent men.  He likes to talk with
you as another intelligent man, play word games and straight-
faced jokes, as a complement to your intelligence, knowing
you will understand.  You know that he does not mean any
disrespect."  Priest Lo-Si was someone I knew well.  His
role as priest made it difficult for him to associate with
other people, and ours being a small, though growing, town
there was only one priest allocated.  Lo-Si's only friends
were Father and Chi-Da.  My position as son of the Lord, and
Chi-Da's many complements regarding my fast mind had led Lo-
Si to seek out my company even though I was a child and we
had had many protracted philosophical discussions, often
with Chi-Da present.
     "I know," said Father, partially placated, "but he does
infuriate me so!" He paused for a bit.  "And he is not
having you as his speech writer - you do that job for me
only!  You now have a permanent position."
     "Thankyou Father."
     "No thankyou.  It is a position earned.  Now let's get
out of this bath and join your mother for dinner."