Through the Gate: The Chronicles of Cornu Book 1

by L J Dalton Jr

  When Thanksgiving came around, Mike went home for the weekend and then headed up to Lake George for some whitetail hunting with his Uncle and Issac. This year Joel joined them in the hunt. Mike and Issac took one tree stand and Sol and his son-in-law took the other. It was a good hunt, all of them got a deer. Joel was excited about getting his first deer. The deer were divided up as normal. This time, Mike took a venison roast and a couple of steaks back to MIT. Dr. Peterson had hinted that he wouldn’t mind some venison and since there was plenty, he took some to him.

  The patent application had been in for a couple of months and the team was almost finished with the paper. They all gathered one Saturday to give it one last look before submitting it to one of the journals. Nobody was under the illusion that it would be accepted as is. They knew that they’d be asked to make some revisions to it. That was expected and everybody felt good about getting it out of their hands and on its way.

  Christmas rolled around and Jack was on deployment and Rosa was pregnant again. She and JJ were down in Virginia Beach. The wives of people who were deployed, stuck together. So, Rosa and JJ had Christmas with some of the other families. Julie had apparently decided to stay even with her sister-in-law baby wise and she was two months pregnant. To add the excitement, Sharon was sporting a ring from Tony and he was congratulated and welcomed into the family. The wedding was going to be in June and Sharon and her mother had already started the wedding planning. Julie’s Will was just a year old and was starting to crawl. Sharon and her mother made a fuss over him. Tony looked distinctly nervous. Mike held off ribbing him after he got a ‘look’ from his mother. For Mike it was a relaxing time. One night when he was going to sleep in his old room, he reflected that things were starting to get back to normal after 9/11. Although, the drums of war were being beaten in D.C. He doubted his tour in the Marines would be peaceful.

  When he got back to campus, he found Dave had a similar experience. “Yeah my older sister came home with her boyfriend Stan and a ring. He’s a quant at some hedge fund in Stamford. Everybody was thrilled with the whole thing. I’ve met him a few times and he’s a good guy. He’s six two and second-generation Polish. He speaks Polish and my grandparents are trying to teach him Mandarin. This takes a lot of pressure off me to produce grandkids. Although there were questions about Linda and when am I going to bring her home for a visit. Dude, I don’t have to tell you that makes me pretty nervous.”

  “Dave, you could join the Marines with me. That will give you a couple of more years.”

  Dave didn’t even bother to answer, just gave Mike a look that said are you out of your mind?

  “Dave, seriously do you have any plans for Linda in the future.”

  “Oh man, you would ask that. I’ve got no idea. I like her, we get along really well and we’re compatible in bed. But the idea of something serious just scares me. I don’t know if I’m up for it or not.”

  “Afraid you’ll screw it up?”

  “You got that right. What do I know about marriage and all that stuff? Intellectually, I want to get married, but how do I know if Linda is the right one?

  “I’ve got no idea. As far as I can tell you find somebody you get along with and then once you’re married work like hell to make it work. There are a couple of big keys. Keep your zipper zipped, don’t become a drunk or a druggie and don’t become abusive. If you can do that, you’ve got a pretty decent chance of making it. By the way what do you think Linda would think about meeting your parents?”

  “Oh, she’d love it as far as I can tell. She hasn’t said anything yet, but I’m sure I’d get more BJs out of it.”

  “Yeah a good BJ is not to be sneezed at. Of course, you’ve got to reciprocate.”

  “Yeah that’s not a problem. I’ve got to really think about this. There’s no computer program I can run this through to figure it out.”

  “Well she seems pretty sane and levelheaded and she likes you and you like her. So that’s a start.”

  “Oh man, I got to think about this. Thank God for all the work we’ve got to do. I won’t have time to stew over it.”

  “Amen to that bro.”

  “By the way with Sue leaving at the end of the year what are you going to do?”

  “My plan such as it is, is pretty simple. Enjoy hanging with Sue and then see what the future brings. I’m sure that there are girls out there who want a reasonable boyfriend and aren’t looking to get hitched.”

  Dave and Mike got back into the research grind. They soon found out that the requests for revisions and clarifications for their paper were back. The next week the team met and divided them up. The agreement was that they’d have them finished a week after New Year.

  On New Year’s Eve there was a house party and pretty much everyone who lived there was at the party. Linda and Sue were there with Mike and Dave. Everyone caught up on what was going on with all the other residents. There was talk about the war in the middle east. A reasonable number of the residents knew Mike’s story and that he planned on going into the Marines. Nobody mentioned it though. The night went well and at midnight there was a big celebration and Sue and Mike kissed. They went back to Sue’s room and had New Year’s sex. Mike assumed Dave and Linda were doing the same.

  They met the Saturday after New Year’s and put all their changes together. Ava edited the paper and then sent it by email to all the team. Ava was ‘Miss Organization’. She was married to her high school sweetheart who ran a construction business in Boston. She told everybody that as soon as she got her PhD it was her plan to have her husband, Art, knock her up. She took some good natured ribbing about that and gave as good as she got.

  A month later they got the news that the paper had been accepted and that it would be published in the winter issue of the journal. There was a big celebration and everybody and their significant others went out for dinner at one of the better Italian places near campus. Mike and Art, Ava’s husband talked sports. He was a Red Sock-Patriots fan and Mike a Yankees-Giants fan. They had a good time talking about the great games that the Yankees and Red Socks had played.

  Sue finished her Thesis and went for her defense. She was nervous and Mike did his usual best to help with the nerves. He wasn’t surprised when she came back very pleased with the results. Sue was on the home stretch of getting her doctorate. The next big thing was finding a teaching assignment. She received interest form a couple of schools, but not NYU. She was courted pretty heavily by Rutgers and she was seriously considering them. Mike pointed out people in New Jersey didn’t rate the school as highly as it should be. People in other parts of the country thought it was a fine institution.

  The year wound down and Sue was getting ready to receive her doctorate. Mike and his advisor had talked about thesis topics and they had two potential ones, both having to do with carbon nanotubes. He’d already started to do a literature search on the them and wanted to make sure that he wasn’t doing something that somebody else had already done. That would have been a bummer to say the least.

  Once Sue got her doctorate, they both celebrated and said their goodbyes. She headed off to New Brunswick to get settled in. She’d accepted the position at Rutgers and seemed pretty happy with it. Mike was going to be without female companionship for the first time in a long time. He figured he’d be missing it on deployments, so he better get used to it.

  On Cornu

  Porfia.

  Porfia was a kingdom in the middle of Landia, south of the Sud. It was a long narrow kingdom that stretched from Sud south to the Southern Sea. Its capital was Peseus and it was ruled by kings. Only males could inherit the thrown and that was decided in a subtle but bloody competition between the potential heirs. The realm had gold and iron mines in the Sud mountains, rich farmlands to the south and fishing in the Southern Sea. The rulers were considered decadent and ruthless.

  King Leonades ruled the kingdom. He had a harem of over a dozen women and girls. From those he’d managed to sire four male children. The you
ngest who was only six would have no part in the intrigues of his older brothers and he’d been sent to the far south. There he would be held to be a pawn to be used in expanding the kingdom’s influence. The neighboring kingdom of Tantulus, was an ally of Porfia, but, Porfia, made all the decisions and Tantulus followed.

  The competition between the three older boys had been narrowed down to two. The eldest boy, Rolond had died of a broken neck when he fell off his horse. Leonades wondered which one of the two boys, Abland or Bartrum, had been responsible. Of course, it could have been one of the mothers who engineered the deed. The harem was a hotbed of intrigue and the women had their own reasons to do whatever they could to advance the fortunes of their own child. The mother of the winner would rule over the other two and it would not be altogether pleasant. There was an active betting pool among the counselors and the other nobles on who would wind up the winner. Each of the boys had a small harem of two women. Rolond’s had been divided between his two surviving brothers. To the victor went the spoils.

  One evening Abland and Bartrum had dinner together. There was of course a food taster present. Poison was a favorite tactic for settling dynastic disputes. Both brothers were careful to eat only from dishes that their brother ate from and drink only from containers that the other brother drank from. Abland was the favorite in the betting pool to come out victorious. Bartrum knew this and was well aware that his brother had several plots underway that would end in Bartrum’s death. He did not think that he would be able to avoid them all. He was taking a desperate gamble to kill his brother before he died. The food at the dinner was poisoned. It was a slow acting one, so the food taster would not die immediately. He was ingesting as much as his brother. The difference was he knew it.

  When the dinner was over, he went back to his room and immediately did his best to empty his stomach. He knew that neither he nor his brother may survive this. His only chance was to purge his system and then take an antidote. Even with the precautions he was going to suffer. He went to bed knowing that he might not wake up. In the morning he was suffering greatly and was teetering between life and death. His brother Abland had expired during the night. If he could hold on, he would be the heir. Two days later he started to recover, he would live.

  During that time his mother had directed all his care. When he was fully conscious, he was still weak, but found his mother sitting by his beside. “Son, you’ve won. When you told me of your plan, I thought it was a desperate throw of the dice. Now that you have recovered, I will move Abland’s women into your harem along with Rolond and Abland’s mothers. I will of course be the head of the harem as is the custom. Having those two bitches under my thumb will be delicious. I will tell you when you can have them. I want to spend some time getting them in the mood.”

  Bartrum could only guess what his mother meant by that. But that was for another time. “What does my father, the king say.”

  “He thought that was a bold plan. He really thought that your brother would win. I think he clearly underestimated you. He wants to talk with you when you are recovered. I suggest you rest for the remainder of the day and then have lunch with him. Listen carefully to what he says. You will have a long time to study under him before he is willing to step down and let you reign. I don’t know what he has planned, but he is an ambitious man. His father and grandfather bought Tantulus under our thumb. I think that he is not done with those ambitions. Now we need to get you cleaned up.”

  His mother summoned servants, who helped Bartrum to his bath. Afterwards, he drank broth and took a light meal, then he fell asleep again. In the morning, he felt strong enough to get up and get dressed. He made an appointment to have lunch with his father, the king.

  At lunch his father greeted him. “Bartrum come in. You’ve bested your brothers. You have proved to be both devious and bold. That is something the kingdom needs in a ruler. You do take after your mother. She was always the smartest and most devious of all the women in my harem. Also, very inventive in bed, which you’ll soon discover.” The king saw the shocked look on his son’s face. “Yes, your own mother. It is tradition, as well as the mothers of your brothers and the members of their harem. You have won and now you show dominance by bedding all the women. Much like the prize bull has his pick among the herd. The only caveat is that you can’t get your mother with child. That used to be done but none of the children survived the Choosing. So, the practice has gone by the wayside. Your mother will train the women in your harem to please you. She’ll be good at it. You may want to watch; I think that you will find it very enjoyable. I always like to watch the training. Now let’s eat. I can assure that none of this is poisoned.”

  As they were eating, the king went on. “We have control of Tantulus, they still have a king, but he dances to our tune. Your younger brother is too young to engage in the succession game. But he is potentially a powerful piece in our plans to extend our influence. Do not take any action against him. It would go badly for you.”

  “How is he going to help us father?”

  “Simple, marriage. The kingdoms north of the Sud and some of them south as well, do not make the distinction between the roles of women and men as we do here. They have queens, duchesses, minor nobles who are women and even heads of trading houses. While I have many daughters to offer in marriage the best, I could hope for would be for them to be second wives, who would not have much influence. They are skilled in pleasuring men and know how to be mothers. But they are not used to being partners, which is what those kingdoms want. That’s not to say that I won’t parade them around and see who might want them as a second wife. Now your younger brother is different. He will be raised to be a partner to a powerful woman. That will be our entre to that kingdom. I have plans that will span my reign, your reign and perhaps your son’s reign. I want Nordia and Tandor in the same position as Tantulus.”

  Bartrum was somewhat taken about by that. “Nordia and Tandor? How do you plan to do this father?”

  “Eat up and I will explain it all to you over the next year. Our plans will take years to develop, it is a delicate operation. I only have the vague outline of a plan. Some of it will follow what was done the Tantulus, a lot needs to be different. This must be kept secret. Do talk with your mother about this though, she is a most devious woman and knows power games. Talk to no one else”

  When he returned to his new quarters, he found his mother waiting for him with all the members of his harem as well. She was standing and his brothers’ mothers were kneeling on the floor with collars around their necks and leashes held by his mother. All the members of the harem stood naked awaiting his inspection. He looked them over, they were all attractive. There was an exotic Asian among them, which he liked. He looked at his mother and nodded. She led the women back to the harem.

  That evening, his mother came to his bed. At first, Bartrum was reluctant to couple with his mother, but she had anticipated this. A small amount of a special potion had been added to the wine. It increased desire and relaxed inhibitions. Once that took effect, they coupled. Sometime later, after they had satisfied themselves, his mother started to explain things to her son. “Good, you’ve gotten over your reluctance to take me. Centuries ago, we would have been expected to produce a child. The idea was that it would combine to strengths. I produced an heir who was able to best the others and therefore producing another child from that heir would produce an exceptional child. But as we know children of such unions never survive the ‘Choosing’, so that’s no longer done. I will run your harem. The harem can be many things. A source of pleasure, but it can also be a source of strength or even a source of danger. I will produce one that is a source of pleasure and if you let me a source of strength.”

  “Yes, it was strange to couple with my own mother. But clearly, I did, and I assume, I will again?”

  “Yes except for the women, who were in your harem before, I don’t fully trust any of the new ones who came from your late brothers’ harems. At first, they will
be with me when they first come to your bed. By the way did you find our coupling enjoyable.”

  “Yes, it was most enjoyable.”

  “I applied a little lotion to myself and when you entered me you got some on yourself. It’s one of the ones that prolongs and increases pleasure. It’s something mothers tell their daughters about. Most of the noble and wealthier families use that or something similar. Young women use it on their betrothed to prolong and heighten their pleasure when they are using their hands to bring their future mate to climax. There are more specialized ones that are used in our harems, plus exotic drugs. Those will be used on your aunts to bend them to our will. They will have to beg me to be allowed in your bed and then only as my partner. Trust me when I’m done with them, they’ll be begging.”

  The thought both excited Bartrum and was a bit concerning. “Mother when you are breaking them, I’d like to watch occasionally.”

  “Absolutely, that would be most welcome. A bit more humiliation never hurt the process. They will learn that you are far above them. That’s good.”

  The Bandits.

  Derek and his men waited in the woods less than a hundred yards from the road. In this part of Tandor, the road was back on the south side of Little Ro. In front of them the forest had been cleared away to stop bandits from hiding in ambush. The caravan did not expect to be attacked here as most bandits attacked from ambush and the effective range of a musket wasn’t all that great. Derek was smart and adaptable. His plan was a full out charge with lance, pistol and sword that would quickly overwhelm the defenders.