"You cannot force him to speak," the old man replied wisely. "I think his voice will come out when necessary."
"I don't know." Kyrio shook his head, frustrated. "Sometimes I wonder. Did I really have to fall in love with him? Why him? I knew he was damaged! How could I possibly heal him in just one year? These things take so much more time!"
"Where's your patience, Kyrio?" The wrinkled face had a hint of a smile. "Have faith. He is yours. You will be able to keep him."
Kyrio nodded with a sigh. If an old shaman told him so, he better believe it. His mother's countrymen might be considered barbarians by most mainland societies, but he knew they were often much wiser.
The sight of Smeraldo's half-naked body took his breath away. The freedom they had on the island made him want to stay, forgetting his commitments and his business. Who would find them there anyway? Kriloy would know where to look for him if he didn't come back, but the Daughters of Amazonia would have no clue.
He could work on restoring Smeraldo's health. But what would Melania think of him? What about motherly Rossella, who expected another batch of pearls? Torn between duty and love, Kyrio didn't know what to do.
Chapter 6
Smeraldo sat alone on the white sandy beach to think. He wasn't really seeing the ocean or the sun setting as he pondered.
Kyrio was not as he expected. The new life was not as he expected either. And comparison with his life at the capital of the Queendom of Maadre sprang to his mind.
He remembered the day Melania had summoned him to tell him the Queen wanted him at the palace. Her face was serious and she had sighed and averted her eyes under his puzzled stare.
"The Queen noticed you at the Spring Festival and now wants your baby," she had said, sounding as unhappy as one could be. It was supposed to be an honor to sire the Queen's daughters, wasn't it?
"Oh... well, she's not the first requesting me for that purpose, is she?" he had replied, a little jarred by Melania's reticence. They had a good relationship of mutual respect, and he had given her two children already. Melania wasn't the only one, as he was a Public Man, albeit specializing in dance, the only artistic activity allowed to men.
"No, but she's not like everybody else," Melania had said.
"Of course not, she's the Queen and Daughter of the Goddess! She has lived well over a century and still looks in her prime," he had retorted. He knew Queen Amazonia was not like the other women, for the Goddess's sake!
Melania had smiled against her will at his outburst.
"Smeraldo." She had stared at him tenderly. "Our Queen is almost two centuries old. You don't live that long without becoming a little... strange." She had sighed again, looking away from his worried face. "Rumors say she has become exceedingly cruel, especially towards men. I cannot refuse her, but I'm worried for your well-being."
"Oh." Smeraldo had lowered his eyes, wondering what he should do. "You think she will be hard to please?"
"I think she will hurt you. Do not resist her, or it will get worse. I will tell Alina you're at the palace so she can try to check on you."
"How long am I supposed to stay in her Apartment?" He had frowned in worry. He wasn't going to resist – he'd been trained to give women pleasure – but he wondered if the Queen would hurt him anyway.
"Until she gets pregnant," Melania had answered.
Of course. He had sighed.
"I shall get ready and go to the palace immediately," he had said, rising. "Do you think I'll need my dancing bells?"
Melania had slowly shaken her head, her eyes filling with tears. Smeraldo had leaned over to hug her, praying to the Goddess that he'd see her again.
And then the first, nightmarish night at the palace came back to him in all its atrocity, as night fell on the island.
***
Smeraldo went to the palace covered head to toe with the Modesty Cloth that allowed him to barely see where he was going. What he knew of the architecture of Maadre he had glimpsed from Melania's windows, as the laced opening at eye height blurred his vision in the streets.
The guards that let him in took his Cloth and grabbed his arms as if he were a slave to be dragged unwillingly to his prison. Jarred, Smeraldo glanced at the impassive faces of the two young women but didn't protest.
They took him to a bedroom with a canopy bed. They took off his clothes and then tied his wrists to the poles of the canopy at the foot of the bed, his back to the pillowed top. Puzzled, he stared at them and was about to ask questions, but one shook her head and whispered, "Don't ask. Don't argue. Don't resist or she will kill you."
He nodded, gulping down his anxiety at the upcoming meeting. He had never made love to someone while bound and standing. He had performed Rites, masked, on fourteen-year-old virgins, but this was very different. Why would the Queen want him tied up? She knew he'd do her bidding...
The guards left, standing outside the open room door. Whoever passed on the corridor took a glance at his naked body but didn't dare enter. He felt ready to be sacrificed, except he wasn't lying on the Goddess's altar but standing in a bedroom.
A cool breeze blew through the window that opened onto a balcony, relieving his sweaty body. His wrists hurt as the binding was too tight, probably to prevent him from sliding the ropes down the carved pole and sitting. It was annoying not being able to move.
It was early afternoon when he had entered the palace, and he doubted the Queen would join him before nightfall. Why they had tied him up was still a mystery – maybe the Queen wanted to cause him discomfort, but why? How could he perform if he was tired and uneasy?
The muscles of his outstretched arms and shoulders started to ache as he tried to keep his legs active. He hummed a song to himself to relieve the tension, but time seemed to have stopped.
He missed his room, his narrow bed, Melania's main room where he danced, and Melania's company and sweet smile. Sunset colored the sky outside. His stomach grumbled and he wondered if and how they'd feed him.
Then voices announced the Queen's arrival. Smeraldo straightened in his uncomfortable position, sighing in relief. At least the wait was over.
The Queen entered the room in all her glorious beauty. She swept her golden hair from her face, her blue eyes locked on him. She sashayed into the room in her dark-blue sleeveless tunic and stopped in front of him. She smiled, satisfied, giving him the once-over.
"Hello, gorgeous." Her voice was huskily sensual.
Smeraldo smiled tentatively. He had never been so close to her, even if he had often seen her at the Temple of the Goddess during official ceremonies. She was intimidating, and being naked and tied in front of her didn't help his self-esteem. Not that men were allowed much self-esteem in that country, but he was aware of his talents – although the Queen didn't seem interested in any of them.
"Yes, you're perfect, Stud," she continued, still examining his body. "By the way, that's your new name, Stud."
"Your majesty," he began.
Her smile vanished and she slapped him, splitting his lip with her ring.
"Don't talk!" she ordered. "You're an animal, and animals don't talk. Don't force me to gag you. I don't want to hear a word from you."
He nodded, startled. Not that he had great conversational skills, but it was the first time a woman treated him like an animal.
She stared at the drop of blood on his lip and grinned, grabbing his head to give him a voracious kiss. Her tongue was hot and demanding. She almost choked him, taking him by surprise. She also bit his lips, albeit without drawing more blood.
"Mmm, I'd eat you alive," she whispered, full of lust.
Her hands and lips started exploring his body as he tried to catch his breath. This was wrong, the woman was sick. Again he tried to free his wrists, but the ropes held. Panting, he wondered if he should attempt talking to her or if he had better keep his mouth shut as she had ordered.
She sucked his nipple while her nails drew four parallel lines on his back. He screamed in pain, so she scratc
hed him again and again, chuckling at every scream or moan, until he clenched his teeth, determined not to utter another sound.
She took pleasure in his pain. She knew how to touch him as well, but he couldn't hold his arousal for long.
She was naked now, and squeezed his buttocks while holding him against her, looking him in the eyes with a smirk, daring him to make a sound.
He gulped, breathless.
"Well, Stud, will you fill me now?" she asked.
He shook his head. Not like this, no. He glanced at his wrist, hoping she'd get the hint.
She let him go. "No, I will not untie you," she said going to a little round table. There was a jug and a goblet on it. She poured what looked like wine and went back to him. "Drink," she ordered. It also smelled like spiced wine, but Smeraldo hesitated.
Frowning, she closed his nose with two fingers and forced him to down the contents of the goblet. Smeraldo coughed, catching his breath, feeling the warmth in his empty stomach.
As he had imagined, it wasn't just wine. A powerful aphrodisiac took over his body so he could give the Queen what she wanted.
After she was satisfied, he collapsed, unconscious, hanging from the poles as the Queen retreated to her bed to sleep.
***
Smeraldo still remembered the whole nightmare. He'd woken up dazed and spread-eagled on the curtained bed. And it was just the beginning. The Queen aroused herself by humiliating and hurting him. She treated him like an animal, often forcing him onto all fours and riding him as if he were a horse, slapping his ass to spur him forward and putting a makeshift bit with reins in his mouth. Or she whipped him and scratched him, forcing him to drink drugs when he couldn't perform.
Smeraldo had tried to stop eating to get out of his misery, but he'd been beaten and then held still as food was shoved down his throat. The Queen liked him clean-shaven, so every other day he was attached to a chair and shaved as they didn't trust to him with a blade – mostly afraid he'd use it on himself.
Learning the uselessness of his pleas and moans, his voice had stopped coming out. His silent screams seemed to excite the Queen even more, and he had finally understood Melania's concern for his health. The Queen was slowly killing him, milking his manhood in the process.
They had taken him back to Melania two months later – he knew because Melania had told him. He'd been physically sick for a couple of weeks, while his body worked the drugs out of the system, then had slowly come back to life under Melania's loving hands.
And now Kyrio's loving hands. But his voice still refused to come out. Sometimes he could still hear the Queen's harsh words lingering in his head. "Come on, Stud! You're just an animal! Animals don't speak! Hop on, Stud! You're nothing, Stud, but I need that piece of flesh of yours inside me. You're an animal. Animal!"
Chapter 7
Smeraldo started brooding when they headed back for the Queendom of Maadre. In the past months he had grown accustomed to being treated like a person and had started really enjoying Kyrio's company, even in bed.
He knew it would be a quick visit to reassure Melania and Alina of his well-being and sell some pearls to Rossella, but at the same time, he felt doom looming over him, as if the Queen was eagerly awaiting his return to hurt him again.
Kyrio's melancholy at the thought of their separation also hurt. Smeraldo didn't want to leave the man that had given him back his self-esteem and love for life. It was unfair that he still had to report to Melania before being set completely free.
Why couldn't Kyrio just keep him? Melania or Alina didn't have ships, although Alina had the means to pay a captain to look for him. Why risking going back?
He was on the ship's deck, staring at the sea, leaning on the rail next to Kyrio when he blurted out, "I don't want to go back!"
He turned to look at Kyrio and the other's puzzled expression at the sound of his voice almost made him laugh. But he was too worried about his future to bother, so he continued, "I want to stay with you. Why are you taking me back?"
Kyrio exhaled before speaking. "It's the deal I made with Melania," he reminded Smeraldo.
"But she doesn't have the means to look for you!" he protested. "Let's not go back – keep me with you like you did with Jack!"
"I bought him from his owner. You're a loan, remember?"
"Well, buy my freedom! You know I don't have money of my own, but I'll repay you with my body! Send Jack to Maadre to do your business!"
"I don't trust him that much, sorry. I'm the business owner, I'll deal with my own transactions."
"Then I'll wait on the ship with Jack!"
"Do you hate Melania as well?" Kyrio asked. "Don't you want to say good-bye properly to her? We'll be in and out of Maadre in two days – Amazonia won't even notice we were there. You'll be wearing the Modesty Cloth, so who would recognize you?"
Smeraldo pursed his lips, unconvinced. But the dam was open and there was no stopping his words now.
He told Kyrio about himself and his life until the Queen had noticed him and almost killed him. He told about the whipping and the humiliations and the drugs. And how he had enjoyed meeting the people of the Lekisha Kingdom and Kyrio's family – and Kyrio himself. How he had loved the islands with very few commodities but total freedom.
Kyrio listened, barely commenting or asking questions. Smeraldo wasn't ashamed to cry while he spoke, although he knew by now Kyrio never showed his tenderness in public. So eventually they retired to Kyrio's cabin and made love to each other.
"Thank you." Smeraldo felt calmer afterward. Now he was ready to go back for a very quick visit to Melania. And then he'd be free to roam the seas with his beloved Kyrio.
***
Smeraldo covered himself with the Modesty Cloth as soon as they set foot in the Queendom of Maadre. Going upstream took longer than coming back, so they had seven days to strengthen their relationship on the barge headed to Maadre. Not much privacy or room to physically express their mutual love, but enough to make plans about the future. Kyrio was delighted by Smeraldo's new liveliness. As he had imagined, the dancer was sweet and affectionate and ready to die for him.
They went to Rossella's first, and she smiled at the sight of Smeraldo.
"I had heard he was dead," she said, amused.
"Sold," Kyrio corrected. "Well, on loan, but I'm here to finalize the sale."
The dancer kept his mouth shut and his eyes low as if he were still traumatized into submission.
"My best deal from last year," Kyrio told Rossella with a wink.
She smiled. "May the Goddess be with you both," she said, caressing Smeraldo's cheek.
The visit was short and Kyrio said good-bye to the jeweler.
They reached Melania's house and she welcomed them with a hopeful smile, not daring to ask anything. But as soon as they were inside, Smeraldo took off the Modesty Cloth and told her about his undying love and how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Kyrio.
"Well, it seems you performed a miracle!" Melania grinned at Kyrio. She showed him the pearls now embedded in a silver necklace. "I shall wear this proudly, like I said, and may the Goddess be with you both."
"Thank you, Melania," Kyrio answered. "I admit I thought I had failed him until we were on the ship headed back here. That's when he surprised me, showing he can actually talk. And he hasn't stopped talking since – he's a chatterbox!"
Melania giggled and Smeraldo smiled with a shrug. Kyrio hugged him but didn't kiss him although he wanted to. But he liked to keep his feelings private, and Smeraldo knew it by now. Still, the dancer blew him a kiss.
"Well, I'm so happy for you both," Melania said. "The Queen had a boy and she came looking for you." She stared at Smeraldo, whose smile vanished immediately. "I told her you were gone and probably dead, and she wasn't very happy. She said I shouldn't have sold you because you were part of the Goddess's Dancers, but I told her you had become too useless even to dance."
"That's a lie," Smeraldo grumbled. "I could still dance when
I left."
"I know, but I had to get her off your back, hadn't I?" Melania smiled.
Smeraldo nodded with a frown.
"We don't want her to know Aldo is still alive, so if you allow us, we will leave now," Kyrio said.
"Tell Alina I love her," Smeraldo added. "And you can both visit us if you manage to leave Maadre."
"I think we will," Melania promised. "Thank you for keeping your word, Kyrio. You're an honorable man."
"I wouldn't still be trading if I wasn't," he replied, amused. "Feel free to visit us, like Smeraldo said, although we're at sea for most of the year."
Melania let them go, hugging Smeraldo one last time before he put the Cloth back on. Kyrio grabbed Smeraldo's hand like he had done the year before and led him through the cobbled streets of Maadre towards the river. They were done, they could leave forever. If he came back to trade with Rossella, Aldo would wait on the ship with Jack.
The Queen's guards stared at Kyrio's passport for longer this time. He had the contract saying Melania had sold him Smeraldo, but the guards didn't seem to want to let them on the barge.
"The Queen will want to talk to you," the blonde guard said at last, looking him in the eyes.
Smeraldo squeezed his hand, ready to panic, but Kyrio nodded. Trying to run away was useless. They followed the two guards to the palace and entered the throne room where Amazonia sat on her golden throne.
Kyrio and Smeraldo stopped in front of the dais as one of the guards took Kyrio's documents to the Queen. Amazonia quickly read them, then stared first at Kyrio, then at still-covered Smeraldo, who was panting in panic and clung to Kyrio's hand as if it were his only hope.
"Your majesty, I have bought this slave and intend to take him away," Kyrio dared to speak, not intimidated by the icy blonde queen.
Amazonia got up and came down from the dais to stand in front of them. She grabbed Smeraldo's Modesty Cloth and pulled it away, revealing the dancer's sweaty face. Smeraldo gasped and shuddered as she stared at him.
"I don't think so," she said, throwing away the Cloth. "You're trying to smuggle one of my children out of the country," she told Kyrio. "I will not allow it."
Tales of the Queendom of Maadre Page 4
