"You deserve a last punishment, then you'll be forgiven," she said. "I'll leave you one day under the sun to think about your mistakes, then you can go back to the Apartment. And when you'll be clean, I'll visit you." She didn't seem to notice the lack of response from him, or maybe she mistook it for a silent submission sign. She hadn't realized he hadn't said a word since he'd come back.
The sun burned and Zaffiro felt the fever rising. The hours went by very slowly and sweat poured over his naked body. Some girl even got close enough to steal him a kiss and he hoped to be dead before nightfall.
At sunset they untied him and took him back inside. Chiaro and the others helped him to bathe and shave and get dressed, then they took him to the big bed and left him there, exhausted.
Malianna came with two servants bringing dinner and had fun feeding him as if he were a child. Zaffiro let her do what she wanted while a part of him desperately called for Danilisa who seemed to have forgotten him.
***
"Guerriero is back!"
The news flew through the destroyed village. He was dirty and looked haunted, but Yolanda's brother had found his way back home. Yolanda and Aliseo guided him inside the house and helped him to clean up, giving him new clothes. Aliseo shaved him, since his hands shook too much to hold a razor.
That night they lit a bonfire on the beach. Guerriero stood in front of Yolanda with his head bowed. His father had died during the attack and they gathered near what was left of the funeral pyres. Yolanda's people formed a circle around the siblings and the bonfire, as if to protect the official reunion.
"Hello, brother," she greeted quietly. "Welcome back."
"I'm not your brother," he answered feverishly. "I'm unworthy, kill me, please!"
"No." Yolanda shook her head. "I've already lost our father, I don't want to lose you as well."
"No!" Guerriero moaned. He fell to his knees, hiding his face in his hands. His body didn't have wounds, but his heart was bleeding. "Kill me, please!" He offered his neck pointing at the hilt of her dagger. "Let me die with dignity, I can't live like this!"
Yolanda knelt next to him and hugged him. Guerriero burst into tears.
"Pour it all out," she whispered, caressing his head and holding him tight. "I won't let you down, my dear little brother..."
***
"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Yolanda asked, worried. "Malianna didn't look very kind."
"She's my sister," Danilisa replied boldly.
"Do you want Aliseo and Sole as escort?"
"No, I'll go on my own."
Yolanda sighed, but let her go. Danilisa gathered her things and Zaffiro's clothes, thinking they might not come back here. She must find somewhere else to live. The conversation with Colosso about teaching languages came back to her. Maybe it was time to leave the Queendom.
Sole waited for her at the door of Yolanda's house.
"So in the end he won," he said sourly. "You're going to get him, right?"
"I love him," she answered quietly. "And I'm indebted with him, I had no right to abandon him."
"I hope you'll both come back soon," he said.
"I don't think we'll be back," she replied, thoughtful. "Good-bye, Sole."
She left him speechless.
"There's no place for you except this," he called after her.
"Any place will do when Malianna gives up on Zaffiro," Danilisa whispered. It wouldn't be easy. But after all, Danilisa was an Aristocrat's sister, she had her own rights to house and land.
"I leave my part to you in exchange for Zaffiro," she suggested. "All my lands will be yours if you give me your favorite slave."
"And you will leave our mother's estate forever?" Malianna asked, wary.
"You won't hear from me, or him, ever again," Danilisa assured her.
Malianna glared at her, but she didn't flinch.
"Fine, take the slave and leave," Malianna said bluntly. "He's not much fun anyway."
Not if you force him, Danilisa thought. You should have seen what Yolanda's community was like before you brought death to their doors!
Zaffiro came into the room with his eyes on his feet.
"Go with your new mistress," Malianna ordered him.
Zaffiro looked at Danilisa and for a moment his blue eyes were filled with tears. He lowered them again. She took his hand and gently led him away.
"You suffered much, but I shall heal you," she promised. "We will find a place where we can be on our own and I'll take care of you, all right?"
He glanced at her, lost and hopeful at the same time. She smiled reassuringly and brushed his lips with a kiss.
"We'll go to Fianna first," she said. "Maybe Iona knows some Merchantess who will take us abroad. What do you think?"
Slowly, Zaffiro nodded.
***
"You sent for me, my lady?"
Chiaro looked puzzled as he knelt next to Malianna's triclinium. Of course, it was the first time he was called out of the Apartment – that was something she'd done only with Zaffiro. She smiled at him.
"Yes, Chiaro, I shall reward you for your good work," she told him. "What you did with Guerriero was totally unexpected, but excellent, and I was very pleased with your performance."
"Thank you, my lady." He sounded incredulous.
"I've heard you like doing those things on other Apartment members, is that true?" she asked, amused.
He blushed, but nodded, lowering his eyes. She chuckled.
"Good! Is it because you get bored in there?" she insisted.
"Um... yes..." he admitted, glancing at her with his head bowed.
She leaned forward and put a finger under his chin to lift it.
"Tell me, Chiaro, would you like to take Zaffiro's place?"
His eyes widened in surprise.
"Absolutely, my lady! But... what happened to him?"
She reclined again. Of course, the other men didn't know. They only saw him leave the Apartment, and they knew she'd had to drug him to make him perform after the punishment. Maybe Chiaro was afraid she had killed Zaffiro because he'd become useless in bed.
"I gave him to my sister Danilisa. Hopefully they're far far away from the Queendom by now," she answered, thoughtful. "Zaffiro was damaged after his escape." She stared at him and he brightened. "I sure hope you don't want to run away too – with a younger woman!"
"No, my lady, I'd be delighted to be in your bed or anyone else's in this house for the time being!" he assured eagerly.
"Good." She smiled, satisfied. "Get ready for your first Rite. And then tonight you can come to my bed."
***
Yolanda had decided to move away from her destroyed home and took her people to Fianna – the men covered with Modesty Cloths – to sell her land. In town she met Danilisa who told her she was leaving the country.
"It's a very good idea," Aliseo said. "Both for us and for Guerriero. I don't think he can heal here – much like Zaffiro."
Yolanda nodded and joined Danilisa, looking for a ship that could take them all away from the Queendom of Maadre.
A black sailed ship finally came to embark them. It was headed to the Kelvan Kingdom for trade, but had room for the dozen passengers who had survived the siege.
"Was it pirates?" Captain Soraya asked, glancing at the charred palisade and abandoned houses as they passed by it.
"Unfortunately our queen couldn't protect us," Yolanda answered, deciding not to tell the truth. "That's why we decided to emigrate."
"I don't know how you can live in a male-ruled country all year long, but it's your life," Captain Soraya said with a shrug.
She left them in a Kelvan town and they went to the governor's palace to request permission to stay.
"We seek asylum, we want peace," Danilisa said. As the Queen's cousin, she had decided to behave like an ambassador. Besides, only she and Yolanda spoke the local language. Their men and Yolanda's women would have to learn it. "Do you think your king would welcome us? Should we proceed to K
elvia and ask him for permission to stay?"
The governor said she should go to their capital, since she was the Amazon Queen's cousin, to talk to their king. But Yolanda and her people, who didn't have the money to travel all the way to Kelvia, could stay in the coastal town. He even gave them housing and jobs when his daughter Noreen intervened in favor of the refugees. She did it mostly for the haunted look on Guerriero's handsome face, and Yolanda smiled at her when she noticed her interest.
"We'll be fine," she told Danilisa before they split. "Thank you for giving us the courage to leave."
"Thank you for giving us shelter, and sorry we brought destruction to your home," Danilisa replied. "I'll keep in touch with letters, let me know when Guerriero starts smiling again."
Yolanda hugged her. "And you tell me when Zaffiro starts talking again," she whispered in her ear. Danilisa squeezed her, and then they parted.
***
Danilisa and Zaffiro were on their own again, on the open wagon of a merchant headed for Kelvia. They sat close but silent and Zaffiro seemed lost in gloomy thoughts. Danilisa had noticed how he'd glared at Sole, and imagined he had gone back to Malianna because he had witnessed her weakness of an hour.
But Zaffiro's lips were still sealed, and had been throughout the journey. His facial expression fluctuated from desperate to angry to hopeful without him revealing any of the feelings probably raging inside him. One more reason to split from Yolanda – and Sole – and be alone with him.
"Are you mad at me?" she asked him, holding his hand and squeezing his fingers. He shook his head, lowering his eyes without looking at her. "Why did you go back to Malianna?" she insisted. "You said you didn't want to be locked in ever again!"
He clenched his teeth, frowned, but didn't answer.
"Zaffiro," she chided. "Do you still want to live with me? Or do you want me to set you free, after teaching you this country's language?"
He looked at her at last, and tears filled his eyes. He hugged her and silently sobbed on her shoulder. She held him tighter.
"I won't abandon you, Zaffiro," she promised. "Even if I never get pregnant, I want to spend my life with you."
He calmed down to look at her, eyes still wet but wide with surprise. He pulled away, putting a hand on his chest, a clear question on his face, "You want to spent your life with me?"
She smiled and slowly nodded. "Yes, Zaffiro, I want to spend my life with you. And since we're not in the Queendom anymore, let me tell you about a tradition called 'marriage'."
He listened carefully and was so engrossed, he didn't realize he was speaking until his own voice startled him. "Why don't we have this in the Queendom?"
She chuckled at his own surprise.
"Different culture, different religion, different traditions," she explained. "We're exiles now. We can make up our own traditions."
A smile slowly blossomed on his lips.
"Your sister told me I was just a stud," he whispered, embarrassed.
She grinned. "Yes, well... I'm not my sister, am I?"
"No." He hugged her. "Thank you, Danilisa!" He gave her a long, passionate kiss. At least he'd started talking again. As for the rest, they had plenty of time to figure it out...
***
Noreen knew Guerriero went to the brothels with Sole, but he mated without emotion. His heart hadn't mended and blonde Noreen had noticed something was wrong with him. Yolanda had mentioned trouble with a fiery Amazon who liked to torment her men, but Noreen had no idea of what had really happened to him.
So she found every excuse to meet him, helping him to settle, teaching him her language, and slowly the storms in Guerriero's heart calmed down.
"Who did this to you?" she asked one night.
He told her of Malianna and his stay in her Apartment, and it felt good. Pouring it all out – the humiliation, the sorrow – helped him to cleanse himself, and Noreen's smiles and kisses helped him to overcome his mental wounds as he regained some self-respect.
The Queen's Son
Carino knew his childhood was over when they took him out of the apartment where he'd grown up with the other sons of the Queen. As the eldest surviving male, Shawanna had kept him at the palace until he turned thirteen. Then she said it was time he started doing his manly duty and sent him to a Public House in the main square, on the left side of the palace and in front of the Temple of the Goddess.
Disappointed, he'd hugged his younger brothers, put on the Modesty Cloth for the first time, and stepped out of the palace, following his new mistress, Vilma. He'd hoped his mother would keep him at the palace to breed, but obviously she preferred sharing him with the whole town.
Vilma took him upstairs in her big house and introduced him to Bono.
"He shall teach you the ways of the house," she told Carino. "See you tonight for the Rite."
Carino stared admiringly at the young man in front of him. Blond and blue-eyed, Bono smiled welcomingly, and Carino's heart started beating faster.
"I'm Carino, the Queen's son," he said, straightening to be as tall as Bono, but failing. He was still a scrawny teen compared to the gorgeous youth. He was blond and blue-eyed too, but the pale blond of his childhood was darkening already. Soon he'd be much like Bono, who smiled at his enthusiasm.
"Welcome to Vilma's house, Carino," he said. "Come, I'll show you the bath chamber and how to groom yourself. You don't have facial hair yet, do you?"
"No, but I'm growing some hair... somewhere else," Carino admitted. "Will you tell me about that too?"
"Sure," Bono promised.
The lack of adult men in the Boys' Apartment had been a big loss for Carino. He was glad he finally had someone to question – and that he was handsome and kind like Bono.
The elder showed him the pool with thermal water, helped him to wash and showed him how to touch himself. Carino had his first orgasm in the warm water, sighing in bliss with release and wishing he could hug Bono as well.
"How old are you?" he asked his mentor who was so obviously an expert on sex and women.
"Nineteen. I started working for Vilma as soon as I came out of the Boys' House. I don't know who my mother is, but Vilma says I'm her best man, that's why she entrusted you to me for your education."
"So, what are we supposed to do?" Carino asked, a little worried.
"Entertain women." They got out of the pool and dressed. "I have a visit now, I'll let you watch, unseen. Come."
Bono led Carino to a room with a lacy wooden window that opened on a bedroom.
"I'll be on the other side. Just watch, but be quiet," Bono said.
Carino took a stool and sat by the laced window. He was very nervous and his feet couldn't keep still.
Then Bono entered the bedroom with a woman. Carino couldn't take his eyes off of him, mesmerized by his smile and the way his hands glided over her body...
Carino held his breath. Bono's naked body was the most wonderful thing he'd ever seen. He wanted to touch the smooth skin, feel those muscles, taste those luscious lips now exploring the woman's body. Carino wished he could be the woman as she moaned in pleasure.
He closed his eyes and imagined Bono touching him as he stroked himself. He fell off the stool with a loud bang and heard Bono curse. He stayed on the floor, still caressing himself, barely listening to the whispers coming from the next room.
And then Bono stormed in. "Carino, what happened?"
Carino burst out laughing as he came again on the floor. "I'm fine. Just fell off the stool." He sighed, sat and composed himself. "Hope I didn't ruin your work."
"No, I... was done, but..." Bono looked puzzled. "Come and wash your hands," he ordered bluntly.
Carino followed him back to their room feeling like he was walking on the clouds. He wanted to throw his arms around Bono's neck and kiss him all over.
Bono checked he washed, pouring water from a jug into the basin, and then they sat on the floor between their cots.
"So, how was it? Think you can do it?" Bono as
ked.
"I don't know." Carino winced. "I wish I could be in the woman's place with you doing those things to me..."
Bono's eyes widened in shock. "What? No, you got it all wrong! You're the man!"
Carino shrugged. "I know, but I still think the woman gets the best treatment," he grumbled.
Bono shook his head, incredulous. "You're so inexperienced... you'll change your mind tonight."
Carino sighed. "If you say so..."
***
If the man wore a mask for the Rite before depriving fourteen-year-old women of their virginity, it wasn't the same for men. The boy could see the face of the woman who taught him to be a man, and it was usually a much older woman who took care of his sexual education.
Vilma herself took care of Carino, but he found it humiliating and almost painful. If he thought how hard Bono made him with a simple smile, he wondered why he should be forced to deal with women instead.
He went back to his room and lay on his cot feeling very disappointed. If this was his new life, he was screwed. He hated it.
He stared at the darkness, listening to Bono's breath. He wished he could nestle against his roommate and fall asleep in his arms. He sighed.
"Are you all right?" Bono whispered, startling him. So he was awake!
"Yes." But Carino felt like crying. He didn't dare express his feelings, not after Bono's reaction to his comments on how he wished to be the woman.
Bono's cot creaked and Bono's warmth enveloped him. He burst into sobs against Bono's chest, holding him as tight as he could.
"Hush," Bono murmured, stroking his back. "It's all right, Carino, hush."
Carino found himself hard against Bono's body. He calmed down to try to look at Bono's face in the darkness.
"B-bono, why don't we r-run away?" he stammered, sniffling.
Bono immediately let him go and went back to his cot. Carino shivered in the sudden cold – an inner cold, more than external.
"Are you out of your mind?" Bono's voice snapped. "Where could we go?"
"I don't know, anywhere," Carino answered, desperate.
"We can't move around the country! And we don't speak any foreign language!"
"I-I do..." Carino sniffled. "The Tattooed Ambassador was very fond of me and she taught me her mother tongue, saying I could run away with her when I grew up!"
Tales of the Queendom of Maadre Page 14