“
Too bad, I signed a contract. You’ve got me for two months, you know that.”
“
Yes. Take this.” Puzzled, I did so. It was heavy, and clearly held a lot of coins. “I...receive an allowance. I save most for...well, I have savings. Not much, that’s all of it. Fifty silver coins. I want you to take it tomorrow and leave. It’s two weeks wages and a little extra. I know it’s not much, but it’s all I have. Please, Nikolas.”
I stared at him, looked at his desperate eyes. “Why? We’ve had an argument, it’s not the first. If you weren’t so bloody touchy, we’d be all right.”
He shook his head. “This job isn’t for you. The others...the ones who couldn’t read—they weren’t smart enough to be bored, or to get into trouble. I’m afraid for you. You’re too clever, you’ll ask the wrong questions and you’ll get killed. I don’t want that on my conscience.”
I put the purse down on the bed. “Why not? You think I’m a whore, a deceitful bastard who only does nice things to get favours. Why would you care if I got killed.”
He looked down. “I shouldn’t have said that,” he said quietly. “Will you take the money and leave?”
I admit I was tempted. But at the same time, that wretched perverse streak in me wouldn’t let me. I shook my head. “Sorry, I’ve a use for two months’ wages. It’s not enough.” I tossed the purse back at him. He caught it and straightened up. “But if it makes you happy, I’ll stop trying to be nice to you. Damned if I want it flung back in my face every time. So you can run away now and sulk over your books. Your secret’s safe, and I won’t bother you again.”
“
Then on your head be it,” he said stiffly, and stalked out.
Touchy bloody crazy bastard,
I thought.
You don’t get rid of me that easily.
~~~~~~~~
Things were very cool between us after that, which didn’t surprise me. We quickly came to an unspoken arrangement where, if he went out, I stayed in and vice versa. I bought my own books, and kept out of his way, and often as not, I didn’t return for supper. Often as not, he was gone to his mysterious assignation when I got back.
I spent my time outside the temple walking, cultivating inn keepers and stall holders, listening to their gossip. The news from Jendon was still bad, although I had one report there had been a little rain in the north. I prayed that this was the start of the end. In the meantime, I tried to get a feel for where I could get work when I left the temple—it seemed as if south Gidin might be profitable. I began to price metal working tools, and to plot my future. I tried very hard not to think about Jaime, or our situation at all.
He completely ignored me except on those nights when we had to serve the god. At those times, he was as careful and coldly considerate as ever before and during, and as wretchedly unhappy afterwards. I always tried to be out of the temple the day after—it was obvious he wasn’t going to leave his room on those days. He continued to live on air, and I wondered how long he could do that before he actually got sick. For my part, on my days alone, I spent some time in the kitchens, showing Mia the way of sweet-making, Jendonese style, and learning a lot of fascinating information about the temple, though little of it was of any use to me.
One thing that really was interesting was that it was her kitchen, and not the temple’s, who apparently prepared the food for the god. I thought that very strange—if the temple served any purpose, I would have thought they would be the ones to carry out this task, and it reinforced my belief that the god was no such thing, and more than that, Minas knew that too. The god was never referred to as such or discussed, and I think it was only Mia and the one guard who delivered the meals who had any knowledge of him, but I worked it out from the subtle things they said and how they referred to the person who had a tray taken to them three times a day. I think they assumed they were taking food to some high priest. If they had known they were serving a god, I doubt they’d have been able to keep their mouths shut about it.
I noticed the ‘god’ didn’t have much of an appetite either, judging by what came back on the tray. I’d discovered he was kept in rooms at the far end of the garden, into which I was never allowed to enter, but which could be seen from some of the few windows. There was a very high wall at the end of the garden, and metal bars arched over the unseen area beyond it. The god was a prisoner, that much was for certain, and I had to wonder what poor wretch they had forced into the role.
Our Jendonese gods were much more benevolent—Sar, father of all the heavens, and Pir, mother of the earth, didn’t demand such cruelty in their name. I made my secret devotions to them when I could, and prayed to be able to return home safe soon. I hoped my service in a pagan god’s temple wouldn’t offend them. I would have to make public apologies when I got back to Jendon, at the main temple in Hamer. I would be cleansed then and forgiven. I looked forward to shedding this experience from my soul, but until then, all I could do was endure and save my coins.
After five weeks, I felt I was in the home stretch. Time still dragged, and I felt like I had been in the temple forever, but it wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened to me, I suppose. Something still troubled me about my many predecessors, though. Most only lasted two or three months, only one as long as six. None had made it to a year, and after experiencing Jaime’s moods, I wasn’t surprised. But that meant there should have been a good number of fellows with plenty of coin in their purses walking around Egin. I’d not met a single one, or heard anyone mention them. Some would have returned to their homes, I knew. Others would have drunk the lot in a few weeks. But such sudden wealth in a poor man—you think it would have excited a little comment. The kitchen staff couldn’t enlighten me. Most lived in the temple, and had no families outside. They came and went as I did, but the fate of the ‘bumboys’ as they insisted on calling them, was of no interest to them. I was liked, and I amused them—when I was gone, they would forget all about me. The change in personnel was too frequent for them to do anything else.
I was determined I would not be wasteful with my hard-earned money. I had a list of tools I planned to get, and other supplies, and was checking the price of a cheap horse to carry me and my possessions south. The best price was to be had at auction, which meant I would have to wait until I was released before I could buy an animal, but I was doing research as to what was a fair price to pay for a reasonable nag. As soon as two months were up, I would be off without a backwards glance.
My satisfaction with my plans was probably asking the deities to teach me a lesson, which they did in spectacular fashion. I don’t know what went wrong that night. We had prepared ourselves in the usual way, and Jaime was having his normal, skilful, passionless way with my body, in exactly the same manner as he always did—until he suddenly stopped. I hadn’t heard the god groan his completion as he usually did, and looked up to find out what was wrong. The girl in his lap was looking puzzled and had stopped moving. Minas grabbed her chin and glared at her, then made her get off the god, stuck his finger into her cunt and drew it out. What he saw this time clearly did not please him—he tried again and again, until the poor girl was crying with shame, squirming to get away from his touch. Finally, he thrust her away so that she stumbled down the steps, into the waiting arms of the priests who led her away, sobbing.
As the door closed behind her, Minas clicked his fingers. At once, the guards came to where Jaime and I were still frozen in place. What was going on? I had no time to ponder it before two guards seized me and dragged me off the platform, making me stand behind it. Jaime was also grabbed, but he was taken over to the bench where the girls were ‘prepared’, and forced to lie across it just as they did, facing the god. Another click of Minas’ fingers and black cords were produced (with suspicious ease, I later realised). Jaime’s arms were pulled forward along the table, each wrist bound to a table leg. He was forced to spread his thighs and his knees were similarly bound to a table leg apiece. He looked horribly like a sacrifice, yet his body had a strange beauty, stretched out like that against the black leather, his perfect skin looking almost as pale as my own against the bench, his chest muscles bunching against the position. His arse, so tight and beautiful, looked like it was inviting the watcher to take it, to bury themselves in it. None of the women had looked so tempting in the same position, though they were never restrained as he was now.
Jaime had warned me to keep my mouth shut, but my instinct was to protest, just as he must have known. Fortunately for me, the fierce grip of the guards on my arms reminded me to keep quiet. All I could do was watch this new development in this perverted game. I had a sick feeling of dread as I guessed what might be coming.
Minas walked down the steps, his face twisted in anger. He came to the table and dragged Jaime’s head up cruelly by the hair, looking up at the god as he spoke. “The god has withheld his blessing. Now you will pay the price.”
No!
I wanted to yell. But yet it was this very situation he had particularly warned me of. I bit my lip to prevent myself crying out.
Minas nodded. Senku brought over a thin cane and gave it to Minas with a low bow. He flexed it a bit. “Hands,” he snapped. Jaime uncurled his fists, and with no more warning than that, Minas brought the cane down viciously across both of Jaime’s palms.
Jaime grunted. The god began to struggle madly, moaning and yell behind what had to be a gag. My own hands clenched in sympathy as I imagined the agony Jaime had to be feeling. Minas had only begun. His mouth curled into a sadistic sneer, as if Jaime’s lack of reaction was a challenge. He raised his arm again and brought the cane down hard, so hard I feared he might have broken Jaime’s hands, and then he kept it up, striking Jaime again and again until he managed to make him cry out in pain. All the while, Senku and the other priests watched. Senku was licking his lips.
Jaime’s cries seemed to please Minas for only then did he stop. He walked slowly along the table, dragging the cane down Jaime’s body, making him shiver, before stopping to lay a vicious stroke across Jaime’s buttocks. A welt rose immediately and Jaime’s cheeks tightened in reflex. More blows came, on his buttocks again, on his thighs, the backs of his knees, and even on the soles of his feet, the pace slow enough to let Minas’ victim fully appreciate each strike, without giving him any time to actually recover. Jaime stood it as much as he could but with every third or fourth blow he would let out a bitten off scream. When Minas began to cane him down the crack of his buttocks, Jaime struggled futilely, crying in agony. Some of the blows had to be landing on his balls. I wondered that Jaime didn’t pass out from the pain.
I felt sick, horrified. I wanted to close my eyes, but in a way, I felt that was like I was abandoning Jaime in his time of need. How could it be Jaime’s fault that the god didn’t ejaculate? How could this abuse make any difference to that? But it was clear that if I disobeyed his advice and tried to protest, I would just bring punishment on my own head without doing a damn thing for him. All my anger towards the man disappeared in an instant—no one, no matter how moody or strange, deserved this.
At last Minas seemed to be finished. He was panting a little from his exertions, but for an old man, he had plenty of strength in his arms. I thought he would have kept it up longer if he thought Jaime could have borne it. Jaime was whimpering now, very quietly, his chest heaving, his wrists tugging futilely against the ropes. I couldn’t see his face, which perhaps was a blessing, but the god could, and he continued to struggle and make his muffled cries to no avail. Was it over now?
Unfortunately for Jaime, it was not. Minas clicked his fingers again, and the captain of the guard came over. It was pretty obvious from his excited expression he was really looking forward to what he was about to do, and his erection was a prominent bulge. He looked like a dog ready to fuck a bitch in heat as he stood behind Jaime. Minas gripped Jaime’s head again. “One day you will learn your lesson. Until then, it is our duty to teach you your place.” The captain spread Jaime’s buttocks, and shoved his cock into Jaime’s completely unstretched, unoiled anus
Jaime screamed, and the god went crazy. Even I struggled in my captors’ grip, but I was too firmly held. The captain was taking huge delight in the pain he was causing, thrusting deep, pulling out slowly and then pounding into Jaime again. Jaime had stopped screaming, but now he was crying softly, which seemed almost even worse. Minas continued to keep his head pulled back painfully, so that the god could see Jaime’s face as he was raped over and over again.
Even that wasn’t enough for Minas, his eyes bright with excitement, licking his lips as he watched the violation of the god’s surrogate. Three more guards took their turn at Jaime, and then Minas took the cane again and slashed it down Jaime’s bleeding hole. Three times he hit him thus, then delivered ten or so blows across Jaime’s buttocks, the same again across his shoulders, each strike horrifyingly loud, Jaime’s screams echoing in the stone chamber.
Finally, Minas tossed the rod away. He dragged Jaime’s head up again. “Will you learn now? Learn how unimportant you are except to serve Lord Paon? Speak!” He shook Jaime’s head.
Jaime coughed, then whispered something that sounded like, ‘Seve’. At his word, the god cried out again and renewed his struggles. Minas slammed Jaime’s head down on the table, and then clicked his fingers at his priests. For all his feigned anger, he was still flushed looking, and his expression seemed more smug than anything else. I wondered if he’d come just from watching, the old pervert.