Mac Tire � Son of the EarthPart 4 - The Sea is a Starving WolfAs the ship travelled farther westward, so it grew colder. The oarsmen were used to it, and donned only thick leather vests to protect themselves from the cold wind that whistled through the gunwales. The captain put on his long fur lined cloak and some Persian-style trousers he had brought with him. Dom, knowing what the weather would become had bought warmer clothing in one of the several places they had stopped to buy fresh provisions and stock up on water for the last leg of the journey. Only Lij and Nekeb were unaware of the ferocity of the coming cold, and it hit them like a hammer as they crossed what Ninus termed "The Icy Channel". Dom had often spoken of the "cold" weather to be found in his country, but Lij had nothing with which to judge it except a cold desert night. That was as nothing to the freezing sleet that lashed the ship as they travelled nearer to Dom's homeland. Lij wrapped himself in his desert clothing, but although better than nothing, it was designed to keep the heat out, not the cold. What he needed, said one of the seasoned oarsmen, watching their little Master shivering in his seat, was some nice woollen trews and a cloak, too. Nekeb thought of the lionskin cloak wrapped in one of his bundles, but regretfully rejected it. No-one except kings and fierce warriors who had to prove they had killed the creature themselves were allowed to wear them. The men would laugh at him. No one would believe that of Lij. The irony of it was that Lij had killed the lion himself, when he was only fifteen. Their last stop before Erin was a place on the coast of the land Ninus called "Albion" where Lij and Nekeb sneaked off the ship in desperation, regardless of the very real peril of meeting Dom face to face. "I do not wish to meet him until we land, Nekeb. This ship is far too small to contain the wrath that will erupt from him when he sees me. Better there will be some land between us, and some rocks he can throw. You know how he is!" Nekeb nodded sorrowfully. "Yes, Lij... I know." The very real likelihood of Lij losing his royal temper with Dom was a thought he wisely kept to himself. They bought some warm clothing, and thick leather boots. Three large silver coins paid for it all, and Nekeb, for once, thought the money well spent. They returned to the ship wearing their purchases as soon as they had paid for them. The language of this part of the land - where the natives called themselves "The People" - was guttural and impossible to follow, and having to gesture for everything they needed was tedious and frustrating. Luckily a man had entered the wooden trading hut wearing exactly what the two men required, so it was less of an ordeal than it might have been. They had left the hut dressed in warm woollen trews held up by thick leather belts. Sheepskin boots tied with thin leather strings kept their feet warm. The under-tunics were fine cream wool - Lij wore two - and over them they wore sleeveless sheepskin vests and thick dark fur lined blue hooded cloaks. They watched from behind a stack of barrels of salted fish until Dom disappeared up the gangplank, pulled their hoods close around their faces and then hurried up it, intending to go down to their safe haven as soon as they could. Dom was standing on deck talking to Ninus, but luckily Dom's back was turned to them as the two men flew across the deck and down the ladders. Ninus laughed. "It seems he still thinks I am desirous of his body, Dom...the new oarsmaster," he explained as Dom raised an enquiring eyebrow and turned to see a flurry of cloak descending rapidly into the bowels of the ship. "I am sure that is why he never comes above deck in the daytime, on duty or not. I know he has a lover on board, so I am no threat, and I am more than content with my companion on this voyage. He is safe from me - but I feel for you, my friend. These weeks have been long for you. Is there no-one?..." Ninus delicately left the question unfinished. Dom shook his head. "No, Ninus, there is only one for me. I wish no other. Not until one of us is dead, or perhaps if I cannot return to my love..." His voice cracked on the last word, and Ninus put a comforting hand on the man's hunched shoulder. "May your journey be a short one, then, my lord. As you know, my friend Abibal's ship comes to Erin in the late summer months - in about nine moons' time. I trust you will be sailing back with him. I left a message with him to enquire after you at port." They went to the captain's cabin to drink some warmed wine, and Lij returned to his place in the midst of his men. The men gave a hearty cheer as they saw Lij's new raiment, and he grinned back at them. It was going to get even colder than this before the weather broke. And he was such a small man. The wind would cut right through him without such protection as the warm woollens and thick furs offered. That night Nekeb and Lij settled comfortably into sleep, Lij snuggling into Nekeb's broad back feeling warmer than he had in many days. Nekeb had also dug the lionskin out of his bundles, thinking that no-one would see it in the master's cabin, it being out of bounds to all below deck. It made a very snug bed covering. Nekeb, feeling Lij's warm body relax into sleep, forbore to rub the raging heat that pooled in his groin at the welcome contact. It was strange, because Nekeb, being a complete eunuch had very little there that could get heated. But the little he had desired Lij like a moth the flame. And he knew that if he rubbed that tiny half inch of erectile tissue he would gain a form of satisfaction that no other had ever given him, either before or after his cutting. But he did not touch himself. It was enough for him to feel Lij there, resting against him, his warm breath tickling the back of Nekeb's neck. He would wait until Lij rose in the dawn light to go to his post. Then he would find relief. He would not dishonour his master and friend by doing it whilst he could feel that beautiful body resting trustfully against his. Lij did not know of Nekeb's true feelings for him. It would remain thus. Nekeb would have to be at the point of death before he revealed his great love to the king. He smiled grimly in the dark. He was a patient man. He could wait until morning. When Lij was gone, Nekeb found his relief, although it was a relief tinged with pain. Lij, he thought, chafing his skin frantically with one work roughened hand, and employing the fingers of the other hand elsewhere, never seemed to need such attentions. If he was not in the body of the ship with the men, he was in here with Nekeb, or out on the small foothold that gave them sunlight and fresh air, but Nekeb's keen eyes never saw Lij's clothing lift with desire, although he watched for it so he could leave his master in peace if this happened. It never did. Nekeb marvelled at the self control needed for such an existance; although he doubted that self control would be enough if the body rebelled against it. Nekeb didn't know - how could he? - that Lij's heart and soul was filled with thoughts of Dom. That Dom laughing, Dom working, Dom sleeping, Dom driving his chariot, Dom bathing, Dom ...anything... was the cement that kept Lij from falling apart, that kept his heart-strings from snapping. That the thought of being held once more in Dom's tender embrace ameliorated for Lij the memory of his children's shocked faces as their beloved father bade them farewell, of the tears that filled their eyes, of their quivering lips against his as they kissed him goodbye. That this separation had almost sundered his spirit from his flesh was no surprise to Lij. Since the first moment he had held them in his arms he had loved them, and to him there was no greater pleasure than watching the three people he loved most on earth playing or eating or sleeping together. He had had to excise them from his mind. He knew he could not bear it. He put Dom up there instead. Dom was here, within reach. Dom could be seen, even though surreptitiously. So Dom replaced every waking thought. Only thus were the long weeks on board ship endurable . In a very little while they would be together again, he and Dom. Walk together, eat together, lie together. Lij stared into the driving rain from his foothold on the lower deck. Dom. He sighed and went back to his work. The oarsmen kept their rhythm through the storm, until the captain sent word that the storm was peaking and that they could rest from their labours until it blew over. The men sighed and securing their oars in the rowlocks, left their places and sat in the common space, either resting or talking together as the ship tossed in the frantic sea. Dom had come out on deck to ask Ninus if there was any danger, but the ship was rounding a headland of some sort and Ninus was too occupied for questioning. Just as Dom turned to re-enter his cabin, the ship listed badly and a tremendous crack sounded from the depths. Men screamed below, and several ropemen were thrown off the masts. They had struck rock. A huge wave flooded the deck, and Ninus, seeing Dom hanging on to a rope for grim death, tried to reach him. A wave, bigger than the last, buffeted Dom first into the deck, and then out into the grey moiling sea. Dom did not try to fight the waves. He was a strong swimmer, but he let the storm carry him. He felt no danger, no fear of impending death. He knew he was off the shore of his own land. In life or death - he was home at last. He gave himself up to his fate. *Le fawg may le Dhia, was his last thought before the darkness took him. He awoke to find his face pressed into the sand. He raised himself and stared out into the foam. The sea was gentler here than it had been on the ship - how long ago? The sky seemed darker, but that might be the effect of the grey clouds rather than the time of day. There were two men lying close by him. Dom went to see if they could be helped, but both were dead. He heard faint voices calling and saw, some distance away, people running over the dunes. Further up the beach were men being helped onto the sand by strangers clad in thick fur garments. Dom looked out to sea. There was a head bobbing in the waves. He drew a ragged breath and coughed to clear his lungs. He was surprised at how weak he felt. He could see blood on his arm, and on his legs, too, although he could as yet feel no pain. Help would be here soon. The head disappeared under the waves. Dom knew he should try to help the struggling man, but did he have the strength? The head reappeared and then sank again. Dom rose with some effort and staggered back into the sea. His arms appeared to be working so he swam out to where he had last seen the head. It rose before him like a sea creature, the long dark hair covering the face. He grasped the body, and swam more strongly than he had hoped for to the shore. With his last strength he thrust the body onto the sand and fell as his knees gave under him, retching pitifully as his gorge rejected the salt water he had swallowed. Kneeling still, he turned the body he had rescued from the waves, whether alive or dead he did not yet know. His heart stopped in his chest. It was Lij. His Lij. It could not be - but it was. "Lij? Lij!" he whispered, his throat too raw to speak. There was no answer. Blue tinged lids remained closed over sky-blue eyes. Lij's mouth was slightly open. Dom put his head on the beloved breast, and listened. Lij was breathing. He stayed there, too weak to move further. The revelation had totally exhausted him. Hands reached for him, and a soft voice in a familiar tongue caressed his ears. "You are safe with us." a woman said quietly. "We will not harm you." He allowed himself to be wrapped in sheepskin, then lifted and carried. "Do not part us," Dom managed, still clasping Lij's hand. "Do not...he is..." his voice failed him. "You shall remain together. I saw you save him. His life is now yours," the calm voice assured him. His life is now yours. Dom smiled, though he could not speak. Always, he thought. As my life is his. Dom awoke to darkness and a flickering flame. Quickly he put out his hands either side of him, and was comforted as he touched Lij's warm body lying close by. Dom moved nearer, until he could feel Lij's heat through the woollen blanket. Both of them were naked, and Dom propped himself up on one elbow and surveyed their accommodation. As his eyes got used to the gloom, he began to see where they had been taken. They were in a circular stone walled, thatched roofed dwelling - some thirty paces across the centre. There was no-one else there. It was a large building, by Erin's standards, to house just two people. He would expect to find at least three families living in such a home. The wood fire was blazing in the centre of the room. Around it, propped up on branches, and at a respectable distance from its scorching heat, was their clothing, steaming gently in the firelight. The walls were hung with woven patterned wool cloths, the floor covered with sheepskin rugs. A chieftain's home, Dom had no doubt. There were several stools and one large chair with red cushions on it. Several chests lined the walls and there was a table covered with bowls, an ewer and horn beakers and some sort of parchment. He looked at Lij again. He was still asleep - Dom hoped it was sleep - and his face, although pale had lost that blue pinched look that it had worn on the strand. Dom ran a finger - not quite steady - down one cheek, and Lij turned his face into Dom's touch, but he didn't wake. Dom felt a pressing need to pass water, and looked around, rather desperately, for the receptacle all such dwellings possessed. "The bucket is by your head, my dear," a disembodied voice said quietly but distinctively. Dom reached for the bucket, used it and put it back, not without difficulty. He was still weak; whether from shock, loss of blood or the ordeal itself he did not know. A woman came into the house past the pelt-hung doorway, and walked to Dom's side. Kneeling she felt his head then his body. Moving around to Lij, she raised him gently in one arm, and put a cup she had brought to his lips. Dom could see a bandage around his chest. He wanted to ask how Lij was, but she just nodded at him and smiled. "Do not fear for him - all is well." She stroked Lij's throat as she tipped the liquor into his mouth. "Drink, little manling. It is good medicine. Good herbs to make you strong." Lij swallowed a few mouthfuls without opening his eyes, and when she laid him back down he turned and curled into Dom's shoulder, putting one arm over his spouse's waist. "You are his lover?" The woman asked, smiling at Dom. Dom nodded. He didn't think further explanations necessary just yet. He stared at her. He was comforted by what he saw. A woman, neither young nor old. Tall, well built without being fat. Long dark hair plaited into two thick braids, fell over her shoulders, and the greenest eyes Dom had ever seen stared back at him. "What is your name?" she asked in a low tone. She went to the table and poured a beaker of liquid from the ewer there. "Mead," she said to his unasked question. "And some good herbs." Dom wondered if she read minds. He drank it thirstily before answering. "Adomnan - Dom ..." he coughed loudly as the liquid caught the back of his throat. She poured him some more. "Drink it all, you need the rest," she ordered, not unkindly. Dom obeyed, then looking from his lover's sleeping face to the animated one on his other side, asked anxiously, "you say he is well? Has Lij woken at all?" Covering Dom with the warm blankets and skins, the woman smiled gently. "He woke once, to ask how you were". "So you knew my name; why did you ask it of me?" Dom could feel sleep nibbling the edges of his mind. "I didn't know it. He - Lij - asked how was his husband. I supposed that was you, as you wished not to be parted from him. Is he, then, your wife?" Dom shook his head with the little strength left in him. "No, I am his spouse, it is true, but we are not husband and wife - we are..." "Unique", she supplied, laughing softly. "Do not fear. There are such couples here, too - although you must know this. You are dressed oddly, but you are not a stranger to these lands, as Lij is, are you? No accent mars your speech, and even in your sickness you spoke the language perfectly." Dom shook his head. "No, I am no stranger. What is your name?" Dom whispered as the mist rose to claim him. Lij pressed closer to him, resting his head on Dom's chest. "Ayveen," came the reply. "Sleep now, and heal; there will be time for talking later." Dom succumbed to the warmth, and the feel of his beloved mate beside him. Ayveen looked at them closely. They lay as if they were fitted together by a master joiner. This was how they always slept, she had no doubt of it. An unaccustomed tear fell onto her cheek. She brushed it away, impatient with the rush of feelings these two engendered within her. She stole one last look at them before leaving to resume her work. The men, though fast asleep, were both smiling. * Le fawg may le Dhia - leave me to God. * Eimhin - Ayveen - Prompt. Ready |