Mac Tire � Son of the EarthPart 27 - Torture of the MindLij smiled at Ede. He was in pain; his arms ached after being all night and half a day stretched out in that position. His chest hurt, and he was thirsty and very tired - but still he smiled at her. However, it was not a pleasant smile. "Do your worst, you evil whore. If I am to die, I will be at least in better company than I now find myself . " He gasped for breath, the drag on his lungs was considerable. Ede thought carefully. He would die too quickly left in this position, and she wanted to relish it. Savour his pain and misery. She wanted to go back to Dom's bed and to Dom's embraces smelling of Lij. She called Porphyry and his companion to lower Lij's arms, and when the Phoenician struck Lij for trying to punch him with his one free arm, Ede stopped him. "No cuts. I do not want him scarred. When they eventually find his body with that of the merchant in the woods, I want no evidence that he has been tortured for days before he died. I am sure there are many tricks you know to inflict pain without doing this - without scarring." The man smirked and nodded. "Yes, lady, I do. Many things. Red hot needles in the groin...clamps, even fingers and other objects inserted in the..." Ede interrupted. "Yes, well, these delights can be enjoyed later. But understand, man, you are not to touch him unless I am here." Lij spoke defiantly. "My body may be at your disposal, madam, but my mind and my spirit are mine still." Ede ran her fingers down his cool body and grasped his cock, twisting it hard. Lij gasped with pain. She did the same with his balls and tears came into his eyes at the viciousness. "Pretty boy!" Ede caressed him with her voice. He spat in her face. "Bitch!" Ede wiped herself fastidiously with the cloth she dragged from her sleeve. "That was a mistake, little man. You will pay for it." Lij looked at her from beneath hooded eyes. "It will be worth the price, whatever it is," he sneered. She ran a finger down his cheek, and he shuddered at her touch. "We shall see. I shall think of something...novel and exciting. I would very much like to hear you scream. Can you make him scream?" She glanced at the Phoenician who was leaning against the wall, watching with interest. "Oh, yes, lady; I can do that. Now?" he offered. She shook her head. "Unfortunately not. There is a meeting I must soon attend . Later - when he has had time to think about it." She left the room without another word. The Phoenician remained behind, looking at Lij with speculative eyes. "I shall not obey her, you know. I will come in here and take you. I have a mind to take a king. It will be a novelty. But not now, Egypt. I shall wait until you are a little more...co-operative. When you are weak from hunger and thirst. I do not relish being hurt. I, too, can wait!" The door slammed shut behind him. Lij closed his eyes. He prayed then. He prayed for the strength to endure. And he prayed that Dom would never find out what had really happened to him, because it would break his heart. Lij stifled a sob as he thought of Jed and Titi awaiting his return, not knowing that their father lay dead in foreign soil. He was thirsty. The last thing he had had to drink was the cinnamon milk, which he had enjoyed so much he had asked it to be served to him every night. He now knew last night's cup had been drugged � and the after effects had increased the need for liquid to ease his burning throat. He realised that he needed to relieve himself. Did they mean to deprive him of even this? Would he have to be humiliated by soiling himself like a child? Egypt�s king come to this� *** Dom and Cormac had returned from Ultan's dun in a lighter frame of mind. Dom had been able to help three people in need. The useful thing about being absolute ruler of a country meant that very few people contradicted one's orders. The housekeeper curtseyed and said that Ultan would be glad that these poor people were being cared for in his house. Dom smiled. Ultan might good-naturedly cuff him about the head for it in private, but in public he would own himself enchanted to have two peasants and a screaming baby about the place. The young couple were at first overwhelmed by the size of the house. However, Dom's kind and easy manner and Cormac's gentleness soon had them at their ease, and when the pair left them the couple stood in the doorway and waved the king and his companion up the hill. Dom had found Cormac to be a sincere but intense man, who thought carefully before he spoke. Neither man had mentioned Lij during the time they had spent out together, but as Dom dismounted from his horse, Cass came outside to greet him. "Is there any news of... from... the troop?" he asked urgently. Cass shook his head. "No, my lord, nothing. They have not, as yet, returned." Dom's face took on a closed, far away look, as if the pain was too near his heart. Cormac touched his arm. "There is still time for them to find him for you, my lord. The day is still young." Dom looked carefully at the young man as they moved indoors. He could see no guile in his expression - only good. "Do you not wish... I mean...for yourself, do you not wish him to return?" Cormac's eyes filled with tears. "I wish above all, that he is happy. If that means he had to leave me, so be it." Dom reached out and clasped his new friend about the shoulders. "That is a true and unselfish love you have for him, ah mhic. Purer than is my love, for I wish with all my heart that he was here....to see him just once more ..." They were walking down the corridor to the royal apartments, and saw Ede just closing the door of Dom's room. Both men composed their features into expressions more suitable for Ede's scrutiny. "Ah, there you are, muh chree. Had you forgotten the meeting with the lesser kings?" Dom and Cormac bowed in greeting. "No, lady, I had not forgotten. As you see, I am here." Dom could not help the coldness that crept into his voice when he spoke to his wife. If she noticed it she gave no sign, but smiled at him. "I have left some new clothing on your bed, Seaneen. I would be gratified if you would wear it to the meeting." Dom bowed and said "it shall be as you wish, lady. Do not bother to send my man to me. Cormac, here, will help me." She inclined her head graciously. "I shall return in a little while. It does not do to be late when dealing with princes." As she walked into her own room, Dom and Cormac stepped through Dom's door to find a leather suit of a dark grey colour lying on the bed. As Dom stripped off his sweat stained clothing Cormac poured some water into the bowl, and the king, rubbing himself hard with a scrap of rough cloth removed the stains of travel. As Cormac handed him the towel he caught a glimpse of the brand mark on Dom's right arm. "Is that your love token..." his voice dried up. " I am sorry, Dom. I did not mean to touch the wound when it is so raw. Forgive me." Dom's smile was a little forced but he was trying to speak normally. "Yes, it is. As you know, Lij has two markings on his body..." Cormac winced, but acknowledged his new friend's command over his feelings by continuing the conversation. "Yes, the other one is a...what did he call it? a cart...on his inner thigh?" "...cartouche." Dom supplied as Cormac helped him into the jacket, which was moulded to his firm body. "...cartouche containing one of his pharonic names, he told me. "Son of The Sun". I like that. He was as the sun to me..." The young man could no longer compose his features or control his emotions. He began to weep. Dom took him into his embrace soothing him with gentle hands. "We have become brothers in misery. We must console each other as best we can. Come, wipe your tears - she will be here soon..." Cormac rubbed his face hard with the towel Dom held out to him. He had just put it down when Ede came in. "Come!" she said in cool tones. "Cormac, you will accompany the king." Cormac bowed. "I will." he said, falling into step behind the couple as they made their way to the Great Hall. * Lij had called Porphyry and asked for a bucket. At first the jailer had laughed, but when reminded that Ede was likely to return soon, provided the utensil. He had obviously received instructions, as he called his companion to stand by him as Lij used it. He was hoping to discomfort Lij by watching him, but Lij was used to servants at the palace observing him in every condition - even though he invariably sent them off - so he was not in the least put out. What did concern him, though, were the lascivious and lustful gazes both the men gave to his naked body. He was used to being admired; but not in a situation where he was not in control. He lessened the tension by asking when Ede would return as he would like some water. The other man went to the stool in the corner and poured out the half cup of water remaining, which hardly wetted Lij's mouth. Indeed it made him crave more. Lij leant against the wall taking some of the strain off his aching legs. He wondered whether he would be able to bear all that was going to be done to him in the near future. He was afraid, but he hid it well. He remembered that Ede had said she wanted to hear him scream, so when finally he heard her voice in the outer room, his gut twisted with fear. She came in carrying an embroidered nightrobe of finest lawn, which she waved at Lij and said, "Now, little mouse, I am going to get you to come on this robe. You will enjoy the Phoenician's mouth on you, I am sure." Lij moved his aching arms, which had been tied back into their original position. His shoulder muscles were beginning to burn and he had cramp in his legs, but he still snorted derisively. "He is welcome to try. Greater men than him have tried this before him, and failed. What I would not do for the Lion of Ishtar..." ...the servant's head flew up at the mention of the late tyrant Sennacherib's name... "...I will not allow a servant to accomplish." Ede signalled for the other man to bring her a seat, whilst Porphyry knelt at Lij's feet. Lij looked off into a space not occupied by his body, and thought of his children. "Do you think he cannot do it, little mouse?" Lij returned his attention to the present and stared down his nose at her. Something in his gaze made her shift uncomfortably in her seat. "I know he cannot, lady. I tell you, it has been tried before." She smiled. "We shall see. Porphyry is very gifted in the arts of the bed, and has a very persuasive mouth. I know, I have tried it. Go to it, man." Porphyry took Lij in his mouth. He worked hard, but nothing happened. He pushed his finger inside him trying to stimulate the nub that gave pleasure, but still nothing. After several minutes he stood up. "I am sorry, lady..." Ede struck him. "Useless bastard son of a whore!" she spat at him. The servant went across the room and stood against the wall, far away from Ede's vicious claws. She touched Lij's flaccid cock with interest. "And I so much desired to see what it was about this thing that made Sean your slave!" She ran her fingers over his genitals probing and twisting - not ungently - but he remained soft. Then she stood back a little, and stared speculatively at Lij. "Now, I need you to come, and you will come, or I will punish..." Lij interrupted her. "Do your worst, whore. It matters not what you do to me...." The chains rattled as he leant forward. She grinned. "Oh, I will do as I please to you, never fear - but it is Sean I am thinking of punishing, here." She pondered carefully, and then smiled as if she had reached a wonderful conclusion. "I think I will put out his eyes! A king is still a king whether he can see or not, and ..." she said, warming to her theme..."it would please me to have him totally dependent upon me. Imagine me, Ede, leading the Ard-Ri by the hand, guiding him to the piss-pot, sitting at his side telling him who is standing before him in the Council. Think of how helpless your beloved Seaneen will be�" Lij stared at the woman in horror. "You are not a woman, but a fiend in woman's form! I will do as you ask, for him. I can do that without any need for anyone to touch me." She nodded. "I know this. I saw you on the ramparts in your little garden, dancing for Sean....naked. I followed him when he left my bed. I knew he was going to you. I am pleased he kept his word and did not speak to you alone. I would have punished him severely had he done so." She sat down again, holding out the gown to Porphyry, saying "When he comes, catch it in this." She saw the question in his eye and answered impatiently, "�so that I can wear it and go to Sean smelling of him. I am anxious to see what reaction it provokes." Lij swallowed the bile that had risen in his throat. Truly this woman's depravity knew no bounds. "I would ask for some water. I am very thirsty, and I will have trouble..." Ede signalled for water to be brought. "Half a cup. I do not want him getting comfortable." The Phoenician lifted the jug. "It is empty, lady. Shall I fetch...?" "Not now, fool. He may have it as a reward, later." Lij closed his eyes, willing his mind to the hot desert sand where he and Dom lay under the shelter of palm trees in the oasis of Al Jaresh. Ede watched, fascinated, as Lij rose to an aching hardness. In his mind Dom was arching his back beneath him as he pounded into his lover's body. Kissing the little mark on his neck, cherishing, owning him with his hands. Soon he came without anyone touching him at all, but the Phoenician, annoyed that Lij had been able to accomplish for himself that which he would not allow him to do, dug his long nails into Lij's cock with a feral grin as he removed the gown he had been holding at Lij's groin. Lij, exquisitely tender after ejaculation, cried out. Immediately he compressed his lips into a determined line and made no further sound. "Good boy!" said Ede approvingly. "Now we can see what we can do to make you really scream. The hot needles, I think, man. The long ones." ................... Lij was brought round by a slap to his face. The pain had been agonizing. The pins had been placed all around his genitals, and were burning him like fire. He had screamed. He could not help it. Porphyry had been allowed to beat him. "Do not cut him." Ede had cautioned. "When he is found dead in the woods there must be no old scars. It must appear as if he and the merchant had been robbed and mutilated by bandits, there must be no hint that things might have been otherwise. I want his corpse to be seen by the king. When he sees his former lover dead, Sean will lose all interest in returning to Egypt to find him, as he said he would." Despite his pain, Lij's heart leapt at the knowledge that Dom still cared for him...still loved him. The blood ran down his face from his nose and pooled in the corners of his mouth. Lij resisted the temptation to lick it away. His mouth was already dry. "I must take the needles out, now, lady, or they will leave a mark." Lij closed his eyes. The man brushed his hand over the needles one more time, allowing the pain to drive a knife into Lij's vitals. He gasped for breath. He felt weak and giddy. His senses were leaving him. "Unchain him except for the one around his neck. Let him lie on the blanket for tonight. I do not want him wasted so soon. Let him recover, so that I can have pleasures in him tomorrow - and give him a little more water." He heard her footsteps echo down the stone flagged floor. He felt liquid being poured on his wounds as the Phoenician snarled, "Here is all the water you will get tonight, Great Egypt, despite what she says. Salt water stings, I know. That is for the slap she gave me. Do not fear, though, I have not forgotten my pledge. I will return to you later. Then we shall see if you come or not when I am pounding inside you! If you please me, I shall refill the water jug and grant you a drink." He was led roughly to the blanket and left to rest. His body was wracked with pain, and his thirst was becoming desperate. He could not lie down, but settled for lying propped up against the wall. He thought one of his ribs was broken. He had fallen off a horse once and broken two. He remembered the pain. He said his nightly prayers and was just about to drift into sleep when a noise roused him. It was a clinking of pottery in the corner. He opened his eyes wide and started in surprise. It was Anubis, the jackal headed god of his dreams - but this time, Lij was not asleep. Anubis knelt at his side and put the cup of water to Lij's parched lips. "Great Egypt, indeed!" The gravelly voice rumbled up from the depths of the Otherworld. Lij drank greedily. "Not too much all at once, my king. You have proved yourself worthy of our trust and our faith in you, Egypt." Lij, sipping the life giving water, croaked "Why have you come to me? Am I to die?" Anubis refilled the cup, and Lij drank again, then the god returned the cup to the stool. "All men must die," he said enigmatically, leaning against the wall. "It is the nature of things. But I am not here to tell you what the gods have in store for you. I am here to tell you that the All-Father heard the cry of his brother in his agony and has sent me to offer you comfort." Lij cleared his throat. The water had eased his distress considerably, but he did not understand why the god had appeared before him whilst he was awake. Anubis had called him the All-Father's brother? "What do you mean, Anubis? How can this be so?" he whispered, unsure whether there were people listening behind the door. Anubis's long black snout twitched towards the doorway. "The Phoenician lout is getting up from the table in the kitchens, I must be brief. You are a god Knefer-Lijedefer, have you forgotten it? We are all your brothers and sisters. Isis and Osiris, Hapi and Wedjet, Ra and even the Great Aten himself. We are concerned for our brother. We have a deep affection for you, Little Father." Lij felt a great peace settle over him. He was beloved by not only his earthly family, but by the gods of Egypt. He was their brother. "I will cause you to fall into a deep sleep for tonight. It will then not matter to you whether the Phoenician takes you or not. I think he will not bother you. He likes his victims to be awake and protesting. Hold fast, Egypt. Be true. I shall go to your spouse and try to warn him. He is not a god, nor of Egypt, but it may work, for he loves you greatly, and he is a good man. It is all I can do...." Anubis voice faded into nothingness as the sleep overtook Lij. Porphyry, returning, brought some water to replenish the empty jug which stood in the corner. He was more than surprised to find both the jug and the cup were full. But they were empty. I saw it myself. He shook his head, puzzled. Then his brow cleared as he realized that his companion must have filled it in his absence. He turned his attentions to Lij. His cock was growing hard just thinking about the pleasure he would have in taking the king....hurting him...making him scream. But he was destined for disappointment. Lij swallowed the water the servant held to his lips, but no amount of slapping or calling or offers of food and drink could rouse him. He slept as if dead. Porphyry left him to find a more amenable partner in the barracks. * Neeve was combing Ede's long black hair before the fire. The bedgown rested on the back of a chair, nicely dried and warm. Ede signalled impatiently for Neeve to leave her. "And do not come to rouse me too early, woman. I expect it to be a tiring night." The woman curtseyed herself out of the room, and Ede threw off her robe and pulled the nightgown on. It was heady with Lij's musk. She smiled and went through the adjoining door into Dom's room. Dom was sitting in the bed, staring at the window. What he was thinking, Ede did not venture to guess. She climbed into the bed beside him, and as Dom made to snuff the taper she stopped him. "I want to look at you tonight, Seaneen. I want to see your face as you come." The shudder Dom gave was very slight but she felt it nevertheless. She kissed him, and caressed his body. He closed his eyes as she straddled his body, nipping with her sharp little teeth at the side of his neck. Suddenly Dom's mind conjured up a picture of Lij lying on a lion skin rug on the floor of their apartments in the palace at Luxor. They had just made love and the scent of it was heavy in the air. Lij lay propped up on one elbow, his slender body lit by moonlight, his muscles defined by the shadow that fell over him. "I love you, spouse of my heart!" Lij said, smiling, his face glowing with love. Dom was brought back with a start to the present, as his wife was shaking his shoulders hard. His cock, which the expert ministrations of his wife had encouraged to rise, had gone limp. Ede was furious. "Are you thinking of him? Do you dare to think of him whilst making love to me?" Dom brushed his hands over his face. "I am not making love to you, Ede. I am allowing you to use my body, that is all. You are welcome to that, as I no longer have any use for that part of it. My heart you will never have." Ede slapped him hard across the face. "You are no use to man nor beast. Get out of here before I do you harm. Get out, for I am not safe tonight!" Dom looked at her face and saw that it was true. He did not want to strike her; it had never been his way. But as she threw the silver jug at him, and it hit the wall behind him, he decided to leave. There was no controlling her in that mood - he had seen it before. Grabbing his clothing he dashed into her room, and hurriedly dressed. He had bolted the door between them, and wisely rushed out through the main door before she could follow. Ede had no intention of following. She lay back on the pillow and thought, hard. Someone would pay for the night's happenings. Someone chained up, cold and hungry and thirsty in the dungeons. She fell asleep with a satisfied smile on her face. |