Pueros

Tamerlane's Boys

Chapter 39
Ankara

In this penultimate chapter of the saga, Haluk falls into the evil and vengeful hands of the Sultan of Baghdad, Ahmad Jalayir, whilst later Mehmet, Vladimir, Kiril and Zoran fatefully encounter Tamerlane and his boys. This episode also briefly introduces someone who, with a few of this tale's more established characters, will sometime feature in a short sequel.

(Ankara, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [in modern Turkey], July 1401)

(Outside the walls of Baghdad, Mesopotamia [in modern Iraq], same time)

Tamerlane once more besieged Baghdad, where Ahmad Jalayir had proficiently overseen the reconstruction of the walls, which had been badly damaged along with a lot of the rest of the city during the last visit of the dreaded conqueror. Nevertheless, the municipal population protected by these fortifications was rightfully immensely frightened. After all, the Timurid army had successfully assailed such defences previously and would no doubt eventually do so again.

Baghdad's population had little choice over the various regime changes imposed on them by respectively Ahmad Jalayir, with Mamluk assistance, and Tamerlane, who needed no help from allies. The people were essentially powerless in the face of the military forces both sides could accumulate. Like many similar situations elsewhere throughout history, the populace were merely pawns caught in the middle of a bloody quarrel between mighty opponents, which is a sad situation that appears to be still occurring in the same place today, just over 600 years later.

Ahmad Jalayir shared the people's worries about the probable eventual success of the enemy in overcoming Baghdad's defences. However, the Sultan had devised a plan to try to prevent such an event happening.

Ahmad Jalayir reckoned that, as the manoeuvre had almost succeeded before, there was no harm in initiating another attempt at implementing the tactic, especially as he personally would not be endangered. The Sultan proposed to despatch a cavalry raiding party from Baghdad on a surprise, night attack on the besiegers' encampment. The aim would be to try to snatch and bring back to the city as many as possible of Tamerlane's boys, assisted by the cover of darkness and hopefully simultaneous confusion created amongst the enemy.

The boys would then act as hostages to ensure that Tamerlane subsequently withdrew from Baghdad, having sworn a sacred oath never to return. Such a scheme had almost worked previously, before the treacherous Haluk had helped Rezan and Teimuraz to escape. In fact, Ahmad Jalayir sincerely hoped that the young Kurd would be one of the resultant captives because the Sultan had often fantasised about vengefully torturing the boy eunuch to death over many agonising days.

Ahmad Jalayir could see from Baghdad's high battlements where the dreaded conqueror's large tent was located in the enemy encampment. The canopy stood out from the rest because of its shear size and the fact that, as usual, the enemy leader's main banner flapped proudly in the breeze on a tall pole situated to one side. The Sultan knew that the accommodation represented the travelling home of not only Tamerlane but also his boys.

Ahmad Jalayir shied away from attempting to capture or kill Tamerlane himself during the planned raid. The Sultan appreciated that the dreaded conqueror would never let himself be taken alive and his death would only provoke his sons, grandsons and army even more in their determination to attack and devastate Baghdad.

Ahmad Jalayir concluded instead that the softer targets represented by Tamerlane's boys, who should be much easier to capture alive than their master, would be far better, especially as such hostages would surely encourage the enraptured conqueror subsequently to depart peacefully and forever. However, the Sultan had made two major miscalculations when formulating his plans.

(Janissary Barracks, Edirne, Ottoman Empire [in Modern Turkey], same time)

Most of the 13 year-olds were destined merely to spend several years on Anatolian farms. A lucky few, identified as being the most able, were alternatively earmarked for continued education in the Sultan's nearby palace in Edirne, having been identified as prospective candidates for the Ottoman bureaucracy rather than military. However, Kiril and Zoran had passed out from this phase of their schooling in respectively first and second place and were heading for much more exalted posts.

The success of Kiril and Zoran truly had nothing to do with their relationship with Mehmet, apart from boosting their determination to do well in the acemi oglan because they did not want to let their prince down through performing poorly. The boys' bright intellects, excellent practical abilities and mental and physical stamina had enabled them to be outstanding in all their studies, including instruction in wielding weapons.

Consequently, Kiril and Zoran were now, in front of an assembly of all of the staff and apprentices of the acemi oglan, presented by the Aga, who was the commander of the school, with their own very special, engraved scimitars. The weapons were symbolic of particularly prized pupils, as they had been commissioned and purchased by the Sultan, Bayezid I, himself.

(Outside the walls of Baghdad, Mesopotamia [in modern Iraq], same time)

The tenacity of Tamerlane's boys had nothing to do with considerations about their own personal safety but everything to do with concerns about their master's welfare. The now 24 year-old Vissarion and the two 18 year-olds, Rezan and Rahu, had all mistakenly believed that Ahmad Jalayir's raiders were intent on assassinating the conqueror.

Nicolai was not present. The 20 year-old Muscovite, as was now common, was spending the night under the canopy belonging to the pair of 14 year-olds, Ahmed and Krishnan.

Haluk was present. Unfortunately, however, the 19 year-old's bed had been nearest to the tent entrance and, after bravely sounding the alarm to enable Tamerlane, Vissarion, Rezan and Rahu to arm themselves, he had been unable to acquire weapons. The young Kurd's manual resistance was sadly also quickly overcome by a hefty punch to the chin, which rendered him immediately unconscious.

Subsequently, Ahmad Jalayir had to content himself with just one of Tamerlane's boys as a captive. However, if the Sultan had been forced to make a solitary choice earlier, he would certainly have opted for the particular catamite returned to him as the sole prisoner by his few surviving raiders. Meanwhile, until calmed by Vissarion, the conqueror raged at the inability of his army's night guards to prevent the recent incursion, which had sacrilegiously intruded right into the middle of his huge military encampment and his own tent.

Tamerlane was also initially furious at his own personal bodyguards for taking so long to arouse themselves from their sleep to reinforce the defence put up by his boys and himself. The conqueror was resolutely intent on having all of the allegedly inefficient soldiers immediately beheaded until Vissarion, now realising that Haluk had been abducted, suggested an alternative means to quell his master's wrath in respect of the men.

Vissarion personally knew and liked, and was very popular amongst, most of the supposedly miscreant soldiers. He also appreciated that his master's anger at them was largely unjust, being fuelled mainly by intense grief at Haluk's loss as opposed to conviction.

Vissarion recognised that Ahmad Jalayir and his raiders had to be granted some credit for the planning and courage behind the sudden night attack, which not only took everyone in Tamerlane's encampment by surprise, including the conqueror and himself, but also led to much confusion. Few in the prevalent darkness realised until too late what was happening. The considerate young Georgian therefore could not place any real blame on the guards for supposed slowness of reaction because, in the circumstances, they had actually responded to the situation rather swiftly.

Nevertherless, Vissarion's suggestion to Tamerlane still represented considerable danger to the soldiers concerned. However, the clever young Georgian eunuch mitigated this by the lure of substantial reward for success, knowing that most one the men involved would actually welcome the potentially lucrative gamble.

(Edirne, Ottoman Empire [in modern Turkey], next day)

Because of Mehmet's birthday, Bayezid I had granted his youngest son a brief audience and, as a result of prior coaxing by the Sultana Olivera, the Sultan had been primed to allow the request that he now knew that the boy would be making. On his part, the new 12 year-old had been ready to indulge in an argument, albeit a very diplomatic one with a father so powerful, in order to overcome the expected parental refusal. Consequently, the child was somewhat at a loss for words when the reply to his solicitation was "Yes!"

Mehmet had politely asked "Father, can I go on your future campaigns with you in order to learn the relevant arts of war?" The prince was actually requesting what had already been granted to his three elder brothers, Suleyman, Isa and Musa, although they had all been older when given the privilege.

Vladimir appreciated that, as the prince's personal slave, he would go on campaign too if an affirmative reply was received from Bayezid I, and the young Slav slave was deeply excited at the adventurous prospect. Kiril and Zoran were also intensely interested in the response. They would additionally accompany their young master, having now been appointed full-time to the boy's close protection, as least for the next few years until it was time to return to the acemi oglan.

In the event, Bayezid I's next major campaign was to prove rather disastrous for the Ottomans, and consequently Kiril and Zoran were never to return to the acemi oglan.

(Inside the walls of Baghdad, Mesopotamia [in modern Iraq], same time)

"Welcome once more to my palace," a smirking Ahmad Jalayir greeted Haluk, whilst the Sultan's hard cock, hidden under his rich silk trousers, which were made of material imported along the eponymous road from China, began to throb in eager anticipation of what was now planned. The sadistic man had not seen the young Kurd for almost half a decade but he was rather happy to note that the now 19 year-old had grown little in the intervening period, perhaps because of the castration he had been responsible for inflicting on the boy.

Ahmad Jalayir was also pleased that Haluk had retained much of his boyish beauty, including a smooth body, which displayed no hirsute patches, even in his armpits or above his gelded genitalia. In fact, the young Kurd had begun to sprout the odd hair but these were always immediately shaved away in line with Tamerlane's tastes.

Ahmad Jalayir placed Haluk's flaccid cock, kept long and slender through regular fondling by Tamerlane and Rezan, in his manly palm before appraising the petrified young Kurd as to what he proposed to do with his young captive. "In line with my normal splendid show of hospitality towards special guests," the Sultan smilingly advised, "and as a gesture of my personal regard for you, dear boy, I'm going to spend many happy hours giving you my undivided attention!"

"I propose to do so, dear boy," Ahmad Jalayir then informed, "in return for the treacherous method by which you originally left my service, by torturing you very slowly, with the full panoply of tools that you can see in this chamber!" Haluk needed no invite to look again at the impressive array of implements, for his horrified brown eyes had cast their sight over them previously. They included various types of cane and whip, with some of the latter evilly barbed. There were also vicious looking clamps, knives and pliers, heavy weights for stretching victims through suspension from vulnerable, dangling ankles, a few large wooden-handled dildos, some wickedly spiked, and several irons already roasting in a lit brazier.

"I'm then, dear boy, going to cut this off," Ahmad Jalayir continued with apparent nonchalance, whilst referring to the young penis he still held in his palm, "and send it as a gift to Tamerlane. I hope that, by now, he really cares for you because, if then he declines to lift the siege of Baghdad and withdraw his forces forever, I'll subsequently be presenting him with other bits of your anatomy!"

"Once Tamerlane's gone, dear boy," Ahmad Jalayir next announced, "which I'm sure he will if he truly likes you, I'll, of course, have to retain you here to make sure that he never returns. Accordingly, these four walls represent the only home you'll ever have from now on and these tools your only source of entertainment. Whilst never going too far, as I don't want you dying on me, I intend to torture you every day!"

Having abducted only one of Tamerlane's boys, Ahmad Jalayir recognised that regrettably he could not afford to realise his dream of slowly torturing Haluk to death. However, inflicting cruel daily torment on the young Kurd for the rest of his life seemed to the sadistic Sultan to be a satisfactory alternative.

"You'll soon regret your treachery towards me, dear boy," Ahmad Jalayir concluded, as he let go of Haluk's penis in order to pick up a cane, which he intended to use to warm his young guest's buttocks before venturing onto more painful pastimes.

(Edirne, Ottoman Empire [in modern Turkey], same time)

On hearing this latter declaration, Vladimir could not help but grin and glance at the similarly smiling and amused Kiril and Zoran. It appeared that their young master, newly 12 years old and completely unaccustomed to war, was already considering himself to be a formidable military opponent. Although normally very pleasant, Mehmet was, in the view of his three closest servants and friends and probably because of the nature of his upbringing, occasionally prone to exhibitions of personal vanity. This trait encouraged him constantly to believe in a great destiny for himself and sometimes to exaggerate the attributes he might possess at his tender age.

How were Vladimir, Kiril and Zoran to know that Mehmet was right to have such an opinion of himself?

(Inside the walls of Baghdad, Mesopotamia [in modern Iraq], same time)

"Oh my, dear boy," the cruel Sultan then suggested, as he prepared to land a truly hurtful blow next, "you seem to be a little excitable today!"

(Edirne, Ottoman Empire [in modern Turkey], same time)

"I have an idea!" the dark-haired Kiril answered, with a gleam in his sensuous, similarly deep brown eyes, hues which unusually contrasted with the respective fair and blue features possessed by his older brother, Petŭr.

(Inside the walls of Baghdad, Mesopotamia [in modern Iraq], same time)

Ahmad Jalayir relished in Haluk's distress, as well as the warmth of the stripe that he had produced across the 19 year-old Kurd's bottom, the heat of which was fully appreciated as he gently ran a manly forefinger along his linear creation. The Sultan then waited for the pain searing through his young victim's beautiful but agonised form to dissipate before readying himself to repeat his recent pleasurable action.

(Edirne, Ottoman Empire [in modern Turkey], same time)

Kiril had successfully aimed to encourage the courier also to take the occasional secret written communication from him to Petŭr. The 13 year-old Bulgar had been desperate to re-establish contact with his elder brother ever since Mehmet had appraised him about the older sibling's circumstances.

"No courier would take such secret messages without payment," the intrigued Mehmet then perceptively commented, "and, as a Janissary cadet, you, dear Kiril, have no money." The 12 year-old prince next asked a question that the young Bulgar had hoped would not be forthcoming.

"So, Kiril, how have you been paying the courier?" Mehmet enquired. The pubescent prince's clever, intuitive brain, which was now aware of many matters regarding sex, then guessed the answer from the sight of the young Bulgar's very pretty face blushing a vivid red.

(Inside the walls of Baghdad, Mesopotamia [in modern Iraq], same time)

Ahmad Jalayir's second miscalculation related to Vissarion's quick thinking. In order to try to rescue Haluk, the young Georgian now combined Tamerlane's unparalleled ability to inspire soldiers into performing incredible feats with the conqueror's proficient adoption of the best contemporary military practices.

Throughout Asia and Europe, styles of warfare had previously been wildly disparate and based largely on age-old custom and practice. The Mongols of the steppes had used their innumerable hardy and speedy ponies to enable their light cavalry, which subsisted off the land, to achieve great mobility and surprise.

The Mongol techniques of warfare contrasted sharply with those adopted by Persian and European armies, which generally mounted cumbersome, armoured knights onto bigger horses and such heavy cavalry required significant logistical support. Battles between the cultures had often proved to be trials between these different traditional military systems.

Tamerlane's genius in warfare was based on not only his ability to inspire, awe and frighten but also his preparedness to appreciate and adapt the best features of the military prowess of other nations, as had recently been exemplified by his confiscation of elephants from the Sultanate of Delhi. The earlier, bloody but successful expansion of the Mongols across Asia had been founded on the superiority of their light cavalry. However, the conqueror fully realised that the power inherent in the larger horses from Persia could help heavy mounted units to regain the advantage, as long as they were properly deployed in sufficient number.

Problems associated with military numbers and deployment were overcome by recruiting full-time professional knights, who were removed from their tribal structures but compensated with grants of sedentary land, or 'soyurghal', on which to maintain themselves and their horses. The latter were bred in large studs to overcome the numerical inferiority compared with the steppe ponies. The weaponry and armour of the heavy cavalrymen were also updated and their training designed to ensure good co-ordination with Tamerlane's other army units, which still included light cavalry and infantry, all generally trailed by a vast array of camp followers, including families.

As well as the latest imported innovations in siege equipment, Tamerlane recognised the importance of Byzantine naphtha, which was used to create the formidable incendiary weapon called 'Greek Fire', which was essentially a flame thrower operated by bellows and had often saved Constantinople from seaward invasion. The conqueror also utilised modern Chinese gunpowder technology, including both primitive assault rockets and cannon, plus a handgun called the 'arquebus'.

Tamerlane's cavalry, infantry, crude artillery and engineers represented the medieval era's first truly composite army. The creation of such formidable co-ordinated forces ended forever the previous supremacy in Asia of the steppe horsemen, who failed to adapt to the challenge, as was exemplified by the demise of Toqtamish. Vissarion was now also to try to use his master's leadership skills and formidable varied arsenal to rescue Haluk.

Rather than immediately behead the allegedly inefficient guards, Vissarion had suggested to Tamerlane that he present them with an alternative penance for their supposed recent ineptitude. The weakest part of Baghdad's protective walls, already damaged by cannonade and earlier assault, was identified. Then, preceded by a further fusillade and a final ramming by elephants to bring the stonework down, the miscreant soldiers formed the vanguard to assail the fortifications and enter the city, encouraged to do so by the proverbial stick and carrot.

The guards concerned were highly motivated in their purpose and not just because of the stick represented by the certainly fatal alternative option to their very dangerous enterprise, namely decapitation at the hands of Tamerlane's executioners. The conqueror's carrot was another important spur. This involved a promise that, if as a result of the soldiers' actions, Baghdad was taken and Haluk was rescued alive, they would receive substantial proportions of the loot subsequently pillaged from the rich city.

The conqueror, assisted by the perceptive Vissarion, had realised Ahmad Jalayir's reason for abducting at least one of Tamerlane's boys. After all, the Sultan of Baghdad had attempted to perpetrate the same scheme of blackmail 5 years previously, although then Rezan and Teimuraz had been the young kidnap victims of the sadistic man's ultimately failed enterprise.

Vissarion suggested to Tamerlane that, if his master did not want to face similar blackmail again, which would certainly be successful this time, as the conqueror had long treasured Haluk, he should strive to pre-empt Ahmad Jalayir's coercion by somehow taking Baghdad forthwith. Such an assault could wrong-foot the Sultan before he could send his blackmail terms and perpetrate any harm against his young Kurd captive.

There was naturally danger in such a plan. For example, if Tamerlane's attack proved successful, Ahmad Jalayir might still have time to arrange the murder of Haluk before attempting to make his own escape. The gamble was that the Sultan and his closest entourage would be too petrified about their own safety to commission such a deed against the young Kurd before trying to flee, especially as the act would only rile the dreaded conqueror's fury even more. Meanwhile, if the assault against the city was repulsed, the situation would be no worse than currently existed.

Vissarion also correctly argued that Haluk himself would probably prefer to accept the risk of being killed, as remaining a long-term captive of Ahmad Jalayir would surely not be very pleasant for the young Kurd. However, unfortunately for the latter, this worst scenario now appeared imminent.

The bodyguard, who had disturbed the caning of Haluk's bottom by Ahmad Jalayir, which was merely a planned starter to much more painful and damaging subsequent activity, had brought to his master the unpleasant tidings that part of Baghdad's walls had been breached unexpectedly early. Consequently, Tamerlane's forces had flooded into the city and were already storming the Sultan's palace.

Ahmad Jalayir's lightly coloured silk trousers immediately became stained in the area of his groin, as his sudden immense fear overcame the discipline of his bowels. The Sultan, unarmed apart from his cane, then threw his implement of punishment to the ground in immense annoyance and began to flee the scene, although he did retain some presence of mind, which was exemplified by his last command to the bodyguard, whose sword was already unsheathed.

"Kill the eunuch!" the rapidly retreating Ahmad Jalayir ordered.

(Great Palace, Constantinople [Istanbul in modern Turkey], same time)

As the courier was, of course, greatly restricted in his movement round the Great Palace, he had been compelled to try to achieve the safe delivery of his favour, for which he had received pleasant sexual courtesies in return, by placing his trust in the official. He had truthfully advised the bureaucrat that, in addition to the official diplomatic correspondence, he also carried a private family message for a palace slave of Bulgarian extraction, who happened coincidentally to be the older brother of a young servant of the Ottoman court.

Such furtive personal additions to formal despatches were unusual but not unknown. Consequently, as the Byzantine official concerned was Nicephorus, the letter reached the rightful destination after due preliminary scrutiny by the elderly senior eunuch to check that the contents were completely innocent. After similar perusal, a reply from the recipient to the sender would also be permitted.

Nicephorus did not worry how a boy at the Ottoman court knew that his older brother served in the Byzantine equivalent, being sure that the Turks had efficient spies in Constantinople. He also now had no wish to disturb an innocent, reciprocated line of communication between Petŭr and his younger sibling for four main reasons.

First, Nicephorus was not malicious and there appeared no harm in allowing such messages to flow. Second, he had come to like the young Bulgar. Third, he could recognise not only, in the case of John, a boy who would probably be the next Byzantine Emperor but also, in the form of the prince's closest slave, a servant whose importance would undoubtedly grow in line with that of his master, just as, in similar circumstances, the elderly eunuch's own career had flourished. Fourth, informal messages between people in the Imperial courts of both Constantinople and Edirne could prove to be useful future 'back-door' methods of contact for matters of significance.

Kiril had taken care in his first letter to restrict his message to one of personal greeting and news, knowing that no reference to Mehmet's adventure in Constantinople should be made. His older brother, Petŭr, had naturally been highly surprised to learn of his younger sibling's current circumstance, especially the great coincidence that they both served young princes, albeit of different Empires, faiths and cultures.

Petŭr had also been grateful to learn that his prayers for revenge against Dimitŭr had been fully met. Kiril had been unable to explain the full circumstances of the fat merchant's demise, in order not to divulge the secret as to why Mehmet had become involved. However, his older brother was sufficiently astute to be able to read between the lines, especially as the young Ottoman prince had promised him when in Constantinople that some appropriate retribution would be extracted against the obese trader.

(Outside the walls of Baghdad, Mesopotamia [in modern Iraq], same time)

The bodyguard rapidly followed Ahmad Jalayir from the torture chamber to the small, secret, cellar gate, beyond which was a narrow passage that led through the riverside walls to a well hidden exit on the banks of the Tigris. As previously, some of the Sultan's closest followers were already gathering at the barred entrance in order again to fulfil the emergency plan of executing a swift retreat from the doomed city and palace, with as much of their master's most precious possessions as they could carry.

Soon afterwards, all of the men, including Ahmad Jalayir and his bodyguard, were virtually naked and swimming through tall, dense reeds towards distant safety, whilst bloody mayhem occurred in Baghdad. When the Sultan noticed the soldier during this undignified flight, he asked, in respect of Haluk's demise, "Did you carry out my command?" "Yes, Lord," the man answered, "as I left the young eunuch with no entrails!"

"Well," Ahmad Jalayir then declared, as he navigated himself through the jungle of Tigris reeds, "at least something good has happened on this otherwise disastrous day!"

(Edirne, Ottoman Empire [in modern Turkey], same time)

"I then rubbed him until he produced his juices," the shamed Kiril continued, "as I thought such actions were small prices to pay for being able to write to my brother. The courier never sought to penetrate me!"

"Did you know about Kiril's enterprise?" Mehmet next enquired of Zoran. As with his young Bulgar friend, the sudden reddening of the young Serbian's similarly attractive 13 year-old face vividly illustrated what answer would soon be uttered.

"Well," Mehmet subsequently commented with a remarkably straight face, in response to Zoran's sheepish positive reply, "I think that if you're both tolerant of being involved in such acts with a mere courier, you shouldn't mind indulging in such activity with me!"

The immature cut cocks of a pretty 13 year-old Bulgar and Serb suddenly hardened within their trousers at realising what the equally lovely 12 year-old Mehmet was inferring.

(Great Palace, Constantinople [Istanbul in modern Turkey], same time)

No information about any harm coming to Mehmet, who was still known to be alive and Bayezid I's nominated heir, or of any adventure involving him, meant that the prince must have escaped safely and that news of his escapade had been successfully suppressed. However, John and Petŭr could initially only hope that Vladimir was unscathed too, as anything untoward befalling a mere slave would not be considered sufficiently important to be included in any reports of happenings in the Ottoman Empire arriving in the Byzantine court. The 11 and 17 year-olds were therefore very relieved and pleased when their aspiration was confirmed by a passing mention of the young Slav's name in Kiril's first letter.

In his letter, Kiril had briefly described his duties in Edirne. He therefore referred to Vladimir because the young eunuch, along with Zoran, also served Mehmet.

Having heard the remarkable news contained in Kiril's correspondence, as read out by Petŭr, John declared to his 17 year-old servant, "I'm glad Vladimir's safe too!" The 11 year-old Byzantine prince then added "I presume that you'll be sending a reply to your brother's letter. Do you think that I could and should use the same secret line of communication to contact Mehmet and his slave? I'd love to keep in regular touch with both of them. Although it's 4 years since we met, and then only very briefly, I still miss them!"

John's gorgeous face then clouded over with clear worry before he next asked, without waiting for a reply from Petŭr to his original question, "Or do you think that Mehmet and Vladimir are no longer interested in us? After all, if they were, wouldn't they have used the same secret line of communication as your brother, Kiril, did?"

Petŭr pondered John's questions briefly before answering "I suspect, Majesty, from the wording of my brother's letter, that this first communication was made on his own initiative and entirely independent of Mehmet and Vladimir. I also do not recommend for reasons of security, Majesty, that you write personally to our Ottoman acquaintances, whom I'm sure are still loyal friends despite the time lag since last contact."

"Instead, Majesty," Petŭr advised, "I suggest another method of communicating with them. If I carefully formulate my replies to my brother's letters, and he does the same, I see no reason why we can't all pass messages to each other if we want to do so. The wording, though, will be so drafted that no one other than us, our Ottoman equivalents and Kiril can recognise what we're up to!"

"For example, Majesty," Petŭr continued, "I could include, in my reply to Kiril, that a certain 11 year-old friend, namely you, would like to send his greetings to certain 12 year-olds who know him in Edirne, namely Mehmet and Vladimir. A fuller message could then be added. I'm sure no one who intercepted the correspondence would ever work out to whom such descriptions referred, as long as our text remained oblique!"

(Edirne, Ottoman Empire [in modern Turkey], same time)

To the 12 and 13 year-old boy readers of the letter in Edirne, but to no one else, the messages disguised in the text were obvious. Consequently, regular secret, coded correspondence was soon being exchanged between young Ottoman and Byzantine princes and their servants.

The courier concerned was happy to continue to fulfil his commission, whilst remaining oblivious to princely involvement. The messenger was just content to be rewarded with Kiril's compliant favours, now occasionally supplemented by those of Zoran, who rather enjoyed having a man fondle and perform fellatio on him.

The lovely, pubescent Mehmet also rather liked having the equally pretty and gleeful Kiril and Zoran frequently perform similar tasks on his own naked form, with regular help from Vladimir.

(Outside Ankara, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [modern Turkey], 1 year later, July 1402)

The relatively fertile Anatolian peninsula to the northwest, full of ancient rich cities, therefore appeared to be a better immediate target. This viewpoint was reinforced by the fact that Tamerlane was aggrieved that Bayezid I had recently compelled some local Emirs to accept the Sultan's suzerainty, including making contributions to his army. These regional rulers controlled small buffer states between the Ottoman and Timurid Empires and shared the conqueror's Turcoman ethnicity.

Tamerlane considered Bayezid I's actions in relation to these minor regional rulers, who had previously been most amiable towards their ethnic cousin, the conqueror, to be not only provocatively unfriendly but also destabilising in eroding the border buffer zone. He therefore believed that he had a duty of honour towards his own Empire and to the Turcoman Emirs to take action against the Ottoman Sultan. This stance was strengthened by the fact that subduing the area would also protect the western flank of Timurid territory for the next major project he had in mind, namely the conquest of China, which was currently weakened by being embroiled in civil war.

Tamerlane's choice of immediate action was despite the fact that the Ottoman forces, under their capable and enterprising recent rulers, were perceived as being as good as his own, being modern and composite. Meanwhile, the Mamluks had not developed beyond heavy cavalry and possessed a divided and irresolute command.

The Ottoman forces included the formidable Janissaries, as well as light cavalry, called 'spahis', and heavy mercenary Serbian knights. Bayezid I, nicknamed 'the Thunderbolt', or 'Yildirim' in Turkish, for the speed and effectiveness of his campaigns, was also considered a great, unifying general. However, the Sultan, possessed three major military weaknesses when confronting Tamerlane.

First, 42 year-old Bayezid I had been fighting Europeans virtually all of his life. The Sultan and his forces were therefore unaccustomed to the Asiatic war strategies and tactics of rapid movement employed by Tamerlane.

Second, Bayezid I impatiently entered the war heavily outnumbered, with his army amounting to about 80,000 men, whereas that of Tamerlane was approximately 75% bigger. Nevertheless, the Sultan believed that he could not wait for reinforcements but instead had to act quickly, in line with his normal habit that had earned him the nickname of 'Thunderbolt', before the dreaded conqueror devastated all Ottoman territory in Anatolia. Anyway, he reasoned that he had defeated greatly more numerous enemies previously because of superior tactics and discipline displayed by his own forces and was therefore confident of his ability again to emerge victorious in such circumstances. However, he had never confronted opponents as capable as the dreaded conqueror and his warriors.

Third, Bayezid I's army included contingents reluctantly provided by the Turcoman Emirs. The loyalty of such forces had to be considered questionable.

Tamerlane had proficiently invaded Anatolia, ruthlessly sacking any city that resisted his will, until he finally besieged Ankara, having settled his army, in a huge encampment protected by dykes and ramparts, to the northeast of the town on the Cubuk Plain, alongside the River Cubukcay. Bayezid I raced here to confront the feared invader, fatefully taking with him on campaign some of his wives, including the highly attractive Sultana Olivera, plus his four sons, who were, in descending age order, Suleyman, Isa, Musa and Mehmet.

Suleyman and Isa were both in their early 20s. Musa was slightly older than 13 year-old Mehmet.

When Bayezid I arrived in the environs of Ankara, he established his forces on another site alongside the River Cubukay, downstream of Tamerlane's similarly fortified encampment. The riverside setting was of vital importance amidst the otherwise dry and arid surrounds.

To boost the numbers of his forces quickly, Bayezid I had absorbed many of the previously relatively idle Anatolian garrisons into his army, including the Janissary contingent charged with guarding the palace at Bursa. This happening meant that the now 22 year-old but still youthfully handsome Johann Schiltberger was expected to resume proper military running duties, this time in a very dangerous battlefield situation. The young blonde, blue-eyed Bavarian had never felt so frightened since, as a 16 year-old baggage boy for the Christian Crusade, he had awaited in his base-camp the outcome of the terrible conflict at Nicopolis.

After arriving in the environs of Ankara, the substantial armies of the Timurid and Ottoman Empires did not subsequently fight each other immediately. Both wanted to establish local tactical superiority before such conflict and so there was for a while a stand-off between the two mighty forces, which were probably the best in the world in that era.

Both Tamerlane and Bayezid I even found time to pursue on the surrounding plain their shared passion of hunting, whilst waiting for the decision as to whose generalship and troops were superior to those of the other. In fact, the presence of one soldier in particular was to prove decisive in determining the eventual outcome.

Not uncommonly in such situations, the expert chess player and now highly proficient military strategist, Arman, produced the bright idea that was to have so vital an impact on the destiny of the imminent momentous battle, as well as two mighty Empires. As soon as the now 25 year-old Armenian learnt about the dispositions of the respective opposing forces, he made a proposal to Tamerlane, which was immediately put into effect.

(Georgia, same time)

Alexander's thoughts, as he perused the summer scene from the battlements of the remote fortress that represented his current home, were instead concerned about his destiny and that of his nation. Despite never having met Vissarion, the intuitive boy somehow now instinctively knew that the fate of both his country and himself was inextricably linked to his, in the opinion of ordinary Georgians, infamous cousin.

(Outside Ankara, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [modern Turkey], several days later)

These advisors were, of course, 25 year-old Vissarion and the similarly aged Arman. The Georgian eunuch was still writing Tamerlane's biography, as well as miraculously regularly continuing to share his master's bed.

Some readers of this saga might be incredulous that people like Vissarion and Arman, whose immediate families had been massacred on the orders of Tamerlane, could subsequently be so affectionate and loyal to the dreaded conqueror. All the author can suggest in response to such incredulity is that love must truly be a great healer of bitterness and sorrow.

The music was provided by the now 21 year-old Nicolai and the pair of Tamerlane's boys who were presently 19 year-olds, namely Rezan and Rahu. This trio was playing with harmonic competence their usual instruments, which were respectively a Mongol flute, lute and drum. However, the young Muscovite was also flanked by two 15 year-old musicians, who were relatively new to such private, intimate occasions.

Krishnan had always possessed some capability at the Indian 'been', or 'flute', and tonight he was playing a version called a 'nag phani', which was shaped like a snake because the instrument was occasionally used to tame dangerous serpents. Meanwhile, his young master, Ahmed, despite being a prince, had simply for the fun competently taken up the 'yahz', or a type of harp from his homeland.

Some such Indian musical instruments actually possessed a gruesome history, as they were once made from people's body parts. For example, the flute called a 'khangling', which was used for religious purposes by the Ladakhis, was in the distant past made from the femur bone of a young girl, whilst some harps utilised human guts and membranes.

At 66, which was a very advanced age for his era, Tamerlane still retained some sex drive, perhaps because of the rejuvenating effects of having a youthful close entourage, but he had also become less avaricious and more conservative in his tastes. Consequently, the conqueror no longer recruited fresh younger boys to replace older catamites advancing into manhood.

Tamerlane was content instead simply to retain his current coterie of boys, despite the fact that they were older than his previous tastes would have tolerated. The conqueror's attitude was assisted by the retention by the catamites concerned of sexual proficiency and amazingly youthful looks. Even 19 year-old Rezan, who was the only non-eunuch, appeared reluctant to undergo metamorphosis into young manhood.

Nicolai was, however, a less frequent servant in Tamerlane's bed compared to previous years, as the 21 year-old, who looked half a decade younger, had now found true, reciprocated love in the shape of 15 year-old Ahmed. The young Muscovite had therefore been given permission by the considerate conqueror, who delighted in learning of such youthful passions, to live permanently in the tent of the Indian prince, only dutifully returning to his master's canopy for the occasional sexual frolic, which no party involved begrudged.

Krishnan, who long loved Ahmed as much as Nicolai now did, was not jealous of the new situation. The young Hindu was simply content to see his own intense emotion towards the similarly aged prince being followed by someone very pleasant, who was now happy to share the duties of looking after and protecting the precious boy.

Krishnan's attitude was certainly reinforced by the fact that sexual play within the young trio's tent generally involved all three occupants. Ahmed thoroughly enjoyed entertaining his youthful cut Muslim cock, which was regularly rampant because of his still intact testicles, with the delectable form of his pair of eunuch lovers.

Nicolai aided the process considerably by introducing the young Muslim and Hindu to practices and techniques about which they had previously been ignorant. Krishnan was particularly grateful that the young Muscovite had taught Ahmed how to tickle his 15 year-old eunuch slave's prostate to ensure the greatest pleasure for the both the provider and recipient of such delicious anal attention.

Tamerlane's own hard, manly cock was currently looking forward to providing another eunuch with similar rectal pleasure. The conqueror was eagerly anticipating perpetrating imminent sodomy on the delectable 20 year-old eunuch dancer. The latter artiste was about to shed his last garment, a pair of skimpy, translucent silk briefs, in order expertly to gyrate, in line the pervading rhythmic melodies, completely naked and therefore highly seductively before his master.

As the beautiful Haluk cast away this last garment, to dance proudly in the nude before Tamerlane and his other boys, he was, of course, very grateful that Ahmad Jalayir's bodyguard had not, 12 months previously, disembowelled him in the torture chamber of the Sultan's palace in Baghdad. The now 20 year-old Kurd would never know why the soldier had not carried out his evil master's command but the issue of the order, along with the sadistic ruler's earlier intent, had made him determined to secure vengeance sometime against the cruel man.

The bodyguard, who had been ordered to kill Haluk, had in fact been amongst the few of Ahmad Jalayir's raiders who had survived the surprise attack on Tamerlane's tent, the assault proving suicidal for many of his comrades, amongst whom were many close friends. The soldier therefore bore a grievance against the Sultan for commissioning such a mission. However, as the man needed his master's knowledge to assist him to escape Baghdad, he sought no immediate revenge other than to disregard the command to kill the poor eunuch, whom he had helped to abduct from the enemy encampment but towards whom he possessed no real enmity.

The bodyguard also knew that Ahmad Jalayir would not be able to secure his own retribution on him for failing to carry out the command once he had heard of Haluk's survival, as the Sultan would surely eventually do. The soldier intended to desert his master's service at the earliest opportunity.

Haluk was eventually rescued by his own master's soldiers from the palace torture chamber, unharmed apart from a nasty reddish-brown stripe across his curvaceous posterior. Vissarion's wisdom had saved another of Tamerlane's boys from misfortune.

Meanwhile, as Haluk danced again for his master a year later, the finishing touches were been made outside to Arman's clever proposal in respect of current military tactics.

(China, same time)

Zhu Di proposed to use Ma He, who had proved to be such a valuable aid in the civil war and had been honoured by his master by being given a prestigious new name, to ensure the success of one of these plans. The nullified eunuch would naturally want his young, similarly emasculated servant, Chi Le, to assist him achieve his goals. His aspiration was someday to be of significance to a country far away.

Meanwhile, Zhu Di's more immediate concern was Tamerlane. The Prince of Yan was aware that the dreaded conqueror was currently busy attacking the Ottomans but he worried about what might happen once this campaign was over.

Aided by intelligence from spies, Zhu Di feared that, if Tamerlane was successful against the Ottomans, the dreaded conqueror would return his ambitious focus towards the east, particularly China, as the infamous man attempted to emulate Genghis Khan. The Prince of Yan was therefore already planning, amidst the current civil war, to try to forestall such a possibility.

Despite the unfortunate experiences of previous ambassadors to Tamerlane's court, Zhu Di proposed to despatch another emissary once the dreaded conqueror had returned to his capital. The envoy would be charged with seeking peaceful co-existence, plus recognition of the new regime in China, perhaps in return for monetary tribute.

The history of similar delegations to Tamerlane was full of ambassadors not even being seen before being thrown into prison, as a sign of the dreaded conqueror's contempt for whoever was in power in China. Zhu Di therefore appreciated that he would have to send the most capable official in order to complete the diplomatic mission successfully. The Prince of Yan also reluctantly realised that there was really only one candidate for such a delicate and precarious role.

As soon as Tamerlane returned to his Transoxianan capital, Zhu Di would send Ma He, with an entourage including the nullified eunuch's servant, Chi Le, to Samarkand. The Prince of Yan did not want to endanger such a valuable servant but he felt that he had no choice, as the mission was of potentially immense importance.

(Outside Ankara, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [modern Turkey], next day)

The predicament of suddenly being without water in the midst of summer in such an arid climate forced, as Arman had cleverly anticipated, Bayezid I to attack the enemy prematurely and head-on, before properly assessing alternative tactics. At the 25 year-old Armenian's behest, Tamerlane was waiting for such an assault in a strong defensive position. He then used his terrifyingly formidable elephants as a diversionary frontal counter-offensive, whilst simultaneously using his expertise at rapid troop manoeuvre to try to encircle the Sultan and his forces and separate them from their base-camp.

Despite only being a 13 year-old, Mehmet, with his similarly aged slave, Vladimir, mounted alongside him on another horse, had nominally been granted command of a small reserve unit of light cavalry. The young Ottoman prince's bodyguard naturally also included the now 14 year-old Kiril and Zoran.

From his reserve position on top of a small incline, Mehmet had a good view of the unfolding battle. The clever boy soon appreciated that the great conflict was going against his father and his view was confirmed when he saw the forces of the Turcoman Emirs defect to the enemy amidst all of the bloody mayhem.

Enraged by such treachery, Mehmet commanded his small light cavalry unit to attack some of the defecting Turcomans. However, the senior adult officer was initially reluctant to comply with the order, not as a result of personal cowardice but because he had been told by Bayezid I himself that his first concern should be the safety of the 13 year-old prince.

In the event, Mehmet, appreciating the adult officer's hesitation and the reason for it, gave the man little choice because the brave, determined prince, accompanied by the equally courageous and resolute Vladimir, Kiril and Zoran, galloped off, down the incline towards the defecting traitors. The rest of the reserve light cavalry unit therefore had no option except to follow in order to try to continue to protect Bayezid I's youngest son.

Despite immense bravery exhibited by the remaining loyal Ottoman forces, especially the Janissaries and a certain small unit of reserve light cavalry, who fought ferociously, the inevitable result of the bloody battle eventually began to dawn in Bayezid I's mind. He therefore selflessly despatched orders for his oldest son and nominal second-in-command, Suleyman, to organise a retreat of whatever forces could be salvaged, taking his three younger brothers with him. Meanwhile, the Sultan proposed to try to cover the withdrawal.

Suleyman received his father's order and tried his best to obey, at least as far as the surviving army was concerned. However, he had no interest whatsoever in trying to save his three younger brothers, who were all serious rivals for the succession to the Ottoman throne, which looked as if it might soon become vacant. Age seniority would not necessarily be a major factor in the choice of new Sultan.

Suleyman reserved most venom for Mehmet, even though he had hardly ever met his youngest brother prior to recent campaigning and, when he did, he had found him to be a rather nice, respectful character. To the older prince's ambitious mind, his 13 year-old sibling's pleasantness was immaterial, for what really mattered was the particular danger presented by the younger boy's selection by Bayezid I as the nominal heir to the Sultanate.

As Bayezid I had suspected when ordering Vladimir to taste Mehmet's food, the ambitious Suleyman had for some time proposed to murder his younger brothers if he could do so without detection, thereby clearing the way to the succession. However, the Sultan's close watch on his sons, along with other precautions, had so far prevented such fratricide.

Suleyman's ambitions therefore made him consider the grievous battlefield situation at Ankara to be a possible blessing in disguise. If he obeyed his father's orders in respect of extracting the surviving remnants of the army, whilst abandoning his parent and brothers to their own hopefully deadly fates, not only would he retain some military strength but also the Ottoman throne would become vacant and he would have no rivals for the succession.

Naturally, the militarily incompetent Suleyman did not organise the ordered retreat himself. He instead relied upon the proficient generals his father had allocated to advise the army's nominal second-in-command. As the withdrawal was subsequently successfully accomplished without any effort made to locate or retrieve from the battle Isa, Musa or Mehmet, several of these officers wondered why, in the dreadful circumstances, the oldest prince was displaying a broad smirk on his face.

Suleyman's smile was, however, eventually to be wiped from his face. Not only did Isa somehow manage to extricate himself from the battle and successfully join the surviving Ottoman army in retreat but also Bayezid I and Musa survived the conflict.

Although wishing to perish in any defeat, Bayezid I was captured, after his horse had been killed under him, helplessly trapping his legs under the dead animal. Musa, whose importance was obvious from the banners held by some of his bodyguards, was less determined and, after being surrounded, surrendered himself rather meekly to the enemy.

Tamerlane's forces later overran Bayezid I's base-camp, capturing the Sultana Olivera in the process. Some legends suggest that, in the wake of the battle of Ankara, the conqueror imprisoned the Ottoman Sultan in a mobile cage, whilst forcing the man's beautiful Serbian wife to serve him and his entourage at the dinner table whilst naked and as her husband looked on.

The Ottomans never forgot their appalling defeat at Ankara. Reference to the battle, Tamerlane and anything else related to the dreaded conqueror were subsequently forbidden at the court of Bayezid I's successors.

In fact, it is rumoured that the battle was one of the reasons why, after the eventual abolition of the Sultanate in the wake of defeat in the 1^st World War, the new ruler of the embryonic Turkish Republic, the great Kemal Ataturk, chose Ankara to be the capital. It was said that he wanted to assert once more the resilience of his nation.

Actually, as we shall see, someone else had preceded Kemal Ataturk to the deed by just over half a millennium.

(Eastern Mediterranean Sea, same time)

Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo had wished that something would happen to encourage his King to change his mind. In fact, two events had occurred to alter Henry III of Castile's stance.

First, Tamerlane's invasion of Anatolia was bringing the dreaded conqueror closer to the Mediterranean and the Christian west. Henry III of Castile, along with the other regional European rulers, consequently wanted to know what were the ultimate intentions of the man who possessed such a rightfully formidable reputation. Their states rightfully greatly feared the Ottomans, who were gradually intruding further and further west. They would therefore be delighted if the Turks could be defeated by other, even more formidable, Muslim forces, as long as the latter had no ambitions to assume Turkish ambitions towards Europe.

Second, Tamerlane, having been told about Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo by Nicolai, had been eager to meet the Spaniard who had saved his beloved young Muscovite from certain death in the forests of southern Rus. The conqueror eventually grew impatient at the envoy's subsequent non-appearance and so despatched a message to Henry III of Castile, inviting an embassy.

Tamerlane's entrance into diplomatic communication with a Christian ruler was unprecedented. However, the conqueror was determined to meet Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, whom he specifically suggested should be Henry III of Castile's ambassador.

Despite the fact that the only seas Tamerlane had so far seen were the Black and the Caspian, and the latter was actually a huge lake, the official reason for the invite was to discuss matters of naval exploration. He had heard that Alexander the Great had once planned to circumnavigate Africa and, always keen to outdo previous great conquerors, he was wondering whether to do the same, especially as he had learnt from spies that the Chinese might currently be plotting to perform similar voyages of discovery for purposes of boosting trade. He hoped that the Castilians, who were renowned sailors, might provide him with appropriate advice.

Of course, the issue was only a passing fancy of Tamerlane, which was never pursued. However, the dream and the resultant invitation, plus the conqueror's encroachment west into Ottoman domains, succeeded in attracting the Castilian King finally to despatch Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the Timurid court.

Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo was now aboard ship, eagerly sailing towards the current war zone in the eastern Mediterranean.

(Outside Ankara, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [modern Turkey], same time)

Vladimir, who, as a servant, was armed only with a sheathed knife, had assumed responsibility for his prince's banner after the original adult bearer had been slain by an arrow piercing the man's eye. Hand-to-hand fighting had not yet reached the trapped Mehmet but both he and the adjacent Kiril and Zoran had drawn their scimitars in readiness to join the fray once the desperate defence provided by their own small contingent of cavalry had been breached, as surely it soon must be.

Mehmet had no intention of surrendering meekly like his slightly older brother, Musa, had already done elsewhere on the gory battlefield. Instead, and just like his father, the brave 13 year-old prince proposed to die fighting, and he was joined in his defiantly courageous intent by Vladimir, Kiril and Zoran.

As Tamerlane's skilled and ferocious soldiers fought their way ever closer to the Ottoman prince and his young entourage, they felt no compunction whatsoever against helping the bold boys concerned to fulfil their death wish.

(Court of Sigismund I, Buda, Hungary, same time)

Sigismund I, perhaps correctly in such an era, was, however, not a trusting soul. Consequently, in order to confirm the ongoing alliance between Hungary and Wallachia, the King had insisted that Prince Mircea sent one of his sons to the Magyar court as a hostage, which, as young Prince Ahmed of Delhi knew, was not an uncommon contemporary diplomatic practice.

The nominated, very handsome boy actually arrived in the Hungarian capital of Buda about a year before the battle of Nicopolis, when he was an 8 year-old. He was still a hostage 7 years later, when the conflict at Ankara was taking place. However, his life was not that of a normal prisoner for he was very well cared for and educated. The latter process including travelling to places such as Nuremberg, Prague and Rome and learning several languages.

The boy's name was Vlad. When he was later honoured by Sigismund I's investiture of him into the Order of the Dragon, he adopted an appropriate suffix epithet.

Thereafter, he was called Vlad Dracul, the latter meaning 'dragon' in his native tongue. Afterwards, his people's customs encouraged the addition of the letter 'a' to the end of this surname to denote his sons.

Consequently, a later eponymous son, who will sometime be the subject of a short sequel to this saga, was called Vlad Dracula, whilst being nicknamed 'the Impaler'.

(Outside Ankara, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [modern Turkey], same time)

In response to Vissarion's suggestion, Tamerlane despatched the highly capable Arman and Sibur to the scene and Mehmet was subsequently surprised by a sudden lull in the fighting immediately around him. The pause had been caused by the temporary withdrawal of the Timurid forces to a short distance away.

Mehmet, now protected by little more than Vladimir, Kiril and Zoran, was again surprised when a handsome man in his mid-20s, with brown hair and eyes, rode forward to address him. "Majesty," Arman greeted the 13 year-old prince, in an understandable Turkic tongue, "I have come to accept your surrender!" The young Armenian was not entirely sure whom he was addressing but presumed, from the boy's diminutive size, that the obviously brave and pretty child was Bayezid I's youngest son.

"Never," Mehmet defiantly responded, "I would sooner die here in combat!" Arman immediately recognised from the determined expression on the pretty face of the princely child that the boy fully intended to carry out his courageous declaration and that the equally lovely and audacious trio of youngsters flanking him proposed to go down fighting too.

Arman could not think of a quick way to dissuade the prince from his intent. Consequently, as time was pressing because the gory battle was still continuing all around on the now sanguine plain, albeit in the terminal stages, he reluctantly issued the Timurid cavalry with orders to finish off the now puny local resistance, meaning Mehmet and his remaining entourage. The young Armenian then rode back to Tamerlane, who was still situated on the nearby incline, to report the sad failure of his latest mission.

Meanwhile, Mehmet, Vladimir, Kiril and Zoran boldly readied themselves to fight to their inevitable deaths.

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