Pueros

The Lycian Prince

Chapters 61-69

Chapter 60
Alexandria

(September 291 A.D. – 6 months until Anthonius' nullification [?])

Despite the late hour, most of the crew was still awake. They could not afford to indulge at the harbour taverns or brothels but had purchased cheap wine in order to celebrate their last night in Lycia. Ebana's generous offer, as well as news of the happenings in Xanthus, was conveyed by the youthful eunuch, via the captain, to the boisterous sex-starved gathering, which numbered over fifty and did not of course include the galley slaves. The latter had been cleaned but were now reattached to their oars, most unable to sleep because of the raucous noise from the upper level.

The exclusively black crew reassembled on the aft deck with their wine in order to watch the nude white boy, washed by the eunuch for the purpose, dance on the stern platform. It was not Anthonius' best performance as the former Prince remained traumatised, as he would be in one way or another for the rest of his life, by the events of the previous day. Nevertheless, his erotic routine, robotically delivered, was still appreciated by the noisy spectators, who regularly shouted obscene remarks.

As the dance ended, Anthonius should have been fearful for his oral and anal orifices as the crew looked forward to satisfying their voracious lusts. Many had already exposed their invariably huge precum-oozing cocks to stroke as they watched the white boy's performance. The lad's own penis was, as usual in such circumstances, hard but he no longer cared enough to be embarrassed. It did not even matter to him, in his deep distress, if the black assemblage gang-raped him all night. However, despite appearances, that was not the intention of the spectators.

Despite their current barbaric main religion, which would soon be replaced by worship of more gentle deities, the Nubians were not at heart a particularly cruel people, especially given the general attitudes of the time. Despite their progression to inebriation, the captain and crew were genuinely shocked to learn about what the white boy had been subjected to the previous day. Their pity did not extend to foregoing their pleasures entirely but did save the 14 years old's mouth and anus from night-long utilisation.

Anthonius was instead required to walk amongst the crew, helping them to masturbate whilst they fondled his delicious body. It was still an all night task as the sexual appetite of many of the men seemed insatiable and most wanted further helpings from the nude boy, whose body was covered in semen by the time dawn arrived. However, that was better than having a stomach or rectum full of the stuff and, despite his acute grief, the former Prince recognised and appreciated the gesture, even managing several accidental ejaculations of his own as a result of the regular handling of his genitalia.

Ebana arrived back at the galley early afternoon and the ship sailed out of the port on the subsequent tide. Anthonius was being painfully sodomised by the Nubian King when Prodicus was stabbing the Lycian equivalent.

"You can come out now," advised Prodicus after checking that the regular abuser of his body for a decade was dead. Vinius emerged from his hiding place under the late King's bed, where the royal page had hidden him after extracting him from under Lysus' snoring somnolent body over a week earlier. Naturally, during the search for the missing 14 years old, it had been Prodicus not the guards who had checked that particular potential place of concealment.

Vinius only spent time under the bed when Lysus occupied the royal quarters, which mainly tended to be at night. The boy's secret concealment had therefore not been too distressing, particularly as Prodicus, whose duties included the cleanliness of the King's personal accommodation, regularly fed him with scraps stolen from the royal kitchens and alerted him whenever the monarch's return was imminent. It had been too dangerous to leave the rooms as the palace was infested with Roman troops guarding the new despot, their untrustworthy Lycian counterparts having been assigned policing duties in the streets of the capital. However, the assassination meant that an immediate attempt now had to be made.

The worst part of Vinius' enforced confinement had been listening to the sounds of Lysus abusing Prodicus, the man usually liking to spice their longstanding sexual relationship by inflicting pain in one way or another. The 14 years old frequently heard his 16 years old saviour scream and saw the bed above him shake in tandem with vigorous action taking place on top. However, the King's cruel predilections produced the means by which Vinius' escape from the palace would now be achieved.

Vinius was shocked and panicky at the sight of Lysus' dead body as Prodicus had not confided his intentions, although the younger boy was far from sorry. The 16 years old had also not yet told the 14 years old about the horrific deaths of his friends as he did not want to cause the lad undue anguish that might induce hysteria whilst he remained in such a perilous situation. The sad news would be relayed only when the escapee was safe.

The original plan was to smuggle Vinius out of the palace, when prevailing circumstances became less tense and the guards less alert, to the sanctuary of his family's remote estate in the north east of Lycia, on the border with Pisidia. The Roman commander had politely declined Lysus' request to send troops there in search of the missing boy, telling the King that it was a purely Lycian matter. The angry monarch had no-one else to send apart from the Lycian palace guards but they were small in number and he could not trust them even to attempt to fulfil their mission. The breakout plan now had to be implemented without delay, and the fugitive would be accompanied by a young regicide.

Prodicus was the epitome of calm when he further surprised the deeply worried Vinius by applying grease from a large pot, placed next to the bed, to the evil-looking spiked dildo before placing the readied implement on top of the mattress and lying face down next to it. "Pick up the riding crop," the 16 years old instructed the 14 years old, "and whip my bottom as hard as you can. Then insert the dildo in my anus!" Vinius, amazement overcoming fear, spluttered out in response "This is no time for sex games!"

Prodicus, patiently tranquil, replied "I know. We're not playing games, just organising our escape. The two guards outside will have seen Lysus enter his quarters with the items and will expect them to be used on me. They've probably already indulged in much ribald comment about it. They'll also anticipate me leaving, as I usually do, to return to my own room to repair myself after receiving the King's loving attentions. When I do so, they'll expect me to be exhibiting a striped bum. I'll naturally need help to remove the dildo and I'll ask it of the two Romans. I'm sure that it's a service for which they'll insist on repayment of a particular kind as, judging from the looks they give me, the pair fancy me. That should keep the men occupied whilst you get out of this place. I'll take them into a small empty room opposite, insisting on servicing both at the same time. When you come out, turn right, go to the second stairwell on the left, which is rarely used, and I'll meet you at the bottom of the steps after I've satisfied the soldiers. However, for the plan to work, you'll have to beat me and stick the dildo inside me."

Vinius picked up the crop and approached the bed. He lifted the implement into the air but could not bring himself to use it on his saviour's buttocks. Prodicus, seeing the 14 years old's hesitation, tried to reassure the boy about what he was required to do by advising "Don't worry. I've suffered much worse. Anyway, I've come to like it. Let me show you." The 16 years old, turning over to reveal a raging erection, continued "I'll cum when you whip me. You want to give me pleasure, don't you?" The first hard blow from the crop landed across the royal page's lustrous posterior shortly afterwards.

Vinius had created twelve vivid red stripes across Prodicus' backside before the dildo replaced the crop in his hands. He had noticed that the 16 years old had orgasmed with the seventh stroke but had nevertheless insisted that a few more be applied to provide the appropriate visual display for the guards.

"This'll tear your insides to shreds," declared Vinius as he examined the dildo, feeling the short round-headed metal spikes with his forefinger. "No it won't," answered Prodicus as he splayed his legs to make fitting easier, "it'll hurt but won't cause permanent damage. Lysus enjoyed my bum too much to want to do that to it, although he would have beaten me with the thing inside me. The bastard would have made sure that it's sized perfectly to inflict maximum pain without long-term injury. You'll just have to take great care when putting it in me!" The 14 years old followed the 16 years old's advice, his own cock, hidden under his now tatty tunic, hardening as he took a quarter of an hour to insert the vicious tool. A number of agonised winces emanated from the recipient as he proceeded.

Prodicus gingerly rose from the bed, leaving a pool of semen on top of the cover, after Vinius had finally completed his task. The anguish from the spikes was considerable but he nevertheless still displayed a resurgent full erection. The 14 years old was astonished at the sight of the vertical throbbing cock but the 16 years old showed no embarrassment when he looked down at his hairless groin, instead smiling and calmly correctly suggesting "It should help in the seduction of the guards!"

Prodicus walked slowly to the door of the bedchamber, collecting his tunic on the way, his lovely face flinching and hard penis twitching when he felt the spikes press against the wall of his rectum. When the 16 years old arrived at the door, he turned to Vinius and said confidently "Wait until you hear the opposite door close before you come out. I'll try to slam it. I don't expect to be too long with the soldiers!" He smiled reassuringly at the scared 14 years old before, after taking one last look at Lysus' dead form, he opened the door and stepped outside.

The two Romans almost came in the loincloths they wore as undergarments when they saw the beautiful erect nude, tunic held in his hand, emerge from the royal quarters. Prodicus grinned alluringly at the soldiers and asked politely if they could help him. The men laughed at the boy's request but were more than happy to assist the lad with his little local difficulty, although at first reluctant to leave their posts in order to do so. However, this was overcome when the royal page insisted that he had time only to service them simultaneously and would not, in return for their kind favour, perform fellatio on one whilst being sodomised by the other in such a public place as the passageway outside the King's chambers, enticing them as planned into the empty room opposite.

The Romans, in their eagerness, were not too gentle in extracting the spiked dildo from Prodicus' anus, causing the boy to shriek when it was pulled out. Most of the spikes were sanguine and some blood also began to drip down the lad's inside legs. However, the soldier who would bugger the royal page did not mind his cock becoming dirty as he would insist that a certain 16 years old tongue cleaned the rampant member after its desperate need had been satisfied.

When Prodicus, now re-attired in his tunic, met up with the petrified Vinius half an hour later, dripping sperm had been added to the blood running down the 16 years old's legs. However, this did not prevent him using his knowledge of the palace layout to guide the 14 years old successfully out of the quiet building, carefully avoiding the night guards who were on the lookout for intruders from outside not escapees from inside. A number of days later, two bedraggled boys arrived safely at the younger's distant family estate.

When Lysus' body was found, suspicion immediately centred on the missing royal page. The Roman commander made token efforts to find the culprit but did not want to waste too much manpower in the effort. He had disliked the new King from the start and knew that his provocative actions would cause him and his men trouble that they did not want. However, he had been obliged to try to assist and protect the new monarch by order of the Emperor. The obligation was no more and the country would be much better for it. No rebuke for allowing the assassination to occur ever came from Rome.

Diocletian was not over-surprised or unhappy to learn of Lysus' death, fully knowing how obnoxious the man, whom he had never regarded as a friend, could be. He had supported his claim to the Lycian throne as thanks for services rendered, although he had reservations about the wisdom of the move, not wanting to have to bother with crushing another revolt.

The murder now conveniently gave the Emperor the opportunity to bring Lycia under direct Roman rule as there was no other obvious candidate for the throne, the treacherous Anthonius having ruled himself out of the reckoning. The kingdom became an Imperial province. 25 years later, Prodicus, through the patronage of a friend, became Governor, the position becoming hereditary as he and his progeny ruled the prosperous peaceful country proficiently and wisely for generations.

The immediate aftermath of the assassination was not tranquil as the deliriously happy people celebrated by taking revenge on the ten courtiers who had accepted the late unlamented King's money to urinate over Anthonius. Their homes were attacked. Eight met their ends by being beaten, stoned or lynched whilst a lucky duo escaped into impoverished exile, never daring to return to their homeland.

Anthonius of course did not know of these events as the Nubian galley sedately traversed the Mare Internum to Alexandria. The boy serviced the oars every morning and Ebana every night, with lessons from the youthful eunuch in between. The voyage from Lycia took three weeks until the great port city, harbour dominated by the Pharos, one of the wonders of the world, came into sight. The former Prince was unexpectedly to come across two former acquaintances in the Egyptian capital, one bearing some excruciatingly unpleasant presents.

Chapter 61
Arabs

(October 291 A.D. – 5 months until Anthonius' nullification [?])

Prodicus quietly maintained a taste for sex of a particular kind. Vinius would enjoy inflicting pain on his older handsome adoptive brother until the younger sibling married at 18. Thereafter, a variety of readily compliant young servants and slaves obliged. However, Prodicus did marry as he wanted children. He treasured his wife and many offspring but still enjoyed a secret weekly flogging, a predilection happily tolerated and even aided by his spouse, grateful for a thoroughly happy union.

Prodicus eventually wanted to broaden his non-sexual horizons. Having assured himself that Vinius was ready to carry on his good work, he left Lycia, with his family and under his new name, for Thessalonika. He intended to try to become one of the eastern Caesar's, Galerius', court administrators, possessing a number of letters of recommendation from prominent Lycians and the then provincial Governor. However, he did not follow through with this intent, perceiving far more potential in the western Caesar's, Constantius Chlorus', son, who happened to be visiting the Macedonian capital at the time of Prodicus' arrival.

Prodicus became one of this man's main advisers instead, his family establishing home for a few years in Trier, in Roman Germania, as a result. His judgement was well placed, although it would be many years before the duo discovered that they had both loved a certain beautiful blonde blue-eyed Lycian.

The obese Arab, who had entertained Anthonius with tests, tortures, sodomy and fellatio in his north African coastal fortress ten months earlier, was staying in his other large luxurious home in Alexandria. He was with his own black nullified eunuch, Impheli, who had inflicted so much pain on the former Prince on behalf of his master. The Arab knew Ebana well, from visiting Nubia to purchase slaves, the trade in which he specialised and which had gained him great wealth. He had dined on the Nubian King's galley before the vessel had sailed for Rome and was expecting another invitation on its return. The Arab's expectation was realised and he was pleasantly surprised to discover the identity of the star entertainer.

The Arab was well aware of Anthonius' successful escape as the boy's new owners had returned to see him to demand the return of the black slaves for whom the white lad had been exchanged, or a monetary equivalent. The Arab did not really feel obliged to comply, as it had been the Africans' carelessness that has caused their loss. However, as he valued their trade, he paid them some gold. The Arab therefore considered that the young Lycian owed him some compensation.

Having been appraised of their previous acquaintance, Ebana was only too happy to permit his guest to extract some retribution from Anthonius, not wanting to displease a very important trading partner. The King's only condition was that the boy was not permanently harmed as he had to be presented to Priapus in perfect condition. Impheli, who had accompanied his master to the banquet, was then dispatched back to the Arab's residence to obtain the necessary apparatus.

Anthonius was aghast to see the sadistic Arab and his cruel black servant amongst Ebana's guests as he stripdanced on the galley's stern platform. The boy's alarm was to be fully justified as, at the end of his erotic performance, his hands were attached with rope to one of the rear sail's crossbeams, so that he was suspended just above the deck. His feet were splayed and bound to rings embedded in the wooden floor.

Impheli, with the help of another servant, had brought two wooden boxes back from his master's villa, one much smaller than the other. The smaller was opened first and inside were eight very sharp thin long needles. Impheli regularly practised their use on young male slaves. The Arab and his eunuch liked the way in which the implements could, if used correctly, inflict great anguish without necessarily visibly marking victims.

As Ebana's white slavegirls now danced on the stern platform, Impheli, holding the box, approached the terrified Anthonius. The black eunuch placed it on the deck in front of the naked boy so that the victim could fully appreciate the evil contents. He then picked up one of the needles to display it in front of the eyes of the appalled lad, who well remembered that it had been the same young sadist who had given him his original nipple rings. The silvery alloy glinted in the light from the flaming torches held in numerous metal stands.

None of the guests, who included the Governor of Egypt, watched the dancing. All eyes were focused on Anthonius as his tormentor presented one tip of the needle to the horrified boy's left nipple, above where the gold ring was embedded. Impheli held it there momentarily with one hand whilst he made the tit stand more upright by pinching it between two fingers of his other hand. The pause also allowed the victim's mind to digest fully the awfulness of what was about to happen. A loud scream then reverberated around the crowded deck as the eunuch pushed the needle through the papilla before stopping when half the metal had penetrated. Another shriek was heard when the righthandside of the boy's body was similarly ornamented.

Impheli now gave Anthonius' cute nose attention, adorning the septum, before turning to the boy's genitals. The black eunuch pulled forward the foreskin on the lad's cock, softened through shock and pain, and placed another needle against the flesh. He smiled at his victim before pushing the implement through the skin to leave the flaccid penis dangling vertically through the weight of the metal, which was displayed horizontally.

Anthonius fainted when a further needle was inserted into the left of his scrotum, carefully avoiding the testicle. He was reawakened to experience the delight of another entering the right orb of his nicely hung sac. The remaining two needles were shoved into the boy's armpits.

The second larger box was now opened. It contained a leather water carrier, a type very familiar to Anthonius from his frequent enemas, but this had a long attachment made from expandable animal bladder, fixed to a narrow but strong slither of wood, at the end of the leather tubing running from the container. Impheli forced the slither of wood and co-joined empty bladder into the boy's rectum until the device could go no further. The carrier was filled and suspended above the traumatised lad from the crossbeam. The victim was soon to feel the gradual expansion of the anal intrusion as water slowly poured into it.

Conversation returned to the guest table as Anthonius' torture now proceeded with less noisy screaming. The sobbing boy was reduced instead to more quiet groaning as he experienced the leisurely expansion of the flexible dildo inside him. The boy, who had long lost track of calendar time, did not realise that his 15th birthday was being celebrated with these torments.

The noise from the tearful Anthonius was increasing as the inexorable flow of water began to cause considerable pain in his backside. The boy started begging for mercy when he felt that his full anus could not possibly accommodate any more of the fluid. However, no-one came to his aid and the outpouring of both liquid and desperate pleas was allowed to continue remorselessly until the container was empty.

Anthonius was permitted to enjoy his agony long after the banquet had finished and the guests departed, as he was left with the needles and dildo inside him overnight. A crew member was assigned to guard the former Prince but he had succumbed to sleep by the time daylight came. The quayside was already busy and many passers-by stopped to look at the boy. One, a rich trader walking with his son, immediately recognised the anguished lad and knew that he had to do something to end his purgatory.

The kind Arab, who had rescued Anthonius from his last African peril, was to attempt to do so again.

Chapter 62
Heroes

(October 291 A.D. – 5 months until Anthonius' nullification [?])

The crewman opened the bag and saw enough gold coinage inside to match at least twenty years' wages. He immediately helped the Arab lower the semi-conscious, deeply traumatised and moaning Anthonius on to the deck from his suspended bondage. The Arab was as disgusted to see the brands all over the boy's beautiful body as Impheli and his master had been delighted, all having previously only seen the lad display two eagles on his front thighs and a circlet of snakes around his navel.

The Arab was also shocked to see the appalling evidence of Anthonius' more recent mistreatment. He decided that he had to be cruel to be kind and, after unbinding the boy and telling the crewman to prevent the lad from collapsing onto the deck, withdrew his ornate scimitar from his equally opulent scabbard. The Arab used the razor-sharp weapon to cut the leather tube that had introduced water into the former Prince. After allowing the liquid to empty from the young ravaged anus, he pulled the cruel expandable dildo out carefully but without ceremony. The Arab also did the same to the evil needles, throwing them onto the deck, before lifting the tortured nude victim, newly 15 years old, over his shoulder.

The Arab was a strong robust man and Anthonius' weight caused him no trouble at all. He and the happy crewman disembarked, the latter to use his unexpected new riches to find a better life for himself in the great Egyptian metropolis. The Arab's pretty son, a little younger than the boy his father was carrying, waited for them on the quayside, unsurprised that his parent had decided to rescue someone in distress.

The kind Arab had used well Diocletian's large reward for his original rescue of Anthonius from north African torment, expanding his trading operations lucratively in the intervening ten months. His specialism, spices from distant lands, much prized by the Egyptians and others within the Empire, was quickly helping to make him one of Alexandria's richest men. The bag of gold that he was carrying was to pay the captain of another ship for the import of more such precious cargo, a transaction that could now be concluded later in the day once his new young guest was safe and on the mend.

Ebana was naturally apoplectic at learning of Anthonius' disappearance. The King could not make up his mind whether the missing sailor was involved or had fled in terror when he discovered, presumably after falling asleep, that his charge had gone. He sent the remaining crewmen out to scour the Egyptian capital for the boy and to investigate who could have been responsible for aiding the escapee but they enjoyed no success.

Ebana began to fear for his trading relationship with the Empire once Diocletian found out that Anthonius had escaped his destiny. The loss of the white boy harem, which was to be despatched to Nubia by the Emperor when the former Prince's penis was returned to him, was now the last of the King's worries. The failure of his expedition to Rome could easily see him bloodily deposed. The monarch knew that he could not leave Alexandria until the lad was returned.

"This is the second time that I've worn your tunics," Anthonius announced as he removed the expensive garment to reveal his wonderful body in complete nakedness before the kind Arab's son. He was lying on a huge bed in one of the luxurious guestrooms of the wealthy trader's splendid villa, in the western suburbs of Alexandria. There was a magnificent view of the sea through the window. "I know," replied 14 years old Hron, who had taken on the task of aiding the 15 years old's recovery himself, "father told me what happened ten months ago. It did after all change our lives. Until then, we were a good proud family but now we are also a wealthy one. We'll forever be grateful to you for that!"

Anthonius had overcome initial shyness at being undressed in front of Hron during the four days that he had spent here. He had instead become accustomed to the twice-daily application of salve that the young Arab, kneeling next to him on the bed, would apply to the healing needle marks and rectum. However, the former Prince, initial distress dissipated, was now concerned that the administrations might bring fresh embarrassment when he found himself becoming hard as his host's lightly tanned, dark-haired dark-eyed son gently rubbed the cream onto some of the most sexually sensitive parts of his anatomy.

At first, Hron politely pretended not to notice, although the feel and sight of his lovely patient's excitement caused his own cock to grow. The 14 years old, instinctively inquisitive, instead bombarded the 15 years old with questions. He insisted on being told the former Prince's life story, often interrupting to ask secondary points. However, he interrogated the guest sympathetically, showing genuine horror and sadness at all the, now many, bad bits of the verbal autobiography and the narrator found himself happy to relate the melancholic tale, finding it therapeutic to share his history with someone. The subject was to be the main topic of their long conversations for a few more days yet.

Hron showed particular interest in the accounts of how Anthonius acquired his rings and brands, and the 15 years old agreed to tolerate the intensely curious14 years old's close examination of all of them. However, the intimate inspection, especially of the cockring, caused the small eagle displayed on the skin just above the former Prince's genitals to become partially hidden by a rampant erection pointing upwards to the navel.

Hron smiled at the wonderful vision and, to the blushing Anthonius' astonishment, could not resist pulling his own tunic above his head and throwing it to the floor, where it was quickly joined by the boy's undergarment. The 15 years old saw that the 14 years old exhibited a similar hard-on.

"I hope you don't mind," declared Hron, "but I didn't want you to be ashamed of your excitement. As you can see, I'm rather aroused as well!" A 15 years old hand soon reached for the rigid 14 years old member, gently pulling to encourage its pretty owner to lie next to him on the huge bed. The duo did not emerge from the guestroom for several hours and, for once, chatter was missing, replaced with quiet pleasurable groans. For Anthonius, the experience was more restorative than the salves.

The second hero was Anthonius for four days later, having already said goodbye to the sombre but understanding kind Arab, he was now doing so to his new lover, the man's son. "Don't do this, Anthonius," begged a sobbing Hron, "you're safe with us and I'm sure that Diocletian won't harm your mother and sister." "As I've said many times," answered the former Prince quietly, patiently and sadly, "I'm not at all sure and I just can't take the risk."

The two boys had argued fiercely for two days over Anthonius' shocking declaration of intent but Hron, even with the assistance of his father, had been unable to dissuade the determined lad. Anthonius looked into Hron's gorgeous tear-stained eyes one last time before kissing his friend. The former Prince, wearing nothing underneath, then removed his tunic and returned the garment to its owner before walking naked up the gangplank onto Ebana's galley.

Within days of the ship sailing, both the obese Arab and his young black eunuch were found murdered, throats cut, in their shared bedchamber, a crime for which no-one was brought to justice. There had been a limit to the kind Arab's generosity towards his fellow humans. Unfortunately, it would be a long time before the avenger discovered that Anthonius' selfless sacrifice on the Alexandrian wharf had not been needed as Queen Irene and Princess Anthonia had already been spirited to safety.

The third hero was Hron and not just because he helped Anthonius to recover fully from his earlier ordeal at Impheli's hands through literal loving tender care. Hron is generally known to history as Hero of Alexandria, great thinker, mathematician and scientist, responsible for many worthy philosophies, discoveries and inventions that have passed down to the modern age. Amongst his accomplishments were geometrical formulae, such as that for the area of a triangle, and many contrivances operated by water, steam and compressed air, such as spectacular fountains, siphon systems and the first practicable fire engine. A device in which recoil of steam revolves a ball or wheel has been described as the first working steam engine.

Hron's writings, all in Greek, include a record of the thoughts of other philosophers. However, the Arab also wanted to document a testament of thanks for the display of courage that had inspired him to try to contribute positively to the world. Few know that Hron's works additionally comprise Anthonius' history, as related by the boy himself and chronicled in his native tongue.

Chapter 63
Nile

(October 291 A.D. – 5 months until Anthonius' nullification [?])

Anthonius' previous daily routine of work on the oars, lessons and performing dance routines on the stern platform and sexual ones in Ebana's bed had been resumed, the only interruption being when the ship entered the fresh water of the Nile from the salt sea of the Mare Internum. The boy, a good swimmer, was then required to remove his loincloth and jump overboard to clean barnacles and other matter off the hull of the ship whilst it lay at anchor. The naked lad received no help and it took all day to complete the task using a metal scraper. He was permitted only short respites and was exhausted by the time that he had finished. Although there was no requirement to row and he was excused lessons, the former Prince was still required to entertain the King that night.

The galley called in at many riverside cities of first Lower then Upper Egypt, including Naucratis, Heliopolis, Memphis, Antinopolis, Ptolemais Hermia, Coptos, Thebae and Syene, with Ebana enjoying much local hospitality. The King paid his respects at the Great Pyramids, some of his predecessors having ruled Egypt a thousand years previously. He took a party that included, for show, Anthonius performing servile duties, but the boy thereby saw a second wonder of the ancient world during the voyage to his destiny. As the galley eventually approached the border with Lower Nubia, a royal visit was made to the temple at Abu Simbel.

Nubia suffered one of the harshest climates in the world, the country basically being desert and mountains apart from the area bordering the Nile. However, it used to be mineral rich, possessing many gold mines, until they were depleted over time, and once being a major source of ebony, ivory and incense, much secured from lands even further south.

The ancient capital had been located at Napata beyond the 4th cataract of the Nile, just after the mighty river turns back on itself in a gigantic curve before again finally heading south to its source. Gebel Barkal, sacred mountain of Amun, dominated the metropolis. A great temple to this god was located at the base of the mountain, inside which the deity was supposed to reside. Although Napata remained a holy city, the capital was eventually moved much further down the Nile to Meroe, beyond the 5th cataract, because of the Egyptian threat, the two countries enjoying uneasy relationships and many wars over the centuries. However, Ebana's immediate predecessor had moved his administration back north to a town close to the Egyptian border in order to facilitate much needed trade with its neighbour and the wider Roman Empire. His successor renamed it Ebania.

Ebania was on the banks of the Nile before the 2nd cataract. It was not as big, populous or splendid as Napata or Meroe, consisting mainly of low mud-brick buildings. However, it had been the centre of the cult of Priapus and consequently one of its two main structures was the huge Priapic temple. The other was Ebana's half-built pyramid. He would be the last Nubian King to attempt to build a tomb of this kind for himself. Those who succeeded him would, because of the economic hardship that had befallen the country, have to content themselves with tumulus burial sites instead, although most retained the practice of taking sacrificed retainers, horses, camels and donkeys, along with other possessions, with them into the underworld.

The galley would not have been able to reach Meroe, because the Nile through much of Nubia is narrow and possesses many rapids with rocky obstructions, but Ebania, whose status as the capital would not outlive the King, was finally reached in mid-December. It was just seven days before the winter solstice when Anthonius would be expected to participate in a ceremony in the Priapic temple to determine whether he would remain there for life as one of the god's penalslaves. If he failed to draw the single white ball from the bag containing another 63 red spheres, it would also now be just over three months before he would learn, at the vernal equinox and via the same method, whether he too was to become, without further delay, a nullified eunuch.

Chapter 64
Ebania

(December 291 A.D. – 3 months until Anthonius' nullification [?])

Much later, Anthonius was again the last to leave the boat, although this time unbound as there was no possibility of escape. His slavecollar had been removed and he had been washed and groomed extra carefully by the youthful black eunuch before being redressed in the tunic, as well as a fresh loincloth, of a Roman Imperial boy companion. The lad's standing was to be initially maximised to the people in order to emphasise his trophy status. This was further stressed by his positioning in the triumphal parade, about four paces behind Ebana's magnificent new steed, another present from Diocletian.

The sun was relentlessly hot overhead as, to now cheering throngs, few of whom had seen white people previously, the cavalcade proceeded slowly from the quayside along the wide road. Anthonius was grateful for the liberal re-application of oil to protect the uncovered parts of his body from the searing sunlight. However, he was also very frightened. Apart from the young slavegirls, who followed him, his was the only white face to be observed amongst thousands of blacks. He could also see, directly in front, the ominous enormous rectangular dark shape of the windowless Priapic temple, where all of the now many nullified eunuchs, whom he had known, had been emasculated. The boy fearfully wondered whether this really was to be his true destiny, to live in that unmanned state for the rest of his life within the edifice that he was gradually approaching.

The building loomed bigger and bigger until Anthonius could clearly make out the massive sacred phallic symbols of Priapus carved in the exterior stonework. Despite the heat, the sight caused the boy to shiver.

The procession eventually arrived in the extensive square in front of the temple, Anthonius' feelings of terror and doom increasing with every step forward. He saw that a group of men and boys had gathered at the top of the temple steps, around what appeared to be the main entrance. The boy surmised correctly from their attire, long black robes for the adults and similar but sleeveless and shorter garb for the youngsters, all emblazoned with red phalluses, that they were some of the Priapic priests and acolytes.

The people crowded into the square as the parade disbanded, Ebana and his senior cohorts dismounting their horses to climb halfway up the long wide steps. The only people who followed them were Anthonius and the youthful eunuch, the latter guiding the former by his arm. The rest of the cavalcade departed for the royal palace, which was actually nothing more than a large villa. The tremulous former Prince, observing the slavegirls leaving towards their own destinies, wondered when he would see another white person again.

Ebana's speech, recording the successes of his visit to Rome and the largesse provided by the great Emperor Diocletian, which the populace had seen paraded through the capital, regularly received tumultuous cheers. However, the loudest acclaim came for the further public display on the steps of the temple of the beautiful Anthonius and the announcement that the white boy, Prince of Lycia and young aid to Diocletian, was to be offered, through Roman Imperial generosity, as a penalslave to Priapus at the winter solstice in 7 days.

Word had already been sent to the Highpriest about the new unique offering's imminent arrival and a couple of his liturgy now came to collect the white benefaction at a nod from their king. The two smirking priests took one of the very scared boy's arms apiece and led him to the top of the steps. The other smiling liturgy, extremely pleased to see such a delightful new donation to their god, divided to allow the duo and their charge to pass through the large open doorway of the temple.

Anthonius glanced behind to see the square bathed in hot sunlight and full of cheering people. This was in stark contrast to his new environment. Coolness, almost a chill, immediately hit him as he entered the dark of the empty entrance corridor. The boy, cock embarrassingly hard despite his terror, smelt strange fragrances whilst his eyes became accustomed to the gloom, lessened only by wall torches. As he as his escorts advanced deep into the innards of the terrible place, the light and apparent size of the doorway behind rapidly diminished. The lad began to discern smaller phallic carvings before noticing, to his horror, the many dishes containing severed black genitalia in preservative fluid also lining the passageway walls. Although he had been briefed about such display, the former Prince almost fainted at his first sight of the severed organs.

Anthonius did not know that the Priapic Highpriest, who now waited to greet him, had already selected a bowl in which to show off prominently the temple's first young white genitals.

Chapter 65
Lottery

(December 291 A.D. – 3 months until Anthonius' nullification [?])

The Highpriest, dressed similarly to the priests although his black robe displayed an even larger red insignia, was sat on a wooden throne, with Priapic carvings, flanked by two acolytes and in front of a high free-standing phallus. Behind the large edifice, a downpour of sacred Nile water ran from a hole in the ceiling into a circular low-walled bath, from which the liquid emptied rapidly through small drainage apertures. It was a form of primitive constantly running shower. There were also the usual carvings and bowls containing young genitalia in cubby-holes on the walls.

The quaking Anthonius was brought before the Highpriest. The boy knew, from his lessons in ritual from the youthful eunuch, whom he would not see anymore, what he had to do. After his arms were released by the priests, the lad bowed and awaited instruction, now also being conversant with the rudimentaries of the local language. He would not have to prostrate himself before any of the liturgy unless he became a Priapic penalslave, officially remaining a Roman Imperial boy companion in the interim.

The escorting priests departed leaving Anthonius alone with the Highpriest and his pair of 15 years old acolytes. The latter were not, unlike the Priapic priesthood, permanent fixtures in the temple. Boys who met the usual physical stipulations could be nominated by their families to serve Priapus for two years in such a capacity. Each priest was allocated a pair to assist them with their duties, which never included sexual favours as this was regarded as sacrilegious and, anyway, there were plenty of Priapic male prostitutes to satisfy such needs. Acceptance for and service in the role was considered a great honour, and former acolytes were granted privileges within wider Nubian society not granted to others, securing for many much better livelihoods than could otherwise be expected.

"I shall inspect you!" announced the smiling Highpriest and Anthonius, having practised the ritual whilst at sea, placed his hands on his head, causing his short tunic to rise so that the bottom of his loincloth flaps became visible. He counted silently to ten before turning to his right, hands still on head. He recounted the same number before again turning to the right so that the Highpriest could view his rear. Two more rightward movements and counts of ten brought the boy back facing the liturgical threesome.

Anthonius then removed his tunic, throwing it to one side, and repeated the exercise, covered by just his skimpy loincloth. The boy's hidden cock embarrassingly expanded further as he followed the procedure, which, once completed, was again replicated but without the benefit of his detachable loincloth flaps. He saw the smirks on the faces of the two acolytes as they perceived the clear outline of aroused 15 years old genitalia under the remaining sparse undercloth.

Anthonius blushed from head to toe as he finally removed his last cover to begin to complete the inspection routine, nude and exhibiting a throbbing erection. As previously instructed, when his back was turned to the Highpriest, the boy bent over and used his hands to spread his bumcheeks so that the man could check the still remarkably tight and pink, but far from virgin, sphincter. He also advanced towards his examiner one he had resumed a face-forward position.

The Highpriest picked up a metal spatula-like implement, which he used to inspect Anthonius' excited genitals very intimately, lifting up the cock to look at the underneath and weighing the balls inside the delicious curves of the nicely hanging and clearly defined orbs of the boy's scrotum. Despite now being 15 years old, the smooth hairlessness of the lad's body and sexual organs had been carefully maintained by both Diocletian's and Ebana's nullified black eunuchs through daily application of appropriate very effective herbal creams, whose formulas have been sadly lost over time.

After the conclusion of the genital examination, Anthonius finished the inspection ritual by stepping backwards and bowing again. "You may receive purification!" declared the Highpriest and the two grinning acolytes, delighted at the delicious sight of the first white they had ever seen, a beautiful specimen adorned with erotic gold rings and brandmarks, now took control of matters and moved towards the naked boy. Each held one of the lad's arms and guided him to the purification area.

Anthonius had been trained in this rite as well and, arms released, bowed before the downpour before stepping underneath it. His body immediately developed goosepimples and shivered because the water, despite the high temperatures outside, was cool. The boy counted silently to thirty before turning to his right. Another ninety seconds and three further rightward movements saw him able to step out of the sacred water but not to be dried by artificial means. It was sacrosanct that his chilled nude body had to dry naturally, although one of the acolytes did restore his golden silky but very damp hair to some form of order with a comb.

Anthonius was now subjected to further ritualistic inspections in front of the Highpriest, first still nude, second with his full loincloth, but not his tunic, restored, before his hands and elbows were tied together behind him. The bondage was not to prevent escape but to deter masturbation as the offering was to be kept celibate. After bowing again to the man, the boy was led by the acolytes out of the shrine to a nearby empty cell, clean but devoid of amenities. The sturdy wooden door, with a tiny window, was opened and the lad pushed inside. He heard the door locked behind him.

Anthonius sat in a corner of the dark room, the only illumination coming through the door window from the oil lamps and torches in the corridor outside. The boy moved his legs up against his body for warmth and began to cry. His feeling of foreboding being added to by his sense of lonely despairing desolation.

Anthonius would be subjected to the inspection and purification rites every day that he remained in the temple. For the next six days, these were supplemented by subsequent brief ritualistic dancing, unaccompanied by music, so that the Highpriest could check the boy's proficiency, as such activity would be a key integral part of later public ceremonial. The man was very surprised at the lad's ability as he had never seen anyone better.

Anthonius was also taken the following evening to see that day's genital sacrifice ceremony through a small open window next to the entrance through which the ceremonial participants arrived in the huge roofed amphitheatre. It was a viewing location not visible from the crowded spectator terraces, full of feasting black faces.

Anthonius saw several young temple male prostitutes, attired in black loincloths with red Priapic motif, perform quite a decent, albeit lengthy, erotic dancing routine to accompanying percussion music. The pretty sacrificial offering, about 14 years old and dressed in an obverse coloured loincloth, was then unbound from two stakes, situated several paces in front of the altar, to which the boy had been attached spreadeagled facing the entertainment. Two acolytes led the clearly terrified lad before the genital guillotine, itself just in front of a monumental black stone altar phallus. The youngster was presented with the red cloth bag with Priapic emblem that contained 64 balls, one of which would decide his destiny. His shaking right hand reached inside and he slowly pulled out a sphere. To everyone's disappointment, except his own and the watching white boy's, the object was painted black.

Anthonius therefore had to be returned the next day to observe but again a black ball was retrieved. However, the 13 years old on the former Prince's third viewing was not so lucky. The young, now uselessly struggling, naked offering was fixed immovably to the genital guillotine, his lovely smooth sexual organs displayed nicely through the tight-fitting chopping hole. The triggering mechanism was attached to the end of his erection, boosted by many days of forced celibacy and infusion of strong aphrodisiacs, and the little bag of excited bees was suspended from the rigid penis. An acolyte placed a small red bowl with Priapic emblem in front of the cockhead to gather the inevitable semen, another similar dish having already been situated on the ground underneath to collect the inevitable severed genitalia.

Anthonius could see from the sacrificial victim's facial contortions that he was desperately trying to fight off orgasm but his cock was still expanding as a result of the vibrations being felt throughout its throbbing length. The boy suddenly screamed as he came and, despite the wild shouting from many of the thousands of excited watchers, he heard the trigger release the emasculating blade. The lad fainted just after the razor-sharp implement had swiftly completed its work for the day. The Highpriest advanced to collect the bowl from the ground to walk around the ceremonial area, with the dish held high so that everyone could view the neatly severed organs. Meanwhile, priests attended to the unconscious victim to ensure that another young black nullified eunuch was available for auction. The secret of their success in regularly managing this feat, which had defied the Romans, was quick and efficient cauterisation followed by frequent subsequent cleaning of the terrible injury using herbal salves. The Nubians had realised the importance of such careful attention at a time when bloody wounds were generally treated more cursorily and unhygienically.

The shocked Anthonius, observing the scene from his window, realised that what he had just seen would happen to him, but with more trimmings, in 3 months unless his own lottery draw proved more favourable. However, he also knew that the odds were very much against him.

Anthonius was not required to watch the next two days' ceremonies but was again a guest at that taking place on the winter solstice when the one current penalslave, awaiting the sacred ruling regarding his own unmanning, was to discover his fate. The former Prince saw the pretty black 14 years old dance before making his own draw. The ball was red but the boy did not struggle as he was stripped of his loincloth and tied spreadeagled to the two stakes, this time facing the altar, seemingly having accepted his fate long ago as he too had faced odds of 63:1.

Leather guards were attached to the penalslave's shoulders and the trained sacred cheetah, massive member already rampant in anticipation, was brought in to resounding cheering. Screaming was the prominent sound after the animal rose on its hind legs to mount the boy, although mercifully not for long as the recipient of the creature's sexual attentions fainted. The priests were not able to revive the lad fully until the creature had finished and withdrawn, leaving a vast amount of sperm both inside the victim and running down the insides of his legs. However, once the 14 years old had regained full consciousness and the cheetah had departed to more enhanced shouting, some priests began the genital torture that would precede the genital sacrifice. Anthonius closed his eyes as he could not watch any more. He somehow knew that he would suffer the same ordeal at the vernal equinox, having spent an almost equally discomforting interim three months. Tears flowed down the white boy's cheeks.

Anthonius himself, as he knew, was to be the centre of ritual in the sacred amphitheatre on the following day. For the occasion, he was dressed as a Lycian Prince above the loincloths of a Roman Imperial boy companion. He had last worn the royal attire to stripdance from at one of Diocletian's banquets, deliberately arranged by Casperius and Lysus to emphasise the boy's loss of status and degradation. It was now worn here to stress the unprecedented importance of the offering to Priapus.

Anthonius had to go through the inspection and purification rituals before being attired and escorted by the Highpriest and acolytes to the packed expectant sacred amphitheatre. The sound inside was already extremely loud before the quartet arrived. As the double entrance doors from the bowels of the temple to the ceremonial area were swung open and the small party advanced through, the sound reached a crescendo, with even Ebana, in the royal box, cheering loudly.

Anthonius was eventually left alone in the middle of the ceremonial area, the huge black altar phallus and bloody genital guillotine in front of him, the royal box behind, above the entrance doors, and many thousands of raucous Nubians all around. The crude percussion music began and the boy started his long erotic ritualistic stripdance, well-executed, whilst the spectators were partially quietened by the arrival of the first of their many feast courses.

Anthonius' face became redder and redder, and not from exertion, as he gradually disrobed before the massive tumultuous throng until he was left wearing only his skimpy loincloth. It was be the first time that most of the spectators had seen the boy's uncovered body and many wondered loudly if all whites were so delicious and adorned with such jewellery and brands. The boy's intense discomfort was compounded by observing the many severed black sexual organs displayed all around the ceremonial area in dishes of preservative.

The music finally finished to announce Anthonius' first fateful moment in this terrible place. The tremulous boy was presented with the bag of 63 red balls and single white sphere. The choice of one of the former would mean penal servitude for life in this terrible place, with another similar draw in three months, after much harsh treatment in between, to determine whether he kept his genitals. Selection of the white orb would entail a return to Diocletian. The boy prayed to his gods as he placed his right hand in the bag. To cheering that seemed to cause the huge building to vibrate, the withdrawn ball was then seen to be red.

Chapter 66
Cratinus

(February 292 A.D. – 1 month until Anthonius' nullification [?])

The duo were betrayed for some money by the leader of a gang that slept in a riverbank cave next to their own. The terrified boys were wakened to find four men with torches peering over them, two being Praetorians. All knew that it was common practice for soldiers to cull regularly the city's itinerant population. Cratinus and his friend thought that their lives were now forfeit. However, this was far from the case.

It had taken Sebastian's secret Christian friends six months to fulfil Anthonius' penultimate request to his mother, conveyed verbally by the Praetorian intermediary, the ultimate wish, the rescue of Sura from Diocletian's clutches, having already been achieved. The filthy duo quickly realised that the men were not concerned with their deaths but rather their welfare and they allowed themselves to be led from their dirty smelly hovel to a completely new life.

The two rancid boys were despatched south to Neapolis in a horse-drawn wagon. They reached the city late the following afternoon to be greeted by Queen Irene and Sura in the sanctuary of the home of Sebastian's rich mercantile friend. Anthonius' mother, with the help of her handmaidens and the young eunuch, quickly supervised the duo's bathing and grooming, overcoming the embarrassed lads' resistance to having their rags removed. The end result was two immaculately clean but blushing pretty boys, sweetly perfumed and redressed in expensive well-tailored tunics, undergarments and sandals. Sura had been especially amused by the proceedings. The rich merchant had been particularly attracted by Cratinus' 15 years old features, now fully revealed in all their glory.

Meanwhile, the kind Arab had just discovered that Anthonius' mother and sister had escaped Diocletian's clutches in Rome and that the boy's departure to Nubia and his destiny had been unnecessary. The man traded with Nubia for many of his spices and had a vessel sailing there to obtain more. The journey normally took at least a month and a half. The kind Arab offered the ship's captain and crew huge bonuses if they could transport him to Ebania by the vernal equinox.

Queen Irene, Princess Anthonia and Sura were later to leave the rich merchant's protection to visit the secret Christian communities throughout the Empire and to try to propagate their faith. They did not force their beliefs on anyone and Cratinus remained a lifelong atheist, not believing that there could be a god, given the human misery that he had seen and endured. He and his companion remained with the merchant, both happy to enjoy his loving attentions in return for lives now of privilege not suffering.

Cratinus and his companion eventually inherited their patron's great wealth and, whilst the latter concentrated on successfully continuing and developing the lucrative business, the former decided to do something with his inheritance and on-going share of profits to alleviate the plight of the street children of the Empire. Starting small with soup kitchens in both Neapolis and Rome, he eventually established a network of orphanages, becoming one of the great humanist benefactors of his time, aided by donations from many of his late patron's Christian friends and their acquaintances. However, before he embarked upon this activity at the age of twenty, he felt that there was a debt of gratitude that he had to pay the person who had been responsible for his own salvation.

In 297 A.D., whilst walking alone to the 'House of Ganymede' for an evening of pleasurable entertainment, Casperius had his throat cut whilst traversing a quiet middle-class thoroughfare. The perpetrator of the murder was never found.

Chapter 67
Penalslavery

(March 292 A.D. – 1 week until Anthonius' nullification [?])

Anthonius had, as usual on Priapus' weekly sacred day, danced and suffered before the altar as part of the preliminary rituals. His anus was sore from being sodomised by the massive cock of one of the noble worshippers, selected by lot, as was customary, to enjoy the white boy's still remarkably tight rectum. Other parts of the former Prince's body were also hurting as a result of the weekly tortures that he had additionally endured.

The frame to which Anthonius was bound was angled to give him a good view of the guillotine and altar without the necessity of moving his head. However, it was also inclined sufficiently gently to permit the boy to sleep without too much discomfort because this was where he was to spend the next seven nights before his own genitals were offered to Priapus. This traditional nocturnal presentation of penalslaves, in the week up to the equinox or solstice on which their reproductive capacity might be lost, served two purposes. First, the penalslave could contemplate his possible fate in the location where it would be determined and, second, the deity would have plenty of time to scrutinise the offering before making his decision.

Anthonius' sexual organs had been smeared with sacred oil so that they could be shown to the god in the requisite manner. The boy's cock, glistening in the light from the lamps, was fully erect, throbbing and dribbling precum. This was partly as a result of the constant infusion of strong aphrodisiacs that he had experienced since he had first arrived at the terrible temple plus enforced chastity. The latter had not been continually maintained as the lad had suffered accidents, for which he had been subjected to appropriate excruciating chastisement. He had had wet dreams. He had also cum several times in his loincloth when dancing or being ritualistically buggered or tortured, the evidence being easily discernible as the white thong-like undercloth of a penalslave's skimpy loincloth, both red flaps bearing the black Priapic phallus, was made of thin transparent netting material. Dancing before and after the sodomy and torture rites would invariably induce the loincloth flaps to rise to give everyone a clear, albeit brief, view of the beauty underneath, with any semen present seeping through the netting.

Anthonius was ashamed to realise that the current arousal of his sexual equipment was not just as a result of aphrodisiac-induced unrequited desire but also perverse excitement at the danger in which he found himself. He could not help the intense feelings that this had created in his loins over the past few months, stimulated further by the physical evidence, noticeable wherever he went, of frequent nullification taking place in the awful place. It was as if his genitals wanted to enjoy their last days of life as much as possible.

Meanwhile, at the same moment, the kind Arab's boat was at anchor, it being inappropriate to continue down the Nile at night, and not only because of the danger. Such a risky enterprise would also tire the crew who, as a result, would be incapable of advancing as far during daytime as they would otherwise be able to achieve. The kind Arab was debating with the ship's captain how they could undertake the remainder of the journey within a week when it would normally take at least ten days.

As Anthonius lay on the frame looking at his throbbing cock, displayed against the background of genital guillotine and phallic edifice, his mind went back to the day after the winter solstice when he had drawn the red ball to become a temple penalslave for life. He instinctively knew that he would draw the same on the vernal equinox and again contemplated his ability to fulfil the full ceremonial rites to which he had committed himself. Penalslaves who drew the red ball were given in advance the choice of two ceremonial continuances.

Penalslaves could proceed quickly to suffering sodomy from the sacred cheetah and subsequent genital torture before their nullification or they could additionally attempt to dance between all these rites in devotion to Priapus and their own courage. No-one had known anyone in living memory to choose the latter until Anthonius did so. However, the boy had not selected this brave option to glorify the god or himself. He wished instead to give honour to his homeland and his ancestors, given that a particular male royal line would end with him. He wanted to demonstrate to the Nubians what Lycians of his family were capable of and hoped that, if he was required to suffer the rituals, he would not let his nation and his forebears down. The former Prince feared that he might physically be unable to fulfil his commitment because of the pain and damage caused earlier.

Anthonius' thoughts then wandered back to his initiation as a penalslave. After drawing the red ball, he had sufficient presence of mind, despite his distress at the outcome and the raucous celebratory atmosphere all around, to complete the ritual. He knelt to pay homage to Priapus, as one of the god's new penalslaves, by kissing the small phallus embedded in the ground just in front of the genital guillotine. The neck jewellery of a Roman Imperial boy companion was then replaced by the medallion of a Priapic penalslave, a gold chain from which dangled a small ebony phallus. The boy was then led out of the joyous amphitheatre by the Highpriest and two acolytes to return to the small shrine to be stripped, re-purified, redressed and inspected. His new attire comprised the red loincloth covered by a red sleeveless tight short tunic, with usual motif and which barely covered the loincloth flaps.

Anthonius was restored to the amphitheatre in his fresh garb, having been temporarily replaced as principal entertainer during his absence by some temple prostitutes. The tunic did not last long before it was removed so that the new penalslave could dance in his latest loincloth, highly revealing as the flaps bounced around. Most spectators gained a teasing glance of the hard cock trapped within the netting under the front and the lustrous white curves of the boy's naked bottom under the rear.

Anthonius was not subjected to the sodomy and torture rituals during this initiation ritual as that first pleasure awaited him on Priapus' sacred day the following week. Instead, after completing his dance, he was taken elsewhere so that the day's genital sacrifice offering, who had been tied between the stakes in front of the altar watching the entertainment throughout, could be released to draw his own ball of destiny.

Anthonius was led back to the lower innards of the temple to a small chamber containing two tables and where a specialist priest awaited him. The boy was stripped of his new loincloth and bound face-up and spreadeagled on the larger table. The priest picked up some tools from the smaller table and began his work.

The Highpriest had decided that there was little scope for fully decorating this particular penalslave's body with the customary tattoos because of the existing brandmarks. He had therefore ordered that only two of the traditional adornments should be applied. The first would be on the middle of the boy's chest, between the two small round brands of interconnecting eagles that encircled the lad's nipples, whilst the second, much more painful to affix, would be on the 15 years old's cock and scrotum. The patterns centred round the Priapic motif of a phallus but with symbolic creatures as heraldic supporters. The chest tattoo was to have cheetahs, standing on their rear legs and displaying large rampant members, supporting the principal emblem, whilst the three smaller genital embellishments sported snakes. The former was also to have an elaborate twisting tail, representing lifeblood and fertility, running downwards towards the navel.

The tattooist was happy to have his first nude white body as his working surface as it meant that he could use darker hues, even black, for a change. His task was to take all night and all of the next day to complete, allowing himself and the recipient of his artwork only brief respites. Anthonius managed to keep the sound of his distress at the application of his new bodily decoration to low whimpers until the work on his torso was complete. However, the boy could not prevent himself from regularly screaming and constantly sobbing when his genitalia were receiving the unnecessary beautification.

On the following morning, a still-sore Anthonius, redressed in loincloth, was displayed, tied to a post on a covered platform in the middle of the large square outside the temple, so that the whole populace of the Nubian capital could view the new white penalslave in his new finery.

Anthonius was returned to the main amphitheatre three days later, on Priapus' weekly sacred day, for the first ceremonial that would begin the attempt to expel the treacherous evil from his body. The weekly format was to be similar on all the twelve occasions that he was subjected to these purgative rituals, with only the nature of his absorption of male seed and later torment varying. This first week, he performed fellatio in front of the altar on the Priapic Archpriest's, Ebana's, rampant erection, carefully hidden from general view by a flowing robe that engulfed the young pleasure provider. The later torture, applied whilst the young victim was spreadeagled between the altar stakes, comprised attachment of crude but severe clamps to his nipples. The penalslave was somehow required to precede and follow subjection to all these rites with proficient dancing.

The following week Anthonius' loincloth lost its detachable rear flap, never to return. The garment was of the variety with a double cord running down the side of each buttock as opposed to one with a single cord running down the bumcrack. This was so that the penalslave, whilst bound again to the stakes, could enjoy sodomy from Ebana before later having his bottom paddled.

The week between each sacred day was now consumed by enjoying the delights of penal labours. The first three days would be spent as part of the team of six temple menialslaves who turned one of the huge waterwheels, located in the temple's dark dank bowels to provide the building's elaborate system of running water. All too brief respites were permitted only hourly during the half-day shift. The second three days would be engaged on assisting the construction of Ebana's pyramid, mainly by helping to push or haul large blocks of stone into place, often using wooden rollers and/or ropes. Anthonius' body would be regularly covered in protective oil to shield its beautiful form from the harsh rays of the sun.

The latter work was very strenuous and tiring but the white boy found that the most distressing time of the day was his march from and, 12 hours later, back to the temple, alone apart from a priestly escort. Anthonius, who now found his hands bound behind him, customary practice for a penalslave outside the temple despite the impossibility of escape, had to endure many insulting and humiliating comments from most of those he passed.

The third and fourth sacred days found the Highpriest impregnating Anthonius whilst the next four saw six liturgy, chosen by lot, enjoying the penalslave. Six noble laity, similarly selected, performed on the remaining four occasions. The weekly infusions of purifying seed were alternately applied to the boy's oral and anal orifices.

Meanwhile, the torture rites had changed every fortnight to become progressively more painful. Week four had seen a cane applied to the penalslave's bottom, week six a strap to his back and buttocks and week eight the advent of a short whip. Week ten had the nipple clamps reintroduced, with weights added at intervals, whilst paddle and cane were returned to the boy's posterior.

As Anthonius lay tied to the angled platform, he relived again the agony of suffering, earlier in the evening, the weighted clamps once more, this time with strap and whip striking his rear. He looked at his still hurting bright scarlet nipples and could feel the bloodied stripes on his back and bum painfully resting on the wood. However, this had not stopped his oiled penis from remaining engorged. As the boy saw the bloody guillotine and thought about the fact that, in one week's time, his sexual organs would probably not be attached to him, his body shuddered and his foreskin pulled back tightly to reveal his cockhead. Semen started spurting upwards like a fountain. It was the first time that, in the former Prince's waking moments, thought alone had induced orgasm.

Chapter 68
Equinox

(The eve of the vernal equinox, March 292 A.D. – 1 day before Anthonius' nullification [?])

The fitment represented Anthonius' penance for ejaculating before Priapus during his first night splayed before the god's altar. After the affect of the fluid had worn off and the penalslave's cock wished to become agitated again, the spikes came into play and the resulting distress was excruciating. The boy had initially started thinking about some of the many sad events that had occurred in his life to try to alleviate the pain by discouraging erection but with little success. He found that he preferred genital torture to the awful mental torment of some of his recollections.

When the covering was eventually removed so that Anthonius could spend the night in the amphitheatre in the customary state of nudity, he invariably discovered that his quickly expanding tattooed penis also displayed vivid red spike marks, which thankfully disappeared over several hours. Unfortunately, the penalslave did not seem to learn his lesson about preventing unauthorised orgasm and came again during his penultimate night before the Priapic altar. The day before the vernal equinox was therefore not spent alone in his cell.

Anthonius, attired only in the leather genital cover, was taken to one of the temple's male brothels, closed to the public for the day as no-one other than liturgy could view the penalslave devoid of his loincloth before the vernal equinox. The boy was bound to a post on the entertainment platform in the brothel's main chamber facing a large group of sitting priestly spectators, being served food and drink by catamites. A group of the prettiest whole young temple prostitutes then danced around the former Prince before two removed their loincloths to make passionate love on the front of the stage. They were to be followed by another couple and two threesomes, all with varying sexual routines.

Anthonius had been ordered to watch all the erotic performances or suffer even worse chastisement. The natural result was prolonged unremitting agony in the boy's groin. The genital torture that he was to suffer, if he drew the red ball on the following day, had certainly started early, and was exacerbated when he was required to dance for the sacred assemblage to conclude the entertainment.

(The vernal equinox, March 292 A.D. – the day of Anthonius' nullification [?])

Anthonius was returned to the shrine for ritualistic purification, redressing in his loincloth and inspection before being led outside the temple to be tied again to the covered platform stake in the main square so that the general populace could view that day's genital sacrifice offering. As Ebana had thought, demand for seats at the evening ceremony had been unprecedented but he had reluctantly demurred from charging admission. The King had followed the usual rota procedures for the plebeian population instead, although some of the poorer potential spectators had sold their places, money regrettably being more important to them at that time than the pleasure of seeing the beautiful white boy losing his genitals.

Anthonius was subject to constant rude remarks and insults as he was displayed in the main square, where even many of those who would view the evening's occurrences came for a close-up view of the offering to Priapus. The children especially delighted in making comments about the penalslave's uncovered bottom and trying to see how much of the 15 years old boy's hard cock, ostensibly hidden under the front loincloth flap, they could observe from the side. All were rewarded with a clear outline of the member straining against the transparent net undercloth.

The deeply shamed and very scared Anthonius was eventually released mid-afternoon from his intensely humiliating display to be the centrepiece of a priestly procession to the Nile for purification in the sacred river itself before being returned to the temple for the start of the genital sacrifice ceremony.

At that same moment, the now 15 years old Armillatus was sitting with the now 16 years old Junius outside a tavern on a quiet part of the quayside of the port of Tarraco in Hispania. It was the boy's first trip outside the environs of his new home village since he had arrived in the province. It had taken all of the lad's persuasive ability to encourage his adoptive father that it was safe for him and his friend to accompany the adult to the town's market, where much better prices could be obtained for farm produce by trading directly with exporters than through middlemen.

Although it was now ten months since Armillatus' disappearance from Diocletian's palace, and memory of the missing Imperial boy companion and the price on his head should have faded substantially if not been forgotten, the lad's adoring adoptive father was still worried about taking him to the busy town. However, he had been unable to prevent himself from succumbing to his new son's charms. The gorgeous pleading brown eyes had clinched reluctant agreement.

Armillatus, in return for his father's hesitant acquiescence, had accepted that he and Junius would keep away from the most crowded parts of the bustling port and the boys had done so. They were now enjoying a refreshing non-alcoholic drink in warm sunshine when the 15 years old's lovely complexion suddenly turned white. "What's wrong?" asked the concerned Junius but his friend was unable to answer. He had experienced an abrupt awful feeling of dark foreboding and was unsure whether it was connected with the group of soldiers who had appeared out of a nearby side street and was advancing down the quay towards the tavern, or something entirely different.

Armillatus' initial thought at seeing the Praetorians, one much more magnificently dressed than the others, was to leave quickly. However, the two friends had only just started drinking their juice, for which payment had not yet been made. The owner of the establishment, to whom the boys had been introduced by Armillatus' father earlier, had been an acquaintance of the former sea captain for years and was happy to wait until the lads had finished before charging them. The 15 years old realised that the soldiers would arrive before the transaction was complete and running away without paying might arouse unwanted suspicion as to why he was seemingly afraid of the group.

Armillatus remained where he was, trying to hide his face with his hand and hoping that none of the Praetorians would recognise someone who had been a fixture of the Imperial court for several years. However, if someone did, the boy proposed to try to bluff his way out of the dangerous predicament by suggesting mistaken identity. It was a plan that he thought that he would have to put into affect because the young man in the splendid uniform made straight for him, whilst encouraging his colleagues to sit elsewhere to order drinks. The 15 years old recognised the 20 years old's face but could not remember from where or when.

"Hello, Armillatus," the future master of the known civilised world whispered, "I wondered where you'd disappeared to!"

Anthonius, hands bound behind him, was led the lengthy distance through boisterous crowds to the small shrine on the banks of the Nile. The sacred building was roofed and enclosed on three sides, making the rituals inside invisible to the outside throngs, but extended into the river where the fourth side was open. A large black phallus stood in the water several paces from the edge. The penalslave was required to pay homage to a much smaller phallus embedded in the riverbank both before and after being unbound and removing his loincloth. He then had to wade naked towards the large, half-sunken, Priapic edifice and, when he arrived, the cool water was up to his neck. A little duck under the surface to kiss the relevant point on the structure completed this aspect of the rite.

Required purification achieved, Anthonius returned to land to pay his respects again to the smaller phallus both before and after redressing, not in his loincloth but in a tiny red thong emblazoned with black phallus. The garment barely covered the penalslave's privates, which strained for release against the sparse cover, full aroused outline clearly visible. The shamed and frightened boy was then re-bound and escorted, dripping wet, back through the jeering hordes to the temple. The sun would of course ensure that the lad was completely dry by the time the sinister huge building was reached. As the terrified former Prince passed through the main entrance doorway to proceed to the sacred amphitheatre, he glanced behind at the world outside, wondering what physical state he would be in when he again saw daylight.

"Don't worry, they can't hear," whispered the Praetorian to Armillatus, referring to his colleagues, "and they also won't know you as their duties did not include Diocletian's inner palace. I only know you from Germania and attending a few of the Emperor's banquets but your secret will be safe with me. I realise that you're a friend of Anthonius and anyone who is a friend of that boy is also dear to me. Let's talk. My friends will simply think that I'm chatting up a couple of pretty boys, as is sometimes my want!"

Junius was puzzled by some of what was being discussed and Armillatus would have to tell him the truth about his past later in explanation. However the chance encounter, caused because the young Praetorian had been directed by his father, the western Caesar, Constantius Chlorus, to visit as many of the provinces of the west Empire as possible to acquaint himself with the lands that he should rule one day, was to prove providential.

The tremulous Anthonius was escorted into the amphitheatre to resounding cheering, which almost drowned out the opening tones of the music to which the Priapic offering had to dance after he had paid the necessary homage before the altar and had his hands untied. However, despite his terror, the penalslave began his dance and performed proficiently. He did so again after being sodomised by Ebana and after being tortured with clamps, strap and whip. The thousands of raucous watchers thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle as they consumed their many food courses, washed down with much cheap drink.

The red bag with Priapic symbol was eventually presented to the anguished agonised Anthonius, whose moment of destiny had finally arrived. The penalslave looked around at the thousands of expectant black faces as he groped inside, praying to his gods that he would choose the sole white ball and not one of the 63 red orbs. The boy made his choice but then something made him reject it. He therefore gathered another and, with one last silent invocation, withdrew his tightly clasped hand. The former Prince closed his eyes as he slowly released his grip to reveal the colour of the ball that would decide his fate.

The young Praetorian's parting remark was "Well, if you still want to be soldiers when you've reached the age of manhood, look me up. I'll need good loyal men in my legions." Armillatus, who now recalled where and when he had first seen the soldier, did follow up the invitation a few years later with Junius. Their leader was to be benefit considerably from their services.

As the Praetorian left the boys' table in Hispania to rejoin his colleagues, still leaving Armillatus with a strange feeling of imminent danger, the kind Arab's vessel had almost reached Ebania. The man knew that genital sacrifices did not take place until the evening and hoped that he would be in time to save the young Lycian.

Anthonius knew from the spectators' celebratory reaction that the ball he had chosen was red. He was never to know that his original selection had been white. The accepted offering's thong was removed so that he could be viewed naked in public in Nubia for the first time. His soon-to-be lost embarrassingly hard tattooed cock popped humiliatingly into view to many shouted ribald comments. The horrified aghast boy somehow managed to pay homage again by kissing the small phallus embedded in the ground, in front of the genital guillotine to which he would shortly be attached, before the music restarted to indicate the beginning of his first nude dance.

Copious amounts of precum dribbled from Anthonius' condemned vertical penis as he was later tied spreadeagled to the stakes facing the altar and leather guards were attached to his young shoulders. The anguished boy heard the roar of the eager trained cheetah as it was brought into the amphitheatre, a sound matched by the spectators. The rampant animal was slowly brought up to the terrified lad's rear but was temporarily prevented from mounting his sexual pray. The impatient creature therefore had to content itself with passing its huge wet tongue over the former Prince's buttocks, even reaching inside the bumcrack to touch the sphincter. The 15 years old's erection vibrated wildly at the intrusion.

The pause in proceedings did not last too long as the Highpriest signalled for the next ritual to be fulfilled and Anthonius immediately felt the massive weight of the cheetah as it leapt up to place the trimmed but still dangerous claws of its forelegs on the accepted offering's shoulders. The boy's gratitude for the protection of the leather guards was brief as a massive living phallus was aimed by a priest at the lad's unshielded anus. The former Prince's scream as the invader forced entry reverberated around the building until, like his immediate predecessor on the winter solstice, the latest genital sacrifice fainted.

When Anthonius awoke, the animal had been satisfied and had withdrawn, with much bloody sperm now oozing out of the boy's badly ravaged rectum and down his legs. Nevertheless, he was released from his bondage as he had committed himself to further nude dancing. The lad never knew how he found the ability, after what he had just suffered, to fulfil the rite but he somehow did to everyone's amazement, not least his own.

After his meritorious performance, Anthonius was rebound to the stakes to suffer genital torture. This was in four parts. First, a very short, very thin but multi-strapped whip was struck with venom a number of times across the rigid cock and firm ball sac. Second, a leather strap, from which dangled three chains, was fitted tightly around the base of the boy's scrotum. The bottom of the chains were attached to a metal ring, to which weights were gradually added to stretch the young sac until the point of tearing had almost been reached. Third, as many tiny crude metal pegs as possible were clamped onto the surface of both cock and scrotum. Fourth, after the removal of the pegs, larger adjustable metal clamps were applied to each testicle and slowly tightened.

Anthonius shrieked and sobbed regularly during this torment but much of the resultant noise was drowned by the spectators' excited clamour, accompanied by music as temple prostitutes now danced to provide the crowd with secondary entertainment.

The time for the penultimate ritual now arrived and the various instruments of torment were removed from Anthonius' genitalia so that, after again being released from his bondage and re-performing homage, he could nude dance before being introduced to the genital guillotine. His performance was ragged as could be expected in the circumstances but his display of courage, unknown in living memory, finally quietened the crowd. The boy somehow finished his routine and, after again paying the required prostration and whilst the former Prince's quaking young body was being attached to the device that should soon nullify him, hardly a sound could be heard.

Meanwhile, the kind Arab's ship had finally moored at the quayside of the Nubian capital after dark and he and a number of similarly heavily armed crewmen were running down the now deserted wide thoroughfare that separated the wharf from the distant temple. The man hoped that the arms would not be needed as he now represented Nubia's largest single trading outlet, worth much more to the economy than that provided by the late unlamented obese Arab, and so possessed a certain influence over the King.

Anthonius was bound spreadeagled to the frame of the guillotine and his reddened sore genitalia, with extended ball sac, were squeezed through the chopping hole. The centre of the boy's body was tied immovably to the contraption and the ringlet of the triggering device attached to the head of his still fully erect cock. Sacred invocations were uttered by the Highpriest before all eyes, including those of the sacrificial victim, turned to the Archpriest, Ebana, sat in the royal box. The King deliberately paused to tease the former Prince.

Anthonius' eyes, trying to hold back their tears, met those of the smirking Ebana. The boy recognised that no mercy would come from the King and he was right as the man eventually gave a signal to the Highpriest. This resulted in the guillotine safety mechanism being disabled and the little bag containing excited bees being suspended from the former Prince's hard ivory-like white penis, immediately sending pleasurable vibrations down its whole length.

Finish of Chapter 68 – Equinox

The former Prince felt his last sperm accumulating rapidly within his scrotum, ready to burst into daylight. His foreskin soon rode back to reveal the cockhead drooling precum, which was to be replaced imminently with actual cum as inevitable climax approached.

The kind Arab and his men entered the amphitheatre just as Anthonius yelled, his young body beginning to spasm as orgasm began to overwhelm him. A click was then heard.

Chapter 68a – Nullification

The attachment's purpose was to make the endangered genitalia stand out even more from the body for better spectator viewing and easier presentation to the guillotine chopping hole. In Anthonius' case, the boy's whiteness and existing cockring further enhanced the effect. Once attached to the nullification device, the two rings remained groin-side of the chopping hole whilst nicely encouraging a sweet display of the whole of the boy's smooth sexual organs on the other side.

As the convulsing Anthonius climaxed and heard the click, he closed his eyes as he experienced a strange mix of ecstasy and terror. He heard the release of the emasculating blade and the rumble as the heavy object succumbed to gravity and fell. Meanwhile, the smirking acolyte, kneeling in front of him carefully gathered as much of the lad's last spurts of semen as he could in the dish he was holding before the sacrificial victim's genitals also fell.

The kind Arab and his men had stopped at the top steps of the amphitheatre doorway through which they had entered, realising that they were just too late to save the young Lycian from total castration. They soon sullenly turned and left to go back to their boat as there was no more that they could immediately do. The poor boy was best left with the Nubians for now as they were the experts at ensuring that the victims of nullification survived their terrible experience.

Anthonius heard the blade crash into the base of the guillotine but, in shock, at first felt nothing himself except a slight stinging in his groin. However, the appalled boy knew that the guillotine had performed its function by the way in which the quiet within the temple had been shattered by reverberating cheers.

Anthonius could not resist opening his eyes and he initially saw that almost all of the spectators were now standing, including Ebana in the royal box, with many black faces exhibiting broad smiles and mouths uttering loud acclamations. The boy could not then deter himself from looking downwards. He observed the smirking black acolyte, bowl in hand containing a handsome quantity of white boy semen and entranced by what had just been observed despite being splashed with blood. As the former Prince moved his eyes further to the vertical, excruciating pain finally overwhelmed him, although this did not prevent him from continuing his downward stare.

Anthonius, body now racked in agony, screamed in anguish as he noticed that nothing now protruded through the chopping hole, around which fresh blood had been splattered. Much blood was also running from the aperture down the wooden surface of the guillotine.

Anthonius then managed to focus on the second bowl placed underneath him on the newly bloodstained ground. The only content of the dish was the boy's beautiful smooth white genitalia, now sadly smeared with red spots and displaying a neatly severed sanguine edge. The penis was amazingly still erect and issuing sperm.

The acolyte moved away, taking Anthonius' last reproductive product of his loins with him to be used in later ceremonial. The black boy had seen others suffer at the genital guillotine but he never before or after gained as much visual thrill as he had on this occasion. The razor-sharp blade had sliced through the white boy's scrotum as if the organs were not there. The lovely white genitals, lustrous ivory-like rigid cock still gushing semen whilst the circumference of the ball sac spurted blood, seemed to hang momentarily in space before accepting the inevitable and dropping into the waiting container.

The Highpriest advanced to pick up the bowl containing the former Prince's sexual organs in order to walk around the ceremonial area, with the dish held high so that everyone could view the cleanly detached white genitalia. Meanwhile, priests attended to the now shrieking victim to ensure that the temple's first white nullified eunuch survived to pursue his first function as an unmanned young prostitute.

Anthonius, in a torment of distress and pain, and with blood still seeping from his awful but surprisingly small wound, was released from the guillotine and spreadeagled on the ground in front of the altar, a priest firmly gripping each limb. Other priests collected red-hot irons from a nearby brazier and, as the first was applied to the former Prince's emasculated groin to begin the cauterisation of the damage, the boy finally fainted. However, he was quickly reawakened by application of cold water to his beautiful but tearstained face, as penalslaves were always kept conscious to experience the full mending process.

The irons were applied eight times, and Anthonius had to be revived on two more occasions, before the operation was considered complete. The agonised boy was then tied spreadeagled and upright between the two posts in front of the altar, with the bowl of genitalia, now immersed in preservative fluid, underneath him, whilst the ceremony was ended with dancing from some other temple eunuchs.

Anthonius was later released and carried to his cell, where herbal salve was applied to his terrible injury, which was then wrapped in clean bandages. The former Prince subsequently experienced an horrific sleepless night as his body and mind continued to be racked by acute agony and woe. However, careful attention to the wound, involving much fresh application of salve and frequent replacement of bandaging over the next few days reduced the anguish of the pain if not the mortification resulting from the nullification.

Anthonius had recovered sufficiently, at least in a physical sense, by Priapus' next weekly sacred day to allow him to be displayed naked, with his genitalia in the bowl, on the covered platform in the outside main square. The wider population of Ebania were to be granted a close-up view of the new 15 years old white eunuch and the physical evidence of his nullification. Ebana, having learnt about the manner of the kind Arab's arrival in the Priapic temple, took the precaution of guarding the square with many soldiers.

The verbal torments that Anthonius suffered from many who came to see his shame were worse than ever, with children again the worst perpetrators. The boy's penis was later separated from the severed scrotum, the latter then being afforded a prominent cubby-hole in the temple's main amphitheatre.

One month later, health if not genitalia restored, the deeply shamed Anthonius made his first appearance in one of the Priapic temple's male brothels, that catering for those who liked the younger nullified eunuchs. The kind Arab had been unable to persuade Ebana to release the former Prince from humiliating servitude in the temple despite offering a large bribe and, when that failed, threatening to cease his substantial trading in spices with Nubia, much needed by the impoverished country. The King was too frightened of the consequences if Diocletian ever found out. The Arab had also lost the element of surprise and the forcible rescue of the boy was no longer a realistic option as he was now continuously well guarded. The man therefore started furtive negotiations with other prominent Nubians but these would take months to bear fruit. He had been forced to return first to Alexandria, having not even been allowed to visit the young Lycian, who therefore remained ignorant about the rescue of his mother and sister from Diocletian's clutches.

The pain in Anthonius' well-treated groin had gradually dulled and had gone completely. However, he never overcame the deep humiliation of no longer possessing his genitals and having to use a small tube made of reed to urinate. The sudden loss of his previously voracious sexual drive also caused him much grief as he remembered the many pleasures that he had experienced with the lost equipment. The shamed young white eunuch had been told that, if he performed his new role well, he might enjoy some renewed ecstasy from the one remaining organ that could provide some sexual pleasure, his prostrate. He was informed that the many huge black erections that he would be servicing daily seemed to be ideally designed for such a purpose.

Anthonius' silky golden hair had been allowed to grow long and development of a light cover of blonde pubic hair to hide his scar had been expertly encouraged through application of creams. By the time of the new eunuch's first appearance in the brothel to which he had been assigned, the boy, when nude, looked like a girl yet to develop breasts.

Anthonius danced in a tiny black thong, emblazoned with a red phallus, sacred symbol of Priapus and a humiliating reminder of what was no longer present underneath. The stage in the centre of the main windowless chamber of the brothel was surrounded by many seated raucous Nubians, happily watching the new white prostitute's erotic performance. Demand to be present had been so great, and would continue to be so, that attendance by lot had had to be introduced. This was further applied to select the lucky twenty patrons who would be allowed each day to enjoy the new nullified white eunuch's body for roughly half an hour each, time determined by use of a simple water clock whereby water poured from one jar to another.

The girlish Anthonius eventually removed his thong, to many ribald comments, before dancing naked to show off his groin, shaved of its masculinity, to the spectators. The boy had suffered many acute humiliations in recent years but he thought at the time that this was the worst yet, a view not subsequently altered.

At the end of Anthonius' skilfully executed routine, the boy was led to an adjacent bedchamber by the supervising priest. As in the 'House of Ganymede', he stood in front of the bed, facing the door, to await his first client. The eager man, a tall muscular Nubian in his thirties, did not keep the new nullified prostitute waiting for long.

The nude Anthonius prostrated himself in front of his customer before standing again to help the man disrobe. They were soon naked together on the bed with the black energetically exploring every delicious crevice of the young white's body, taking particular pleasure in rubbing the eunuch's pubic hair and sublime buttocks.

Anthonius sucked the client's massive rampant hairy cock for a while, sadly remembering when he too possessed such a body part, before being required to turn over to present his anus for invasion by the vibrating black member, adorned with throbbing veins. The eventual gush of sperm that he felt impregnate his innards caused his sobs, originally created by the pain of sodomy by such a large intruder inside his rectum, to intensify as he recalled his own inability to do the same to propagate his royal line. The boy's prostrate, although regularly struck by the swollen black penis, produced no pleasurable responses to ease his misery. In fact, none of the other nineteen customers, whom he serviced on that first day in the brothel, were able to overcome the prostitute's anguish by stimulating his prostrate, not that they were bothered to do so. The lack of prostrate reaction was constantly repeated as many more days and several months passed in the awful establishment.

Almost two months after Anthonius' inaugural performance in the Priapic brothel, Diocletian was in the pleasure chamber of the Imperial boy companion quarters. He was watching some of his catamites give a vivid demonstration of passionate lovemaking on the entertainment platform when Casperius gave him a small jar and accompanying parchment, received that day from a galley in the harbour of Ostia. The Emperor poured the contents into a dish. He and the major domo smiled broadly, and all of the non-sexually active boys giggled, when they saw the young white penis sink to the bottom of the preservative fluid.

Next day, Casperius went, on his Imperial master's behalf, to Rome's main slave market to arrange the purchase of pretty white boy virgins to be sent to the Nubian King in thanks for the little but very welcome gift. It was rumoured that the Emperor later kept the jar at his bedside for the rest of his life.

It was the middle of the night when Anthonius was finally rescued from the terrible existence that Diocletian had hoped would be lifelong. The boy had as usual cried himself to sleep in terrible despair at his awful plight.

Ebana had been killed and displaced in a coup and the new King had the white eunuch prostitute, now almost 16 years old, removed from the temple and delivered to the boat of the Arab who had sponsored the temporarily successful revolt with much gold. The ship quickly set off from the quayside of the Nubian capital, leaving the Kingdom to endure years of civil war, and headed north to Alexandria, where the young Lycian's prostrate would at last be induced into providing personal pleasure again by the careful attentions of his friend Hron.

The rest of Anthonius' saga is, as the saying goes, history.

The End – Author's Cut

Chapter 69
Tondo (Conclusion)

(March 2001 A.D.)

Dr. Barry spent little time in hurrying to the remote location to examine one of these finds. It was a tondo, a circular painting approximately three-quarters of a metre in diameter, which had been dated to about 330 A.D.. It had been preserved for so long in such a good state because it had been covered in a well-chosen protective resin and had clearly been excellently looked after over the many centuries. The Doctor's current research had been concentrating for the moment on his subject's principal advisers and how they had influenced key actions, particularly the two momentous decisions that had had such a profound affect on the history of the world. His colleague made the call as soon as he recognised that the tondo might be of considerable interest to that study.

When Dr. Barry examined the portrait of a group of seven people, he was instantly spellbound. Depicted were five middle-aged men standing behind a younger seated woman, in front of whom, on the floor, reclined a boy, aged about twelve. The artist had been good. Despite the period's typical stylisation, those portrayed displayed their main natural characteristics, including an obvious look of happiness and pride. All were identified by name in Latin script. His colleague told him that there had been immediate recognition of the names of all of the men as they were some of the most important of their time.

The one standing to the extreme left, who was the husband of the younger woman, was dressed splendidly in Roman general's apparel whilst the one on the extreme right wore clothing appropriate to a very senior bishop of the period. The three central adult males were attired in rich civilian garb. However, attention had then been drawn to the boy. He had the same name of an Emperor of a much later time. The theory was that the picture had been so well preserved and cared for, and was one of the few precious items to escape, over one thousand years later, the plunder of the city where it had been kept, that the boy could be a direct forebear of his namesake. As a family treasure, the tondo would have been cherished by the lad and his progeny and passed carefully from generation to generation until coming into the possession of his famous descendent. It would then undergo transformation into religious icon because of its significance, and as such be protected through later ages. None of the academics realised that the lad in the picture was named, like some of his many brothers, after young Lycians horribly executed by King Lysus.

Dr. Barry was, however, more concerned with the central man who was the main topic of his present investigation, as he had seemingly come from nowhere to be his biographical subject's main adviser for almost 25 years. He knew, from his research, that the seated woman, the general's wife, was the adviser's younger sister but nothing else about her was understood.

Dr. Barry read the names to himself. He did not know that the general on the left of the painting, Armillatus, had once, in Germania, cowered in terror behind a boy who had then become his lifelong hero. He had seen his friend save the life of a young Praetorian and this, and other later examples of the lad's selfless courage, had spurred him to become the Empire's most daring and successful soldier, unheralded in the history books because, as usual, the Emperor took the credit for all victories. The general had, in particular, been a decisive influence at the bloody battle of the Milvian Bridge of 312 A.D., one of the least-known but most important clashes in history.

The Doctor did know that the bishop on the right, Sura, was rumoured to be a eunuch. However, if true, that had not prevented him from gaining high political office and playing a major role in the development of the early Christian Church, being especially influential at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., which settled disputes about doctrine, particularly that regarding the Holy Trinity. Cratinus, next to Sura, was renowned for his charitable works throughout the Empire. He had naturally gravitated to the Empire's new heart to pursue his vocation. Prodicus, next to Armillatus, was the esteemed Governor of Lycia and former Imperial adviser. However, it was the mysterious central figure that really beguiled the academic researcher.

Dr. Barry had gradually managed to piece together, from a variety of sources, a sketchy chronicle from about 306 A.D. for the man, although much seemed more legend than fact. He had apparently first appeared to history in that year in a small port, inhabited mainly by Greeks. However, one otherwise unsubstantiated account suggested that he had earlier spent some time in Egypt, where he had become rich through trading spices in partnership with an Arab, having escaped enslavement in Nubia just before that kingdom had entered a dark period of internecine civil war.

The man entered the service of the local Roman Governor as a freeman administrator, and he soon gained the reputation of being very able and incorruptible. A number of sources commented about his kindness and largesse, particularly with orphaned children. He adopted many and brought them up within an ideal happy domestic atmosphere. He was apparently renowned for never beating any of his charges regardless of how naughty they had been. Instead, he would gently talk to them about their misbehaviour and would be so persuasive that his young adopted sons and daughters gained a reputation for excellent manners and only very rare misconduct. More than one hundred were adopted over the years and all grew to be worthy citizens and excellent parents themselves, the boy called Justinian in the painting being just one. The man was never short of adoring family visitors until the day he died.

Dioclteian's ultimate successor visited the man's town in 313 A.D. and the provincial administrator was introduced by the Governor to the new master of the Roman Empire, and his then principal adviser, Prodicus, and main general, Armillatus. It was clear at once that all four recognised each other.

Dr. Barry looked again at the man's name on the painting. It was very unusual and he had never come across it before. He could not believe that it was the adviser's real name and presumed that it had been adopted by him as a pseudonym for some now obscure reason. Under the figure of the golden-haired blue-eyed man was the word 'Antus'. The Doctor of course did not know of the young black, Zeni, who, by sacrificing his own life, had saved a young white. The latter, to honour his friend, had taken the name that he had been called by the dead hero. The Doctor also did not appreciate that the man had only learned about his mother's whereabouts after her martyrdom in 305 A.D. and had immediately said his farewells to the kind Arab and his son in Alexandria to find his now orphaned 15 years old sister. The man had eventually found her in the small Greek port, which became his home, being well cared for by a 29 years old eunuch whom he knew well.

Dr. Barry thought again about the ancient scroll that he had come across at Istanbul University. The script had propounded the rumour that Antus and the Emperor Constantine the Great, the subject of his biography, had first met, and had been more than just acquaintances, in Germania about 290 A.D.. It suggested that, at the time, the former was a 13 years old in the service of Diocletian whilst the latter was an 18 years old Praetorian officer. The Doctor did not know that Antus, then known as Anthonius, and Constantine had actually saved each other's lives before making love in a Germanian forest, or that the former did not appreciate the latter's true status until they met again 23 years later.

Dr. Barry had heard about the story of a young prince who had supposedly saved Lycia from Diocletian's anger at about this time. However, the boy had then disappeared from historical record and the Doctor did not even consider a connection.

Dr. Barry knew that he could not yet prove his conjecture that it was Antus' counsel that had changed the world. However, he was certain that Constantine would not on his own have come up with the idea of moving the capital of the Empire to Byzantium, where the adviser had settled anonymously with his sister and friend amongst fellow Greeks, many of Lycian origin, because Diocletian was still alive, albeit in retirement. The relocation of the centre of Imperial power to the town, which swiftly grew into a great metropolis renamed Constantinople, would help the Empire in the east thrive for over a thousand more years.

Dr. Barry was equally sure that making the faith of a certain struggling religious sect, heavily persecuted under Diocletian, the official state religion was not an original concept of the new Emperor. After all, it had been the new Imperial adviser who had been the true architect of the Edict of Milan of 313 A.D., which had brought the persecution of Christians to an end, making their faith legal.

Dr. Barry therefore wondered whether there had ever been anyone who could rival the profound influence on history achieved by the blonde blue-eyed adviser. The Doctor had debated within his own mind, without coming to a conclusion, whether such unparalleled accomplishment was despite or because of the fact that the man was a nullified eunuch.

The End