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TAMERLANE’S BOYS By Pueros Chapter 29 – Sons (Sultaniyya, Persia, Summer, 1394) In a palace at Sultaniyya in Persia, 17 year-old Shahrukh, fourth and youngest son of the conqueror, was about to welcome into the world his own healthy male offspring. The baby boy was to be named Ulugbeg and was to become someone who was both very important and very special in the life of one of Tamerlane’s boys in particular. (Serpukhov, Principality of Muscovy, same time) Another pregnancy was coming to a successful conclusion in Serpukhov, a city south of Moscow. Elyena, daughter of Ol'gered, grand prince of Lithuania, was giving birth to her seventh son, Vasilii. The father was Vladimir Andryeyevich Khrabrii, [since 1358] appanage prince of Serpukhov and the healthy birth appeared appropriate to celebrate the return, after over a year away, of the fourth son of the household, 9 year-old Yaroslav. As well as the newly arriving Vasilii, Yaroslav’s other home-based brothers comprised the eldest, Semyon, third son, Andrei, and youngest sons, Ivan and Fedor. The missing component of the seven siblings, the second oldest, was, of course, Nicolai, who was alive and well but somewhere faraway with the dreaded Tamerlane. Yaroslav’s father retained a residence in Moscow, where he owed allegiance to the Prince of Muscovy and to where Arman and Sibur had kindly returned his fourth son. The latter had originally been taken hostage over a year previously by the Golden Horde and their scheming leader, Toqtamish. However, because of events that would soon unfold elsewhere, there was subsequently never any danger that the Mongols would ever again attempt to take the boy, or any other of Vladimir Andryeyevich Khrabrii’s offspring. (Khanate of the Golden Horde, 1 year later, Summer, 1395) After destroying the major settlements of the Golden Horde at Sarai, New Sarai and Astrakhan, and perpetrating much other local devastation, Tamerlane and his boys and victorious army moved to return south, across the Caucasus, into Vissarion’s homeland of Georgia. Meanwhile, the utterly vanquished Mongol leader, Toqtamish, who had dared to threaten the dreaded conqueror’s catamites, escaped with his life but little else. Khan Toqtamish was now completely discredited as a leader amongst his own people. He later had cause to wish that he had died fighting Tamerlane, for he was left virtually penniless and alone to roam the vast Asian steppes, a pitiful shadow of his former self. He was to disappear from history in such sad circumstances. The Golden Horde subsequently managed to continue to enjoy some dominance over the various principalities of Rus for a few more decades. During this period, although the Mongols extracted tribute from these princely states in return for continued peace, they were no longer powerful enough to demand hostages. Meanwhile, over time, the local princes of Rus would eventually realise that Mongol power in their part of the world had been so permanently and fatally damaged by the dreaded conqueror that they could successfully assert their own independence. Consequently, posterity can know that Tamerlane’s boys had played a highly important role in the rise of a nation that was to become known as Russia, which was also to be led by direct descendants of Nicolai’s younger brother, Yaroslav. (Village near Gori, Georgia, 2 months later) "My middle son has raped his younger sister and made her pregnant," the man declared in apparent anger and shame to the village elder, "and must suffer appropriate punishment for his crime!" The paternal demand for punitive revenge was made in the open in public, with virtually the whole population of the small, very poor Christian agricultural community standing round the seated minor patriarch. The ‘middle son’ concerned was a rather handsome brown haired 15 year-old, whose similarly coloured sensuous eyes currently shed many tears. The boy’s present clear terror and loud sobbing would probably have prevented any coherent refutation of the paternal charges, if he had been permitted to express it. However, a father’s firm word was never queried and the only issue to be decided was the offspring’s punishment. "I can order the boy to be impaled," the village elder announced with conviction, "for perpetrating such incestuous evil." However, the father’s anger appeared to abate when he responded "No, no! I’ll then be short of a labourer, which I can’t afford, after the wicked brat’s younger brother ran away 2 years ago." "Then castration seems the most appropriate penance," the village elder suggested, "particularly after your eldest son has already seen to the continued procreation of your family line!" The minor patriarch was referring to the man’s oldest and particularly favoured offspring, who was married with three young children, all boys. "So be it!" the father cruelly retorted in respect of his middle son, whom he fully knew was innocent of any crime, as it had been the favoured older sibling who had raped his sister. However, the 15 year-old was the one who must suffer, as how otherwise could the young girl’s pregnancy be explained without bringing ostracism and worse to the paternal favourite? (Southern Caucasus, same time) By his many wives, Tamerlane, whose real name of ‘Timur’ was appropriately Turkic for ‘iron’, had four sons and two daughters who lived to adulthood. Despite his sexual preference for boys, the conqueror also possessed several illegitimate children by the occasional female concubines he took to bed over the years to provide his energetic libido with variety. However, the sporadic quest for such diversity was now no longer undertaken, after the advent of Vissarion and later Nicolai, Rezan and Rahu into his life. Tamerlane’s four legitimate sons were, in order of seniority by birth, Jahangir, Umarshaykh, Miranshah and Shahrukh. Unfortunately, the conqueror’s eldest and original nominated heir had barely escaped his teens when he had died 2 decades before the present date. However, he had bequeathed to his father a greatly favoured grandson, Muhammad, who was now in his early 20s. Jahangir’s widow, Khanzada, later married Miranshah. She then gave birth to another of Tamerlane’s grandsons, Khalil, who was currently a young teenager. Umarshaykh, the new oldest son, was presently 40 years of age, whilst Miranshah was 29 and Shahrukh was now 18. The elder pair had recently begun to resent the catamites in Tamerlane’s life, as they began to spend more time with their father on campaign as opposed to governing provinces. Umarshaykh and Miranshah disliked the amount of time and attention Tamerlane devoted to his boys as opposed to his sons. They particularly took offence at the increasing influence that Vissarion and Arman enjoyed in respectively administrative and military matters. Although Tamerlane appeared to consider both Umarshaykh and Miranshah as capable prominent additions to his travelling governmental and army hierarchy, the advice of Vissarion and Arman was frequently preferred to their own. The facts that the youths concerned were only 18 years old, with one a Christian eunuch looking more like 15 and still sharing their father’s bed, and were usually correct with their proffered suggestions only aggravated the sons’ annoyance. Umarshaykh and Miranshah tried several ways to persuade Tamerlane to expel his boys from his life. For example, they attempted to play on his fatherly affections in order to secure a more prominent role for themselves in his everyday life. When that and other similar tactics failed to work, they eventually, in desperation, quoted Islam, which condemned homosexuality. The dreaded conqueror responded by immediately flying into one of his terrible rages, from which his older pair of offspring was lucky to escape with their lives. In fact, to add to the further aggravation of Umarshaykh and Miranshah, it had only been the intervention of Vissarion, alerted to Tamerlane’s anger whilst elsewhere in his master’s military encampment, that had saved the heads of the sons from being separated from their torsos by their father’s scimitar. However, far from exhibiting thankfulness, the aggrieved pair now conspired to eliminate the catamites from their father’s life by other, more cowardly and sinister means. However, they failed to recruit their 18 year-old younger brother, Shahrukh, to their evil plotting. Umarshaykh and Miranshah asked Shahrukh to join them in an attempt to undermine the positions of their father’s boys. However, they diplomatically did not detail, for the ears of their youngest brother, the fatally permanent nature of their final solution to the perceived problem, causing him not to appreciate fully the dangers now posed for the young paternal favourites. Shahrukh refused to become involved in what he considered to be further political manoeuvrings against his father’s boys by his older brothers, not recognising that something much more sinister was afoot. In a response that was to have great significance for the future, the 18 year-old had instead firmly told his elder siblings that he was unconcerned about the importance of the catamites in the travelling paternal court. The handsome 18 year-old even added "In fact, I rather like Tamerlane’s boys!" (Southern Caucasus, same night) Tamerlane was walking with Vissarion, Nicolai, Rezan and Rahu back to his large, luxurious tent, where their night was to be spent before the canopy was again packed away in readiness for the next day’s travel towards Georgia through the southern Caucasus. However, the conqueror, who was now a robust 59 years of age, was not just looking forward to the overnight sex and rest to come. "What’ll be the subject of your tale tonight?" Tamerlane asked of the now 18 year-old Vissarion, who still looked no more than 15. The conqueror was referring to the delightful post-coitus stories the young Georgian regularly told to entertain the man and his other boys before they all finally succumbed to sleep. The still immensely boyishly beautiful Vissarion raised his peerless blue eyes towards the stars in the cloudless night sky and answered "I’m going to tell you why that constellation is named in some parts of this world after a boy called Antinous!" Tamerlane followed the gorgeous young Georgian’s now outstretched arm to where the 18 year-old’s delicate forefinger pointed. However, the conqueror’s first thought then did not concern the topic of the tale to come but how worthy it would be for the wondrous narrator also to be given a place of honour in the heavens one day. Tamerlane eventually managed to move on from this thought to enquiring "Who was Antinous?" " He was," Vissarion replied, "the boy lover of the great Roman Emperor, Hadrian!" The young Georgian, who had been interested in the stars for as long as he could remember, did not add that he himself had just heard of this particular young hero. He had done so by reading one of the many books the conqueror continually requisitioned for the highly intelligent and ever inquisitive 18 year-old blond, blue-eyed bibliophile. Tamerlane immediately smiled on hearing his beloved Vissarion’s revelation, as the appropriateness of the tale to come, from the sweet, rosy, eloquent lips of the conqueror’s 18 year-old lover, was obvious. (Edirne, Ottoman Empire, same time) Meanwhile, in the city originally named after the Roman Emperor to whom Vissarion was referring in the faraway southern Caucasus, Edirne [ancient Adrianople], the grandson of the Ottoman Sultan who had changed the municipal appellation was eating with his personal slave. Both boys were now 6 year-olds and had reached this stage after Vladimir had so far thankfully failed to encounter any poison in Mehmed’s food and drink. Naturally, both Mehmed and Vladimir had been alarmed at Bayezid I’s announcement that his fourth son and nominated heir might be subjected to attempted assassination by poison. The young Slav eunuch was actually even more concerned than his young Ottoman master, as it appeared that, if any such appalling endeavour was undertaken, it would be him, as designated food-taster, and not the prince who would suffer the consequences of swallowing toxin. The shocked Mehmed subsequently exhibited characteristic fellowship and selflessness by initially being unwilling to risk the loss of his best friend to poison and bravely refusing to allow Vladimir to act as his food-taster. In fact, only the young Slav’s suggestion that Bayezid I would undoubtedly have him horribly executed, if he failed in his duty and allowed his young master to die from absorbed toxin, eventually encouraged the prince to change his determined stance. Bayezid I did not advise Mehmed of the source or background of his warning. However, in conjunction with the equally bright mind of his young slave, the prince quickly worked out that prospective assassins could only comprise his three older brothers, who were presumably jealous of his status as heir to the Sultanate. The oldest pair of siblings, Suleyman and Isa, were already teenagers who had been given important civil and military functions to perform appropriate to their status. Although Mehmed rarely met Suleyman and Isa, he and Vladimir, after making appropriate discreet enquiries, now had no doubt that these eldest brothers were highly ambitious, and possessed similarly aspiring sycophantic supporters, some within the palace. As the young Slav subsequently devotedly tasted his princely master’s food and drink, both boys fully appreciated that the latest fare could indeed prove to be the last to be consumed by the infant eunuch. (Southern Caucasus, next evening) There were three main reasons why Shahrukh rather liked Tamerlane’s boys. First, unlike his older brothers, Shahrukh was selflessly more concerned about his father’s welfare and happiness than his own position in imperial affairs. Tamerlane’s boys clearly and dutifully looked after such paternal wellbeing. Second, after witnessing the birth of his own son, Ulugbeg, in Sultaniyya, Persia, Shahrukh had rejoined his father’s army, during its devastation of the Khanate of the Golden Horde. There, Tamerlane had given the responsibility, of taking his inexperienced youngest son under their instructional and protective wing, to the highly able Arman and Sibur, who were charged with safely furthering the youth’s skills in warfare. The 18 year-old had quickly formed a particular affinity towards the similarly aged and very pleasant young Armenian. Third, Shahrukh had taken Ulugbeg with him to show the delighted Tamerlane his new bouncing baby grandson. He was unaccompanied by the boy’s mother, who much preferred the luxuries of the palace in Sultaniyya to travelling uncomfortably through potentially hostile lands, even if her preference meant temporary separation from her newborn child. The latter’s maternal needs were therefore provided by a retinue of wet nurses. Unfortunately for peaceful nights, and presumably because of his separation from his mother or change of luxurious quiescent regime to one involving the disruption and discomforts of travel, or a mixture of both, the wet nurses and Shahrukh encountered great difficulty in enticing Ulugbeg to sleep. The baby was regularly heard crying in the tent of the conqueror’s youngest son through many of the hours of darkness, until one evening one of Tamerlane’s boys arrived to deliver a message to the 18 year-old from his father. 18 year-old Vissarion had sought and obtained permission from the similarly aged Shahrukh, who was currently at his wit’s end because of Ulugbeg’s incessant nightly crying, to look at the now almost 1 year-old baby. The appearance above of kindly, peerlessly beautiful blue eyes, sparkling gorgeously in the tent lamplight, immediately seemed miraculously to soothe the child. Vissarion now sought and obtained permission from the amazed Shahrukh, who was rejoicing in the sudden, unexpected quiet, to pick up Ulugbeg. The baby was soon in the young Georgian’s lithe, caring arms, with the child apparently still entranced by the 18 year-old eunuch’s sensuous blue eyes. Further permission was sought and obtained to allow Vissarion to leave Shahrukh’s tent, still gently and carefully cradling Ulugbeg. The young Georgian then slowly walked round the vicinity on this warm summer night, whispering to the baby about the glittering stars in the cloudless night sky above. The child immediately seemed to share the 18 year-old’s infatuation with the spectacular stellar display, whilst pointing upwards and cooing. Shortly afterwards, however, an astounded Shahrukh watched amazed as Vissarion returned Ulugbeg to his cot inside his young father’s tent. The baby was soundly asleep and remained so until well after dawn. Ever since that remarkable happening, Vissarion had returned daily to Shahrukh’s tent to perform the now usual routine that invariably produced the same miraculous result. This entailed a sound overnight’s sleep not only for the baby but also for his immensely grateful young father. This particular night was to be no different, although the later dawn would mark the beginning of a day of great tragedy. (Delhi, India, next evening) Ahmed and Krishnan were naked and enjoying their nightly bath, as usual alone so that no-one could discover that the latter supposed eunuch still possessed his balls. However, on this occasion, the pair of pretty 8 year-olds was disturbed by the unexpected arrival of the Muslim Sultan of Delhi, Mahmud Tughluq. Ahmed and Krishnan, who had both been standing in the bath in order to wash each other as usual, immediately nervously sank onto their pert, curvaceous bottoms, with the hope that the soapy water would hide the fact that the latter was not a eunuch. "Hello, father," the young Muslim then said in welcome to the Sultan, "what brings you here?" Meanwhile, the young Hindu covered his genitalia with his sponge, pretending to be cleaning the small, smooth sexual organs concerned in a further effort to disguise their intact nature. "I came personally," Mahmud Tughluq advised, "to confirm that I’m leaving Delhi in the morning to visit other parts of my realm." Ahmed had been aware that his father had been planning such an expedition, designed to keep provincial administrators alert, but had not known precisely when the Sultan would depart. Unlike Bayezid I in faraway Edirne, Mahmud Tughluq actually loved his sons, especially his eldest, Ahmed. Consequently, the Delhi Sultan, in contrast to the Ottoman version, always liked to express appropriate, personal farewells to his young offspring before leaving his capital. Unfortunately, he now became distracted by the sight of the naked eunuch, who was apparently attending to the bathing of his 8 year-old heir. "While I’m here," Mahmud Tughluq announced to Ahmed, "I’d like to examine the castration performed on your eunuch, which I’ve not yet seen, to check that it’s up to the usual standards." The Sultan then turned to the immensely alarmed Krishnan and ordered "Stand up, boy, so that I can inspect your gelded genitalia!" (Southern Caucasus, same time) Tamerlane’s army was once more encamped for the night, although darkness had not yet descended. After the success of his tale about Antinous, Vissarion’s highly intelligent mind was partly engaged, as he went about discharging some other duties on behalf of his master, on determining the story that would precede later slumber. However, the young Georgian’s mental deliberations were interrupted when he received a verbal message from one of Umarshaykh’s servants. "My Lord wishes to see you privately," the servant advised Vissarion, before providing the young Georgian with details of the secret secluded venue and instructions not to tell anyone, not even Tamerlane, about the impending meeting. The 18 year-old was intrigued to receive such an unusual invitation but not worried, as he rather innocently assumed that the conqueror’s oldest living son might be trying to establish better relationships with him. The setting sun was low in the sky when Vissarion followed the well described directions to the lonely forest clearing that represented the setting for his meeting alone with Umarshaykh, who was already waiting for him. The young Georgian bowed politely before Tamerlane’s oldest living son and declared "Lord, I have obeyed your summons. How can I be of service to you?" However, the bearded 40 year-old, who was dressed in fully armed military attire and appeared very tense, did not immediately answer the clean-shaven 18 year-old eunuch, who was contrastingly only equipped with a little bejewelled dagger for protection. The latter had been given to him by the conqueror, in thanks and remembrance for the time that he had, almost at the expense of his own life, saved his master from the poisoned knife of an assassin. Umarshaykh instead asked Vissarion "Did you come alone, without telling anyone about our meeting?" The young Georgian was actually insulted at the question, which queried his ability to respond dutifully to the instructions of his master’s senior son. Nevertheless, the 18 year-old displayed none of his inherent annoyance when he replied "Lord, I have obeyed your summons as you commanded." "Good!" Umarshaykh declared, noticeably relaxing. As the 40 year-old and 18 year-old then walked slowly up and down the clearing, whilst they pursued their secret conversation, the former went on to advise the latter about the reason for their furtive meeting. "I’ve invited you," Umarshaykh announced, "to a meeting in such unusual circumstances because there is an enduring major problem in the relationship between my father and his sons. If this difficulty persists, it will undoubtedly bode ill for everything Tamerlane has achieved!" Vissarion was naturally alarmed at this revelation and enquired "What is this problem, as we must do everything in our power to eradicate it?" After asking this question, the beautiful young Georgian noticed that Umarshaykh was no longer walking beside him. The 18 year-old therefore turned round to see where the 40 year-old had gone. Vissarion now saw Umarshaykh immediately behind him, with large, unsheathed, deadly scimitar in his hand. The 40 year-old then noticed the young Georgian’s peerless blue eyes look into his own, exhibiting clear, amazed perplexity. In return, Umarshaykh displayed a broad, satisfied grin when he answered Vissarion’s earlier question. "The problem that must be eradicated, boy," Umarshaykh announced, "is you!" (Delhi, India, same time) Krishnan froze in immense dread on hearing Mahmud Tughluq’s command. Ahmed also immediately became intensely fearful and not just for his best friend’s balls. For a slave to disobey the order of a Sultan, as the young Hindu was currently doing, could result in much more than castration. Severance of head from body was the more usual penance for such disobedience. (Southern Caucasus, same time) Vissarion, despite his shock at hearing Umarshaykh’s announcement and the display, for a now clearly obvious reason, of the deadly scimitar in the man’s hand, retained an almost surreal calmness. The beautiful young Georgian did not try to beg for his life, resist by withdrawing his own small bejewelled knife from its scabbard or run away. The 18 year-old instead addressed the 40 year-old, who proposed imminently to murder him. "I never intended to be a problem in your relationship with your father," Vissarion declared with amazing serenity, "but, if I am, for the welfare of the great Tamerlane and his empire, it is perhaps right that you should eradicate me." The young Georgian then knelt, with lithe arms at his sides, and bowed his head, exposing his sublime neck for the blow from Umarshaykh’s extremely sharp scimitar that would undoubtedly decapitate him with just one hard, accurate strike. Umarshaykh had been as equally shocked at Vissarion’s remarkable action as the young Georgian had been in response to the man’s clear intent. However, even though Tamerlane’s oldest living son also then acquired some respect for the obvious selfless bravery and wisdom of the young eunuch, he had no intention of allowing such considerations to deflect him from his purpose, or his sword from severing a beautiful, 18 year-old head from gorgeous, young shoulders. Umarshaykh therefore stood alongside the kneeling Vissarion and raised his scimitar high into the air in readiness to strike the fatal blow. The 40 year-old then grinned, as he held his deadly weapon aloft, believing that his own eyes were seeing the first cowardly breakdown in his imminent victim’s bravado, for dripping onto the grass under the 18 year-old’s bowed head were some tears. In fact, Vissarion was not now tearful for himself but rather for Tamerlane, as he knew how much his beloved master would miss him. However, the courageous and insightful young Georgian also believed that, given the circumstances and Umarshaykh’s clear hatred, his sacrifice would be better in the long-term for the conqueror, his sons and his empire. Umarshaykh now harshly grasped Vissarion’s long, silky, straight blonde hair to expose the young Georgian’s slim neck even more prominently for the imminent deathblow. (Delhi, India, same time) Fortunately for Krishnan, Ahmed’s quickness of mind happily came to the rescue of his best friend’s balls. "Father," Ahmed advised, whilst displaying a disarming smile that perhaps only Vissarion in the world could better, "apart from me, my eunuch’s rather shy of showing anyone what’s been perpetrated on his privates. Can’t you forgo your inspection and give me a farewell hug instead?" To reinforce his point, the naked Ahmed immediately leapt to his feet and out of the bath and, without waiting for confirmation of his request or drying his lovely form, ran to embrace his delighted father. Subsequently, Mahmud Tughluq, rich garments now damp, forgot even the presence of the supposed eunuch in his oldest son’s palatial quarters, let alone his desire to inspect the proficiency of the boy’s gelding, until long after he had departed from the scene. The Sultan had simply been too engrossed in once more enjoying his young heir’s truthful expressions of love for him. Curiously, after Ahmed and Krishnan had again been left alone together, the latter exhibited little satisfaction in respect of his narrow escape. Instead, the young Hindu asked of the young prince "What would have happened to you if your father had discovered that we’d deceived him?" "I don’t think my father would have done anything to me," Ahmed answered truthfully and perceptively, "and he might even have saved your balls if I asked him to do so nicely!" However, this reply did not satisfy Krishnan. Although Krishnan appreciated that Mahmud Tughluq would not physically harm his oldest son, he worried that, for perpetrating a deception on his father, the man might nominate one of his younger male offspring as the new heir to the Sultanate. The young Hindu therefore fatefully began to wonder whether the salvation of his balls was worth risking his best friend’s inheritance. After all, what worth were a young slave’s testicles compared to a young prince’s future kingdom? (Southern Caucasus, next day) Tamerlane’s senior council disbanded after sadly providing their distraught leader with their best advice. The death would be publicised officially as a tragic hunting accident, which, to history, it was to become. Meanwhile, some place of appropriate, resplendent entombment in the deceased’s homeland would be found to accommodate the body for eternity. (Village near Gori, Georgia, several days later) The middle son, whose balls now appeared doomed, was called Todo, in line with an ancient tradition that insisted that the names of all males within the family began with the letter ‘T’. However, such customs were currently far from his distraught mind, as the handsome 15 year-old contemplated the imminence of the act that would prevent him from having offspring of his own. Todo had spent the last week securely locked in a small windowless village outhouse, which doubled as the local prison for short-term inmates. Long-term prisoners were not a feature of this small, poor community, not least because the people could not afford to feed such unproductive miscreants. Those accused and convicted of wrongdoing were normally subjected to quick punishment, usually of a corporal nature, such as whipping, or exile or execution. In such circumstances, the 15 year-old’s imminent penance was rare, as castration for heinous rape had not been performed in the locale in living memory. Nevertheless, one of the villagers was expert at gelding male horses and cattle and so volunteered to perpetrate the same on the supposedly criminally incestuous boy, after the latter had spent a week, alone and naked in his tiny prison. Such an intervening period between harsh judgement and cruel sentence was required to ensure that the young condemned rapist’s attractive, smooth body was purged after consumption of appropriate purgative. The nominated adult castrator, aided by other men, eventually came to wash the naked boy forcibly with cold water, ignoring in the process the entreaties of the 15 year-old’s suddenly audible voice, which pleaded both his innocence and for mercy. However, the villagers were not interested in Todo’s screams that it had been his older brother who had raped his sister. After all, they themselves would probably have uttered such lies if they had been in the same desperate situation. The cleaned and still naked Todo was eventually dragged from his tiny prison outside, to where not only the rest of the villagers eagerly awaited him but also a specially prepared, sturdy, wooden table, freshly fitted with unyielding leather straps at each corner. Despite the boy’s weakened state, resulting from the recent purging and starving of his handsome, smooth body, four strong men were nevertheless required to bind the struggling 15 year-old face-up and immovably spreadeagled to the sinister furniture. Todo subsequently felt his smooth scrotum being encased around the base with thin leather cord, which was then constricted tightly to cut off the blood supply to his doomed testicles. The overall effect of this genital bondage was to encourage the boy’s twin all sacs to bulge immediately and darken gradually, whilst their new prominence positively invited attention. Meanwhile, the 15 year-old’s slender uncut cock began to grow and rise to the vertical so that its long, eventually throbbing shape cast a shadow under the overhead sun over his sole display of body hair, which comprised a small, neat, dark tuft on his pubes. The spectators comprised the whole population of the small rural community, men and women, boys and girls, naturally including Todo’s evil widowed father and oldest brother, as well as the latter’s three young infant sons and the sister the 15 year-old was supposed to have raped and made pregnant. The village elder, who had judged and sentenced the boy to his sad fate, was also present, as was the local priest to offer prayers before one of his human flock was gelded, just as many male horses and cattle in other flocks in the vicinity had been. Giggles emerged from the crowd, as many, particularly the women and children, observed Todo’s fine display of doomed masculine virility. The chuckles reached a crescendo after the nominated castrator, now holding a sharp knife in his hand, eventually grasped hold of the boy’s rampant cock. The man did so in order to hold the vibrating erection out of the harm’s way, whilst he made his fateful incision into the 15 year-old’s now purple and painful scrotum. No effort had been made to gag Todo to prevent him from screaming or biting harmfully his lips and tongue. The spectators therefore heard loud renewed pleas of innocence and for mercy, as well as more incoherent yelps, whilst the castrator began his delicate and, for the young victim, agonising task of gelding the boy. Even though the castrator had never worked on a human male previously, he soon completed his cut down the middle of Todo’s scrotum and, to the intense interest of the watching crowd, exposed the first of the boy’s off-white testicles and associated spermatic cord. He then presented his blade to the thin membrane in readiness to convert his poor young victim into a half-eunuch before then proceeding to turn him into a full gelding. However, he had to wait awhile to perpetrate the initial deed because his aim became distracted by a shuddering of the 15 year-old’s attractive, lithe body and the expulsion of a profusion of white, creamy sperm from the now engorged cock the man was trying to control with his unoccupied hand. Todo’s cum flew through the air in a wide arc before falling to decorate the boy’s naked belly, chest, neck and face. The 15 year-old was rewarded for this further humiliating display of male virility by loud sarcastic cheers from the spectators, with young feminine voices most prominent amongst the noisy cacophony. (Gori, Georgia, same time) The still deeply grieving Tamerlane and his boys and army, slowed down by much booty, had crossed the Caucasus and were now advancing towards the Georgian capital of Tiflis [modern Tblisi]. The immensely long military convoy was passing through the town of Gori, which was much later to become infamous as the birthplace of another despot who controlled a vast empire, Stalin, although it was about the local birth of someone else that the current ruler was interested. Gori is upriver of Tiflis, along the Kura, alongside whose northern banks the ancient road to the capital meandered. Most of the local population appeared to be invisible, as they fearfully hid themselves and their possessions away from the dreaded Tamerlane’s soldiers, even though the conqueror permitted only peaceful foraging in the environs, having forbidden, on pain of death, pillaging and raping, out of respect for Vissarion’s homeland. As usual, Rahu was riding protectively aside Tamerlane, who commented to the now 12 year-old "I believe, Little Limpet, that Teimuraz was born in a village near here." "Yes, Lord," the young Zoroastrian replied, "and I believe that Arman is going with his young groom to view the settlement and see whether any of the boy’s family still live there!" (Village near Gori, Georgia, same time) "What do you think you’re doing to my brother?" a voice asked from behind the castrator. The man and the villagers had been too engrossed in the deed and spectacle of Todo’s gelding to notice until too late the encroachment into their village of a small contingent of cavalry from the dreaded Tamerlane’s greatly feared army. The castrator turned to spy a 12 year-old, richly dressed and immaculately presented boy mounted on an excellent steed. Despite the time gap since the young Georgian had last been present in the village, and the utter transformation in his appearance from his previous ragamuffin status, the man, and most of the other villagers, immediately recognised the young returnee. The shocked would-be castrator hesitated to reply to the question of the arriving boy, who was flanked by three of Tamerlane’s warriors, with the rest of the small band of redoubtable cavalry located immediately behind the young quartet. The clearly angry 12 year-old therefore felt obliged to repeat his query. "What do you think you’re doing to my brother?" Teimuraz enquired, whilst, at his side, Arman, Sibur and Shahrukh also waited for the answer. (Village near Gori, Georgia, next day) Teimuraz left his home village forever. The 12 year-old took his 15 year-old brother with him. The cut down Todo’s otherwise still intact and now bandaged scrotum had been expertly stitched by Tamerlane’s best physician. Teimuraz was also accompanied by a heavily pregnant sister and three infant nephews, who were the young sons of his oldest brother. Alas, the latter and the boy’s father could not also join Tamerlane’s travelling entourage. Teimuraz had run away from his hated, cruel widower father and oldest brother a couple of years previously, ending up a street urchin in Tiflis, from which sad existence he had happily been rescued by Arman. Todo and his sister, despite suffering similarly at the sadistic hands of the parent and eldest sibling, including subjection of the girl by the pair to frequent incestuous rape, had chosen not to follow the then 10 year-old. Arman had only recently coaxed revelation of this background out of his young groom, Teimuraz, and so, whilst in the vicinity, the young Armenian had encouraged the boy to recognise that the time was ripe to rescue his suffering siblings. They had arrived just in time to save Todo’s manhood. As Teimuraz and Todo left their home village for the last time, they unsympathetically passed their father and oldest brother, who were both naked and fatally impaled on sturdy stakes. (Tiflis, Georgia, 1 week later) The recovering Todo had been offered the opportunity to become a groom in Tamerlane’s army, just like his younger brother. However, the proffered position was of greater status to that currently occupied by the 12 year-old. Teimuraz was unfazed by this sudden superior promotion of Todo, as he was more than content to remain in Arman’s service and bed. The 12 year-old was instead very happy to see his pleasant 15 year-old brother become groom to Prince Shahrukh. So protectively attached did Todo eventually become to Prince Shahrukh that the 15 year-old was ultimately awarded the nickname of ‘The Large Limpet’, in recognition of the similar role he played to Tamerlane’s Rahu. (Samarkand, Transoxiana, 3 months later) Tamerlane had just returned from the formal entombment of the dead body in his capital of Samarkand. In order to relieve his grief, the conqueror then went to see his youngest grandson. He found the baby sleeping contentedly in his cot, whilst a protective youth sat adjacent, still holding the child’s tiny hand. "I suppose you’ve showed and talked about the stars again to Ulugbeg," Tamerlane commented. "Of course," Vissarion replied, whilst displaying his inevitable, completely disarming smile. (Southern Caucasus, 3½ months earlier) It had not been Vissarion’s smile that had disarmed Umarshaykh 3½ months earlier but rather the arrow that had fatally pierced the man’s heart. What was perhaps most remarkable about the shot was not its instant deadly accuracy in the dying sunlight but the identity of the archer, for Tamerlane himself had killed his oldest living son. "Why?" a tearful Vissarion subsequently asked of Tamerlane. (Samarkand, Transoxiana, 3½ months later) Shahrukh had actually unknowingly been as much a saviour of Vissarion as his father. Without fully recognising the dangers that existed for Tamerlane’ boys, especially Vissarion, at his older brothers’ aggrieved hands, the 18 year-old Prince had taken the precaution of expressing disquiet to the conqueror about his siblings’ current attitude. A worried Tamerlane had then posted some of his best soldiers to maintain a secret and discreet protective watch on his boys. One of these, who was soon to be seriously enriched, had furtively overheard the message conveyed by Umarshaykh’s servant, inviting the young Georgian to an unusual rendezvous. As the reported invitation was so out of the ordinary, Tamerlane decided to track himself Vissarion’s entry into the Caucasian forest. Here, he witnessed the young Georgian’s encounter with Umarshaykh and became so enraged by what he heard and saw that he deemed intervention by fatal arrow rather than loud voice was appropriate. Tamerlane naturally later regretted his deadly fury that saw his oldest living son slain. However, the conqueror was never to regret saving the life of his beloved Vissarion. The conqueror’s action would eventually prove historically very significant, especially for the future of his empire. His new oldest son, Miranshah, who had agreed to Umarshaykh’s plan to dispose of Vissarion, before attempting similar in respect of Arman, was now too cowed to attempt on his own, without Shahrukh’s support, any action in respect of Tamerlane’s boys. Miranshah was also not the only one to perceive the true status in the conqueror’s empire of one of these boys in particular. After what had happened to Umarshaykh, virtually everyone recognised that the beautiful and unassuming 18 year-old Georgian was truly now the second most important person in Tamerlane’s domains. Miranshah’s ultimate destiny, like that of the young Ottoman, Mehmed, and his slave eunuch, Vladimir, would instead now be decided not by conspiracy but in a field near Ankara. Meanwhile, the friendship between Shahrukh and Arman would blossom but, even more importantly for the future, the lifelong relationship between Vissarion and Ulugbeg would go from strength to strength, as Tamerlane’s youngest grandson similarly grew. (Southern Caucasus, 3½ months earlier) "Why?" a tearful Vissarion had asked of Tamerlane in the Caucasian forest clearing, whilst still kneeling, albeit now next to Umarshaykh’s dead body. "Because," Tamerlane answered firmly and truthfully, whilst glancing at his deceased offspring, "you are more son to me than those born of my own seed!" (To be continued in chapter 30 – ‘Revolutions’)
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