H12

"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill the both of you now," Loras demands.

He watches Constantine and I. I look over at Constantine. We are in a very bad position. Loras has sent his assassins in there to finally kill the sultan now that the sultan was in the Harem. All I know is that I need to act and I need to act fast.

This was my one last chance. Constantine looks on the ground. He seems ready to give up. I realize he is depending on me. I have to seduce one last person. One last time. All the training that I've been given at the Harem is coming to a head right at this moment.

I take a step forward. I'm slow. I'm casual.

I put my hand on Loras. He pulls back initially but I put my hand on him again. It isn't in an aggressive way. It's just a slight touch on the hand. A slight way to make him feel that maybe things might not be as shady as it might appear.

"Loras it's me."


"You poisoned me."


"I knew you would survive."


"I almost didn't!" he screams out.

Loras pushes me hard. He pushes me so hard that I hit the ground. Him barking it the way that he does causes Constantine to act up. Constantine charges forward but he doesn't get far. The men with Loras stop him and pin him to the ground.

"Wait," I state before the men start pounding into Constantine.

I don't want to see him hurt.

"You worried about him?" Loras asks me.

"It's not that."


"Sure it is. You are in love with him. Aren't you?"


I look over at Constantine realizing that now that love in the Harem is causing some issues. Constantine won't let me do my thing if it is up to him.

Love blinds in the Harem.

"No," I state.

Constantine lifts his head up. He is surprised. I'm surprised by the words are coming out of my mouth as well.

"Hush..." Constantine states.

"That's not my name!" I respond to Constantine, "I am Osman. I don't belong to you either Constantine. I belong to Loras."

I turn to Loras. Loras looks down and focuses on me. He's looked at me a million times when we were younger. When these people who were against the sultan were preparing him to take the throne, I was his only friend. They were the usurpers and Loras was supposed to be the new sultan. It was a lonely upbringing. Together we were able to make a bond. I was hoping that Loras still saw a little bit of that bond left over.

"You poisoned me."

"I knew you would survive. People were getting suspicious of you. Constantine was getting suspicious of you and he had popularity and respect in the harem. I had to make Constantine believe that I was in love with you. I had to remove you from focus for a while. I used just enough poison to make sure that you survived."

Loras stops for a moment.

"You did it to save me?" Loras asks.

I get up off the ground. I make my way back over to Loras. I put my hands on his face.

"Kill the sultan. Take your rightful place and keep me by your side. Forever," I tell Loras, "Just how we planned. We can still have that Loras. We can still be together and you can still have everything that you want."


"Hush..."


"Prove it," Constantine says.

"What?"

"Prove it in front of your lover," Loras states.

"Please don't," Constantine tells me.

I see Constantine's face. There is so much hurt in his eyes at that moment. I shake off the look he is giving me. I clear my head. I lean into Loras. I put my lips on his. We kiss. It's one of the most emotional kisses I've ever had. I continue to kiss Loras and I watch as he unbuckles his pants and let his penis out of his hole.

He positions my hand in front of his penis. I touch the penis. I feel the warm thick skin get hard in my palm. I slide my palm up and down his shaft. I grip his penis hard but not too hard. I make sure that he feels everything as I work up and down the shaft.

He begins to kiss me at that moment. He kisses my cheeks then makes his way to my neck.

"STOP!" Constantine struggles.

Constantine attempts to fight past being pinned down as hard as he can. I know he doesn't want to do it. I know that he doesn't want me to do it.

That's when Loras drops his pants. His dick is hard. It's precumming.

"Turn over."


"Will you spare us?" I ask Loras.


"I'll spare you. That is what you want isn't it. If you aren't in love with him. You want me to save your life. Right?" Loras asks me, "I can't lie. I still love you, Osman. I still want us to be together. You just have to prove to me in front of him who you belong to. That's all I'm asking."


"And you'll kill the sultan and take me out of this Harem?" I ask.

"Yes. You'll be by my side always. You'll never need for anything. I'm offering you everything you could ever dream of," Loras states.

Loras kisses me again.

I turn over to Constantine. I was a boy in a Harem. Most boys in the Harem would live and die for the gifts of their suitors. I was being offered the ultimate gift right now by someone who was going to be the next sultan. I was being offered greatness.

"What will happen to Constantine?" I ask.

"Why do you care?" Loras asks me.

He's getting suspicious. I can tell. I look back over at Constantine. Tears are rolling down his eyes. He was in love with me. I can tell. We were boys in the Harem. We had used our bodies to get us what we wanted this entire time. What was one more time? Why was he so emotional unless it was complete love.


"Spare him," I state.

"Fine. If that's what you want, I'll keep him alive. I'll throw him in a prison and he'll never see the light of day. But he will be alive. Is that what you want?"


"Yes," I reply.

This was the best that a slave could bargain for. The fact that I was able to seduce Loras even into this showed that I had come a long way. I turn back to Constantine expecting him to have a sense of relief. That isn't the case though. Constantine's eyes are bloodshot red and he is gritting his teeth in defiance. Right now I can see all the royalty around him. This isn't the face of a slave by any means.

"No," Constantine argues, "I'd rather die than have another man touch you again."


The words come out so quick and Loras laughs at them.

"Turn around," he tells me.

I start to turn around at that moment. I lower my pants. I bend over. I fall on all floors. I watch as Loras positions himself behind me. He makes sure that I face Constantine as he spits on his dick. I feel a slight push on my backside.

Then I see Constantine's face.

And I push away.

"I can't..."


"You refuse me?" Loras asks.

"Yes. Even if it means death. I just can't."


"You don't have an option," Loras states, "You're mine. Mine forever."


Loras attempts at that moment to manhandle me. He pushes me to the ground so that my chest falls flat on the grass. I struggle. I can hear Constantine screaming in the background! Loras restrains my wrists at that moment. I hit him square in the jaw with my elbow causing him to lose his balance.

Just at that moment I hear someone scream.

"What's going on here!"



I turn at that moment to see Prince Daai.


"He tried to rape me!" I scream at Prince Daai, "The Vizier tried to rape me. I told him that I was yours Prince Daai. I told him I was in love with you and I would never have anyone else touch me."


"What? You little liar!" Loras states.

It's too late though. Prince Daai's men have come out with him.

I turn to Loras. We are close enough that no one else can hear what I am saying to him.

"You can chase after me right now or you can defend your throne," I whisper to Loras, "It's up to you. Exactly what do you want more?"


The ultimatum is loud and clear. He looks at me. I back up towards where Constantine is. He looks at Prince Daai. He looks back at me again.

Then he makes his choice.

"Attack the Prince..." he orders his men.

His men release Constantine! I don't waste any time. Within a matter of seconds, I grab Constantine by his arm and start running out of the yard.

"Come on!"


I turn back one last time as we make our way out the secret courtyard. I see the men fighting. I see they are too obsessed with power and respect to even care about two slaves disappearing into the darkness.

It becomes very clear when none of the men even look our way as we make our way to the hidden passage.

We are leaving the Harem.


~

"Stay here."


It's night time. The streets of Topkapi palace don't have many guards but it is still hard to transverse from one area to another area without standing out too much. As boys of the Harem we barely have clothes on. Luckily Constantine is able to find some dried clothes being hung out in one of the many buildings in the palace. He steals the clothes. They don't fit too well but it's good enough to disguise ourselves so that we don't stand out.

"You can't leave me," I tell Constantine."


"I'll be right back. I need to get us a way out of here," Constantine explains.

He leaves. I watch at that moment as several guards walk out of the main gates. I press myself to the shadows at that moment. My heart is racing. The fear that I may be caught became so real at that moment. It becomes beyond real.

I pray that Constantine hurries back.

I find myself clinging to the walls hoping they don't see me.

The men walk past. Slowly they are chatting. I hear the conversation pretty clearly.

"Most everyone is at the male Harem," one of the guards says to the other, "They say that it is really a big thing tonight."


"I wonder what those boys have that the female Harem doesn't."


"Have you ever been with a boy?"


"No."


"Then you need to experience it first hand."


There is a little bit of laughter between the two guards. I hold my breath as they pass right in front of me. At first they seem like they are too busy laughing to really care about a boy pressing up against the wall. However, when the pass me one of them stops...almost suddenly. It's almost like he's being beckoned or something like that.

He turns towards me. His eyes connect with mine.

"You're handsome," the soldier says to me.

"He is. Like one of the Harem boys," the other soldier replies.

"Many thanks," I reply.

"What are you doing outside of the gate of the palace?" the soldier asks me.

"I was looking to trade."


"At this time of night?"



They pause. Both men take steps towards me. Both seem very suspicious. I see how they stares at me. Their eyes are basically squinting at me in a way that lets me know they aren't believing a word that is coming out of my mouth. I'm panicking!

I wasn't going to escape here!


I wasn't going to be able to get home!


My heart races.

All of a sudden I hear a chariot.

"Excuse me kind soldiers," a man says, "That boy is with me."

The back of the carriage has trading goods of all types with a dust cover concealing the majority of it. I've never seen this man before. He is a stranger. He doesn't even seem a little bit familiar. He looks at me as though he knows me though. The soldiers give him a nod at that moment. I think one of them says something like "Carry on" while the other one winks at me and gives me a flirtatious smile. I stand for a minute and wait until the man helps me into the carriage.

He places me into the back and we start riding away.

I look at the man but he doesn't say anything.

That's when I feel an arm pull me from underneath the dust cover. I turn to see Constantine.


"I paid him off," Constantine tells me.

My heart is racing. I turn back at that moment to Topkapi palace. I can't believe we are leaving.

"This is it," I tell him.

"This is it..." he responds.

A year has passed. The city by the sea is everything that I imagined it would be. It's not safe for Constantine to resume his previous station. The city is still under the law of the Ottomans. Still Constantine has enough friends to hide us in a little cottage at the top of the hill that overlooks the ocean. The beautiful breeze sweeps in every day, waking us up.

Today is one of those days. A beautiful day.

"Every day I'm thankful for you," I tell him.

Constantine tells me that every day as well. I turn over to him and kiss him hard on his lips. We are sleeping in a bed. We are free men. Our lives have changed dramatically. We do what we want. We do it when we want to.

We make love well into the day and throughout the night. Just with each other. We've created a paradise away from everyone and everything.

"You spoil me. You know that."


"I can spoil you even more," Constantine states.

He pulls me down to the bed as I try to get up. His dick is hard. He presses it between his legs. I think the fact that we both lived in a Harem for so long has created a sex drive that most people didn't have. I counted ten times in one day that we had sex as the record. Yesterday we had almost beat that record. I wonder if he is trying to definitely beat it today. I have to admit I'm still as turned on by Constantine as the first day I met him.

He's just the perfect man.

"I should head to work," I state.

I'm a farmer now. It's not the most lavish job I've ever had in my life but it's a living. I go to work. I come home. Constantine works as a fisherman. He's good with his net and has a little boat that he uses to go out into the sea. He sells his fish to the local market.


It's a humble living but I've never been so happy in my life. As he pulls me down I feel like I want to have sex with him right now and show him just how much he means to me. I don't though. I just kiss him on the lips.

"You're going to make me late."


"When you come home I'm going to make love to you all day," he warns me.

"Is that a threat?"


"You know me too well," he responds.

He slaps me on my butt as I walk away and get ready for the day. The perfection in his voice makes everything sound so goddamn perfect. I've never been happier than with Constantine.

I head to the farm. The warm sun bears down on my head. My hands were once soft but they've gotten hard with farm work. My skin was once smooth but it has grown coarse. I had grown a beard that I never had before. I wanted to shave it off but Constantine liked it. He said that it gave me character.

"How's your day Osman?" one of the other farmer's asks.

"Perfect."


Every day was perfect now.

"Did you hear?"


"Hear about what?"


"Sometimes I think you and your friend never leave the house. You never know what's going on," the farmer states.

I'm sure many of the locals know that Constantine is my lover. They don't seem to get in our business though. They leave us alone. It's a kind town. Everyone is happy. There is no deception or manipulation. There is no plotting and backstabbing like in the Harem. No one here had it out for you. No one here had an agenda.

"I don't care much about what's going on in the outside world," I state.

"Well the sultan is dead."


Years ago I had heard that Lora's plan was a failure. He had died at the hands of Prince Daai in that courtyard. I was grateful. What if I had been involved in that plan and not escaped that night. I would have been dead along with all the conspirators against the sultan. I had managed to escape though. I had managed to live a happy life.

As for Daai. He had survived. He had saved his father. I was so sure then that the sultan was immortal. I was so sure that nothing would ever be able to stop him.

"How...how did he die?"


"A boy in the Harem killed him. Could you imagine?"


My mouth drops.

I wonder if this was some sort of new assassin in the Harem.

"Do you know who?"

The man shakes his head, "No names. Topkapi palace is a long way away. All I know is that Daai is now the sultan. And for some reason rumor has it that his first act was to travel to these parts."


"To these parts?" I ask.

"Seems like he's looking for someone. And now that he's sultan...he definitely will move heaven and earth to get it."


My mouth drops open at that moment.

I take off.

"OSMAN!"


I ignore the other farmer. I take off up the hill toward the cottage. I was sure that Constantine would be leaving soon to go fish for the day once the sun drops from the sky a little bit. That was when he felt was the best catch. When I got to the top of the hill I am distracted. As I look over the hill I see boats.

Ottoman boats.

They gather as far as the eyes can see.

My heart sinks!


I keep running. I keep running faster and faster and faster. By the time I get to the top of the hill though I know that there is no more running. There is no more hiding. I see the eunuchs. The men whose bodies are as dark as ash. They stand there. They look at me with this look that lets me know that they see me for exactly who I am.

Constantine is already in chains.

He looks at me with this weak look.

The Ottomans have found us.

We remain quiet in the ride back to the Topkapi palace. The wagon is slow. We are in chains with a bunch of other boys. Boys that look just like me. Boys that have an uncanny image to me. I know why. Daai is like his father. He has the same madness. Daai is searching for boys that look just like me.

"Where are we going?" one of the boys asks, "Does anyone know where they are taking us?"


"The worst place in the world," Constantine offers.

Now that we have lived almost a year together I know that Constantine really means it this time. He looks over at me. A slight finger manages to get through the chains and touch me. It's only for a minute but it is a reminder of all the times that we had together.

Daai will kill him. On sight. I was sure of it.

I was so aware. I think that Constantine was as well.

We get to Topkapi palace.

"I love you," I tell Constantine.

"I love you too."


There is a silence at that moment. I remembered when I had first come to this place. I remembered when I first came to the Harem. A feeling that all this seemed so familiar came over me like a tidal wave. I look at Constantine's face as we are being marched across the bridge. He gives me a look. I give him a look.

We know what this all means. Constantine would be killed. If he wasn't he would have to sit there and bear another man claiming me in whatever way that Prince Daai had ready for us. Daai was going to claim us in a way that I wouldn't understand.

"Remember my shell," Constantine says, "Remember what it represents."



I nod, "I'll find it."

"QUIET!" one of the eunuchs screams before I get the chance to say anything else.

Within that moment I realize that Constantine has truly tasted freedom. And he looks over the bridge. It was the same bridge that his lover jumped over when I had first arrived in the Harem.

Constantine stares at that bridge and I have an understanding that I didn't understand a while ago. I understood that there was only one true way out of the Harem. Escaping was only a taste for a short period of time. Once you've tasted freedom, a slave can never be truly satisfied with bars. Now he was going to free himself.

He breaks past the eunuchs.

Constantine breaks past the chains. The eunuchs hustle to get him back in restraints but there is no restraining him. He was a free man. No one would hold him back again. No one would tell him what to do and what to tolerate.

Not again.

Constantine takes a long look at his freedom.

He jumps.

And he escapes the Harem...forever.

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