Chapter 7

It's been a week since Alexios threatened me. It's hard having to watch your back. Everything I do. Everywhere I go. Everything I eat I have to watch it carefully. It's clear that Alexios has it out for me. So I end up going to the only person that I know can help me in this situation.

I end up going to Constantine.

A few knocks on his private room and Constantine isn't the person that opens the door. It's Justinian.

"Is Constantine here?"

"He's busy."

The way Justinian says it seems like he has an attitude. I'm immediately annoyed with him. I push his skinny ass out of the way and storm into Constantine's room.

"Move."

I don't like the man. It's not the fact that he is hanging around with Constantine now or that he is clearly completely in love with Constantine. I hate the way he is in love with Constantine. Constantine has an ego and boys like Justinian have fed that ego throughout the years. Justinian is so submissive. He walks around in Constantine's shadow making Constantine think he is some sort of god. When I walk in Constantine's room I notice that his feet are up. It's clear the boy Justinian is giving him a foot massage. This was exactly why I find Justinian annoying.

"I said he was busy," Justinian says.

I ignore Justinian. Constantine is completely naked save a small piece of cloth covering his private parts. His sleeping area is full of satin pillows. His window is open and a trail of lights fall out from between the bars of the Harem. Rose petals flicker outside of his window. I never get past the bars. No matter how beautiful the Harem is I know the truth. It's a prison. Just a very beautiful prison that smells good. It smells like incense in his room constantly even though I can never tell where one is burning. He seems amused when he sees me. A knowing smile surfaces on his face.

"I want to talk to you, alone," I tell Constantine.

"I'm busy," Constantine states.

I'm annoyed.

"I tried to tell him," Justinian says.

The annoyance continues. Justinian even speaking makes me even more annoyed. I want to pull his blond locks clean out of his head and show Constantine how basic he was underneath it all. Justinian seems to sit on this blond locks, depending on them to cover up the fact that he had no real personality.

"It's alright," Constantine replies, changing his mind for some reason, "Justinian give us a minute please."

Justinian leaves. He's so obedient that it makes me sick.

I walk over to Constantine. I stand up in front of him. I cross my arms.

"You were right about Polo," I state.

"Say that one more time, I didn't think I heard you clearly."

Constantine is enjoying his moment of levity. His smirk gets louder. He leans back in the bed, crunching up his hard abs and staring at me with slanted eyes. The light between the bars causes stripes on his smooth skin.

"You were right about Polo," I respond a little louder trying to remain humble, "Polo's big mouth has made me prime target for Alexios. He's currently making my life a living hell. I feel like he may be trying to kill me."

"I'm pretty sure he's trying to kill you," Constantine corrects me.

He's enjoying this but I can't even find the path to argue with him.

"I can't even sleep at night," I state.

Constantine grunts, "That is terrible."

"That's all you're going to say?"

"What else do you want me to say?"

"I want you to help me," I state, "You're the only person that Alexios respects around here."

Constantine nods. The smile he has goes away.

"I'll help you. Under a few conditions."

It was just like Constantine. He wouldn't just help me to help me. He would help me to get something out of it. I take a look in his eyes and I can tell that he has something hidden beneath them. This wasn't going to be easy.

"What are they?" I ask Constantine.

"You come sleep in here and I fuck you every night..."

He licks his lips. Normally I would enjoy it but I see an area in the room where there are clothes familiar to Justinian. Is he done with him? Is he already bored with the foreigner.

"Was that supposed to be romantic?"

"You sleeping here will keep you safe. Me fucking you will help me practice."

I look at Constantine in his eyes. Practice. Right. I'm sure that was what this was about.

"Fine."

"That's not it. Also you don't talk to Basil or Polo. Ever."

I had a feeling he would say this. I understood Polo. Polo couldn't help causing trouble whether he wanted to or not. However Constantine telling me to stay away from Basil was hard. For some reason Constantine is bothered by Basil. I'm not sure why. I realize he doesn't mention Manuel in this. Maybe it's because Basil has that sex appeal and confidence that Manuel doesn't have. I have a strong feeling Basil intimidates him. For some reason Constantine doesn't want me around him.

I have no choice though. I wasn't here for friends or even for a lover.

"You think Basil and I have something going on don't you?"

"I'm sure you do. He's a distraction."

"Manuel likes me too. You never considered him a distraction."

"I'm doing this for Manuel."

I laugh at that moment, "Constantine be honest with yourself. This has nothing to do with Manuel."

"Sure it does. Manuel is a friend of mine. I don't want him getting jealous at the fact that you and Basil are getting close."

Constantine is so spoiled and stubborn. It is so clear it has nothing to do with Manuel but he would never admit it. I guess that makes two of us. I will never admit to the fact that I hate seeing him in here with Justinian. I guess we just both have to agree to pretend like we aren't bothered.

"Fine," I state, "I'll stay away from Basil and Polo. What else?"

He seems surprised that I agree with him.

"The last thing is simple."

"What is it?"

"You tell me who you are. Who you really are and what you are really doing here?"

"I was taken."

Constantine looks at me hard, "I know better. I saw how you had sex with Basil. This innocent game you're playing may work on the others but it doesn't work on me. It takes years for boys in the Harem to get so comfortable with their bodies."

He stares at me hard and suspicious. He would know if I lie to him. I always knew Constantine was smart and maybe that was the problem. He was uncomfortably smart. He was onto me and that pissed me off.

"No."

"No?" Constantine asks.

He's so pissed that he stands up. The fabric between his legs falls to the floor. He is standing in front of me in all his manhood. His long dick is like a python slithering between the forest trees as he takes his powerful steps towards me. I can tell Constantine is angry just by the look on his face.

"No," I answer.

"You really going to play that game?" Constantine asks.

"It's not a game."

He had no idea how serious this was.

"You're doing this on purpose. You're trying to make me crazy."

"Not everything is about you. I came here because I need your help."

"I gave you my stipulations. Tell me why you're here."

I don't have time for this. I start walking away. Constantine attempts to grab me. It doesn't turn out too well for him. I twist his wrist as hard as I can. I push him up against the wall. This seems to piss him off even more but he doesn't try to come out of my pin. He just stares at me as though still trying to figure me out.

"If you leave this room, don't ask for my help again," Constantine states, "I've given you more chances than I've given anyone else."

I look at Constantine hard. For someone who doesn't care about me he sure seems to get emotionally involved here. It's clear though that he is hard headed. The problem about him being so stubborn is that I am stubborn too. I need his help and it's clear he wants to help me, but his pride is getting in the way. Even right now I can see the pride written all over his face. He's used to boys like Justinian and maybe his old lover who killed himself. Boys who had weaker mentality and couldn't take the pressure when it came down to it. He wasn't used to someone who was strong.

I turn to leave. I want to stay. He wants me to stay. He doesn't stop me though.

Constantine may have his pride but I have it as well.

~

The argument with Constantine effects me more than I like to think. I head out into the front room where most of the boys are. I sit next to Polo who offers me a smile. I know I need to stay away from him but with Constantine not helping me the least I can do is wean myself out of his friendship slowly.

The eunuchs have brought out some sort of porridge for us to eat and most of the boys are already eating. I grab the bowl that was sitting next to Polo. This is where I usually sit so at first I don't think about it but then I realize some heavy presence over my shoulder.

It's Alexios. He's staring at me, waiting and watching to see if I eat the porridge.

I'm starving but I drop it.

"What's wrong?" Polo asks.

I push the porridge away. Alexios staring at me is making me think he did something to it.

"Nothing. Lost my appetite," I state.

"You sure. You haven't been really eating anything recently," Polo responds.

"I'm fine," I state and change the subject as quickly as possible, "What's been happening with our visitors? No one's come to the Harem lately."

Polo shrugs. I don't think he knows what's going on. It's been days. It's unusual. Luckily Manuel overhears me ask Polo the question and he does seem to know.

"It's the brothers. The internal conflict is getting worse. Blood is being spilled out in the streets of Constantinople," Manuel explains.

Constantinople was the capital of this empire. I knew only because I heard Loras mention it several times when I stayed with him.

"I didn't mean to provoke the situation."

"It's not you," a voice says.

I turn to see Basil come sit with us. Well not actually us. He comes and sits right next to me specifically. He leaves no space between us. The other boys at the table notice it. A few whispers seem to get back to Alexios.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"The issues between the princes have been going on for a while. They are just using you as an excuse, but as the sultan gets old things like this tend to happen. It's a struggle for power."

I shake my head. I remember how sensitive the crowned Prince Dhaakir was to Daai. I could only imagine. If I had a brother like Daai, I would be somewhat sensitive as well. Daai was amazing. He was the best looking brother. He was the strongest looking brother. His mere presence seems to intimidate.

"Who do you think is going to come out on top?" I ask.

"Dhaakir, of course," someone interrupts.

I turn to see Alexios. He approached us. I know why. He must see how close Basil is sitting to me. It's getting underneath his skin.

The idea of Dhaakir winning scares me. He wanted me dead. I'm not sure if he really wanted it or if he was just saying that for some sort of power struggle against his younger brother. Either way these were dangerous politics and I knew that my life was depending on it. Alexios seemed to know that too. Maybe that is why he is standing over us at this moment...gloating.

"Whatever happens needs to happen fast. People are scared to visit the Harem," Mendeecees states shaking his head, "No one's visiting us."

"No visits means no gifts," Manuel adds in.

"I'm tired of eating porridge," Mendeecees groans.

He's not the only one. A couple of the boys are clearly getting a little irritated, especially the popular boys. They miss their foreign chocolates. They were used to their gifts and the lavish food the nobles who visited the Harem brought with them. This porridge was tasteless and bland.

"I don't mind it," Polo replies, "Hush, you sure you don't want yours?"

Polo reaches for the bowl but I slap it clean out of his hand until it spills on the floor. The dish falls hard on the floor.

"No," I tell him.

"What the hell was that for?" he asks.

I look over at Alexios. Alexios walks over to the bowl that I wasted. He picks it up. Takes a finger and licks it.

"It's a shame to waste good food," Alexios tells me.

With that Alexios smiles wider and walks away. He's toying with me. I can tell that he's toying with me and it's getting worse and worse. I wouldn't be able to eat again until the next day.

~

It's Manuel's idea to entertain ourselves since we aren't getting any visitors. Without hearing gossip from the men who got drunk and came into the Harem a lot of boys were assuming the worse. It was like Manuel to try to cheer everyone up and take our minds off of whatever was having between the clash of the princes.

His event is oil wrestling.

I'm standing there watching Jelani wrestle one of the newer boys. There is something sexy about men getting completely naked, douse one another with olive oil and show off their masculinity as they wrestle. It's sexy as hell as the two men show off their muscles and pin each other down to the cheering crowd of other boys.

"You enjoying it, I see..." a voice says.

I turn at that moment to see Basil. He sneaks up behind me. He notices something that I haven't noticed myself. My penis is erect watching the boys. It's showing through the calfskin that I'm wearing. Seeing Basil undress in front of me doesn't help either. He begins to rub oil all over him.

"Yes."

"Rub my back."

I oil his back. I rub oil on his tight ass and the bottom of his legs. As I do it I can't help but to press up against him. He notices. He pushes me up against his ass so my dick is just at the cusp of the bottom of his legs. He leads it up until it is in his asshole. I exhale. He pushes it into his asshole. It's so tight that it doesn't get through.

I'm so turned on that my dick precums into his asscheeks. The precum drips out from his taint. I get red in the face.

"This is embarrassing."

"Don't worry. A lot of people are getting turned on. Look around," Basil states.

Sure enough people are getting turned on. Mostly everyone is hard watching Jelani take on the other boys. Some boys have resorted to pulling their penises out and slowly pleasing themselves. Others have even gone further. I watch in disbelief as this boy drops to his knees and begins to suck Polo as Polo enjoys the match. Polo slowly fucks the boys face all while cheering Jelani on chanting "Big Nose Jelani" over and over again like Alexios is doing.

Alexios had started the chant but before long he can tell that Basil is next to me. He stops chanting. He stops participating all together and turns his full attention to me.

"We have an audience," I sigh.

"You should be used to it," Basil responds, "Especially after we performed together last time. You had to know Alexios would be jealous."

He whispers it to me but for some reason I just know Alexios can tell what we are talking about. His face sours up even more. Jealous wasn't the word. Alexios was completely irate. I can just see it on his face.

"We should probably stay away from each other," I tell Basil, "And stop provoking Alexios."

"That's not what I want. I don't want to stay away from you," Basil tells me before smiling, "Come oil wrestle with me."

I turn to him. Basil is handsome. He's real handsome. I always thought that. He domes over me but looks down in a way that makes me think he isn't belittling me. He licks his lips as he talks. He is trouble in the best sort of way. Still I'm not here for Basil or Alexios for that matter. I was here for something much bigger. I just needed to survive.

"Basil you are attractive---exceedingly attractive, but I think we should keep our distance."

Basil looks disappointed. It's hard as hell turning down someone I was so attracted to but I had to do it. He nods without saying a word and takes a few steps away from me. Luckily this seems to break Alexios' venomous stare at least for the moment.

"Next match: Constantine and Justinian."

My heart gets caught up in my throat when Manuel announces the next match. Justinian walks out first. His golden hair is slathered with olive oil and clings to his tight body. A few people cheer on Constantine as he comes out.

The two wrestle. Constantine let's Justinian grab his muscles. He lets Justinian playfully try to pin him down. The crowd is into it. Even Alexios is cheering at this point. It's hot. I have to admit it. Seeing how Justinian is stressing so hard to try to overpower Constantine makes things really interesting. Constantine's large muscles are gleaming. He was such a man and people were getting so turned on by him. This included Justinian whose dick remains hard the entire wrestling match.

Justinian tries to throw himself at Constantine, but slips. Constantine goes over him and pins him to the ground. Then Constantine looks at me.

Constantine does something that shocks me. He puts Justinian into a submissive pin and starts kissing him!

"Fuck that is so sexy," I hear Basil say.

Other people have similar reactions. My reaction is different though. I didn't think about how sexy Constantine's kiss to Justinian is. I think about the fact that right after the kiss he turns to me to see what my reaction is. I feel like an idiot because I can't help it. I'm jealous and it's written all over my face. My face wrinkles up almost as though I tasted something horrible. Constantine loves this. He smirks even harder and goes into kiss Justinian again.

Constantine's kiss kicks off a series of events that is leading everyone coupling up and having some sort of wild orgy among us. The oil is causing people too literally just slide right into one another. I look over to my side and see Alexios attempting to pull Basil towards him. Basil doesn't seem that interested though.

Constantine is staring at me. He leans back and Justinian is sucking him off. His smirk gets wider.

I need someone. Anyone.

I look for Manuel but I notice that he is up against is column. Jelani is eating out his ass as he moans slowly.

I have no choice.

I go for Basil. I grab him pulling him away from Alexios. I rip my clothes off until I'm naked. Basil has enough oil to lather up the both of us.

"I thought you didn't want to..." he starts.

"I change my mind."

I know I'm pissing off Alexios right now but I could care less. I start kissing Basil. I know the whole time though this isn't really about Basil. This is about Constantine. This pride that we have between one another where we can't really get past.

I turn to Constantine. He's staring at me. I look to see if he reacts to me kissing Constantine. He doesn't. Not in the way I want him to. Instead of looking upset, he just seems to be going further with Justinian. His oil soaked fingers begin to finger Justinian as Justinian lays on his back. His legs are lifted up to the sky. His pink butt hole is being thrust repeatedly by Constantine. Constantine does one finger, then another. Then he does three. Justinian is so fucking tight that he's squirming in pain but allowing Constantine to do it.

I can hear him screaming out among the moans of other boys.

"I want you to fuck me Constantine. Please. Give it to me now. I need you so bad Constantine! I want you inside of me now!"

He's literally begging Constantine. It's so pathetic.

"You alright?" Basil asks me.

I just realize that I've been so distracted from Basil. Immediately I turn to him and start kissing him again. The kisses are wet, sloppy. I wrap my legs around him and Basil grinds his dick up against my abdomen so hard that his precum is beginning to drip into my navel. It's so much precum that I think he has had a full blown orgasm.

"I want you so bad!" I scream out as hard as I can.

Basil spits on his dick at that moment, "We can recreate that moment we had together."

I look over at Constantine. He had finally stopped doing what he was doing with Justinian and is staring over at me. Justinian is trying his best to keep his attention but Constantine is staring at me. For a moment I actually feel like I may have gotten through. Maybe he cares. I can't be completely sure but I'm hoping at least.

Instead of stopping though his upper lip curls in a defiant way. He manhandles Justinian positioning him on hands and knees/ Then he starts to fuck Justinian right there, pounding him all the while facing me as he does it.

He's trying to make me jealous!

"Fuck me Basil. Now..." I order him.

"Not here," Basil states.

"What?" I ask.

No, I wanted Constantine to see it. I wanted Constantine to get jealous. I look at Basil and for the first time though I can tell that he doesn't seem to care about playing games. I actually look at Basil in a different light at that moment and it's kind of strange.

"I want you for myself. I want to make love to you. In private," he tells me, "I have too much respect for you. This isn't about sex for me. Not any longer."

I would have killed to hear Constantine say those words to me.

With that Basil helps me up. I'm shocked in a way. There was something hot about the harem orgies but Basil could care less about having sex in front of all of these people. He wanted to do it in private. I'm a little shocked.

Basil starts to walk me out but all of a sudden he's stopped. Someone pushes him hard against the chest. It sends both Basil and I sprawling backward.

I notice all of a sudden that it's Constantine!

He looks pissed. The look I wanted this entire time is finally on his face.

"Where the hell are you going with him?" Constantine asks him.

"What's your problem?" Basil asks.

"You aren't taking him."

I've never seen Constantine so upset. I've never seen him look so desperate before. Maybe he knew something else was about to happen between Basil and I. Maybe he could sense it. Maybe he knew Basil taking me out of this room would be the beginning of the end of all these games. For some reason whatever was on Constantine's mind right now had his eyes blood shot red and his heart beating heavy.

"Constantine, what's wrong?" Justinian asks.

"He's not taking him out of here," Constantine states.

I roll my eyes, "Is this about Manuel again? Because Manuel is clearly fine..."

I look over and see that others have stopped having sex including Manuel who was actually enjoying himself. I clearly wasn't on Manuel's mine when he was getting his ass eaten. Constantine's lame ass excuse about him protecting Manuel wasn't going to fly anymore and I think he knew that. I can see it on his face that he knew he couldn't hide behind that any longer.

"This is getting interesting," Alexios states laughing.

He must be enjoying this. For some reason Basil isn't going to let this go. Basil grabs my hand almost immediately and starts leading me out again.

"Come on."

"I said you weren't going anywhere with him," Constantine says.

"Why is that any of your business?" I ask.

I'm tired of the games. I'm tired of us going back and forth. I needed to know. Why was this any of his business.

"You really want me to say it?" Constantine asks, "Because I will."

"Say what?" I ask.

My heart is beating. I'm thinking at this moment Constantine is finally going to admit to how he feels about me. He's finally going to admit to the fact that he can't allow Basil to take me away because he is so in love with me.

I'm completely wrong.

"Basil doesn't care for you," Constantine states, "Alexios told me his plan."

Basil turns to Alexios.

"You did what?"

"You were using me. You are making me look like a fool," Alexios states.

Basil looks at him and looks even more pissed. I'm so confused. How was Basil using Alexios.

It's Constantine who tries to grab me. Basil struggles back. Constantine strikes him! Basil hits the floor hard. The room gets silent save Alexios laughing like a drunk fool at this.

"What the hell are you doing Constantine?" I ask.

Constantine shakes his head, "I need to let you know the real reason I wanted you to stay away from Basil. He is a spy from Prince Dhaamir."

Prince Dhaamir? He was the middle prince. He was the neutral prince who had almost invisible next to the overpowering personalities of his two older brothers.

I look over at Basil.

"He's lying," Basil states.

I look back at Constantine. Constantine is telling the truth. He wouldn't lie about this. I know he wouldn't.

Alexios laughs at Basil, "No he isn't. You gave me the laxatives. Admit it Basil."

Basil face turns red. The revelation is shocking. Alexios has turned on Basil. I'm not sure what was the straw that broke the camel's back but I'm shocked.

Constantine stares right at me as he gives me the truth that he knows, "Prince Dhaamir wants to use you to start to start a civil war between his two brothers. That way they both destroy one another and he will be the heir to the throne."

My performance with Basil that had started all of this. I couldn't have done it without Basil. Was this his plan all along? He wanted me to do well. I had to talk to Loras. Had Loras been ordered to intervene in my death by Prince Dhaamir?

"Why did you want me alone?" I ask Basil.

Basil swallows.

Constantine answers for him, "Now that the war is started Prince Dhaamir needed a way to turn it to the next level. He needed a way to anger Prince Daai so that he can destroy Prince Dhaakir. There is only one thing that would make Prince Daai feel so disrespected that he'd launch a full attack."

"What one thing would have done that?" I ask.

Constantine points at Basil, "Your death. It would have angered Daai. Basil wants to get you alone and kill you."

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