Masu was now on the road for a long time. It seemed that the witch's curse weighed upon him. In fact the handsome warrior had sex often enough, but just for once; for various reasons he could never stay for more than one night in the same house. Also he had finished all the gold and the coins...
One time he had tried to defy fate and stay for two nights under the same roof, but the house burnt down. So Masu decided not to challenge again the curse that hung on him.
Nevertheless the handsome young man did not lose his cheerfulness or his will to live. "Well," he said to himself, "I will tour the world, visit lands unknown to me, get the best out of this life...", waiting for the blessings the magician had bestowed upon him to show their effectiveness.
For several days he had entered the territory of Makhi-Kimigasu', the Thousand Islands. Being more than a peninsula, the territory extended offshore fragmenting into a myriad of small islands, islets and rocks that formed a long narrow rectangle, corresponding to the middle finger of the 'hand' of the Kaoka. The many islands were connected by bridges, fords, ferry boats or barges, that were traveling back and forth in an incessant traffic.
Masu had gone through several villages, going to the capital Kimigasu' Wakhi, that was said to rise directly out of the water. When he reached the town, he saw that it was a great and sprawling city that had no roads or streets, but only canals and ditches, where one could only travel by boat. The castle itself was a double building, connected by a long covered bridge that at its center rested on a surfacing rock. Every building seemed to rise directly out of the water; the ground floors were all made of stone and the upper floors were made of wood, except the double castle of the Shiti, Zakhi-Mihi, and the residences of the most important Lords, that were entirely built of stone.
All the time small boats were roaming the channels, ferrying and transporting people and goods; there was no need to pay, because it was a service offered by the Shiti to citizens and visitors. A special group of slaves performed this task, being kept in proportional shares by the five upper classes: Merchants, Craftsmen, Producers, Warriors and Lords.
In all in the capital gave him the impression of a vibrant and active city, in which life flowed seemingly cheerful and carefree. To the north-west the city opened in a wide port where beautiful ships were at anchor, arriving or departing without cease, mostly carrying freight but also travelers. The port was formed by a ring of little islands completely covered by buildings; what in other cities would have made squares, here were large courtyards, connected by corridors or landings, or in the case of two adjacent islands, bridges of stone or wood.
To access the landings there was always a series of stone steps, constructed to compensate for high and low tide; they were quite slippery, as they were under water for several hours each day. For this reason the city's inhabitants wore under their feet or shoes special leather soles made of red dragon skin. Their hard scales guaranteed a good grip and avoided making slips on the dangerous algae that covered the steps.
The first day Masu had obtained a couple of those special soles when, after a dramatic slide, he had fallen into the water. When he had struggled back to dry land, helped by an army of gentle inhabitants with vaguely amused expressions, a young man who energetically pulled him up, said to him:
"You have to get so'to'race soles immediately, stranger!"
"What? What are they?" Masu asked, back ashore and dripping water.
"The soles of leather made of red dragon skin... but before you have to dry yourself. Where are you staying?"
"I just got here, I have no accommodation."
"You're a warrior, aren't you? Where are you from?"
"From far away. My land was Sanisu'."
"Was? Why do you say it was, and not it is?"
"Because my Shiti decreed my exile," Masu said, still dripping water. He briefly told why he was expelled from his land.
"Well, you had guts to put yourself against your Shiti, just to save a little slave. Was he by chance... your bed boy?"
"Huh? How? Oh, no, no, he wasn't, I did not even know him..."
"I'm sorry that I asked but, at least here, it is well known that warriors love to have sex with males, so I thought..."
"In my land it is also like that, and I am like that too..." Masu said, watching the young man and thinking that, after all, he would like to make love with him.
The young man, as if he had read his mind, promptly said: "I'm like that too, although I'm not a warrior but a craftsman... and if you feel like it... you may come to my house to take off your wet clothes and have some rest while you wait for them to dry..."
"Do you live alone?" Masu promptly asked, interested.
"Yes, I just opened my shop and in the back there is my room. I only have to tell my apprentice to take care of the customers for a while... then I can devote myself to you, if you like."
"You are very kind, I gladly accept your hospitality, at least for a few hours. Where can I get the soles made of red dragon skin?"
"I'll let you have a couple. Two shops away there is a friend of mine who makes them."
"Do they cost a lot? I do not have any more money with me..."
"Do not worry, maybe I can provide you with a pair of used soles for free. So you can use them as long as you stay here in my land, and after that you can throw them away."
Masu followed the young man. Along the way he said his name was Shini Tare. From time to time they looked at each other and Masu already felt excited at the thought that he would soon get to 'know' him even more intimately.
Tare went into his shop and said something to his apprentice, who gave a knowing look at Masu, then led the handsome warrior to the back room. He closed the door and looked at his guest with a warm smile.
"Take off your clothes and hang them to dry on those pegs," he said in a soft tone.
Masu undressed. The young craftsman did not take his eyes off him. When the mighty warrior was naked, he approached Tare.
"It's not fair that I'm naked in front of you and you to stay with these clothes on. Let me take them away."
"Yes," the other said, almost in a whisper.
While Masu stripped him, Tare trembled and began to explore the body of his host with both hands.
"You are beautiful... you are strong," he whispered excitedly.
"You're very good looking," Masu said, admiring the shapes now entirely exposed to his gaze.
"You think so?"
"I want you," the warrior said and pushed him towards the mat that was in a corner of the room.
They laid down and Masu moved on top of the young man, now fully aroused. He rubbed his body against the other and their strong, warm erections met and throbbed against each other.
The young craftsman spread his legs and encircled the waist of the strong warrior. "Fuck me..." he almost begged him.
"With pleasure, but not yet. First..." Masu said to him and embracing him, fell on him and kissed him deeply in the mouth.
Tare replied passionately to the deep kiss, and his strong hands roamed on the back of the beautiful warrior.
"Fuck me..." he implored again.
"Sure thing..." Masu said, but he still continued to rub against him, teasing him with his fingers, making him quiver even more intensely beneath him.
"What is the hurry... before my clothes dry out, we have all the time, right?" Masu said to him in a slightly mischievous tone.
"Put it inside me and do not come right away... Fuck me for a long time, please..." the craftsman insisted, tossing beneath him to rub his buttocks against his beautiful guest's hard pole.
Masu finally put his knees on the mat with force, seized the young man by the shoulders and firmly pointed the tip of his stake at the throbbing flesh rosebud. The young man spread his buttocks with both hands for easier access. Masu felt the hole beat in greedy expectation, then he began to push.
"Yes..." the young man sighed, giving a warm smile as soon as he felt the tip begin to make its way into him. "Push!" he urged, while moving his pelvis in order to press more effectively against the strong, warm pile of meat.
Masu felt that young Tare was opening up under him, accepting him.
"Yes, so..." the young man murmured with a voice hoarse with delight.
Once passed the first inevitable resistance, Masu plunged into a long, single, continuous pressure, until he was completely immersed into him. When he felt his pubic hair rubbing against his firm and tense buttocks, he stopped for a while and looked into his eyes.
"Go on..." Tare urged him.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes..."
Masu began to retreat slowly, then penetrated him again thoroughly with a vigorous push. He receded slowly and forcefully pounded inside, in a calm and strong rhythm. Their eyes were like magnetized by each other, spying the growing pleasure on the face of the companion.
"You like? Is that what you want?"
"Yes..." the young man replied, making his anus throb strongly, in rhythm with the thrusts of the handsome male that loomed over him.
Masu held him firmly below the shoulders, so that every time he beat inside, the body of the handsome young man did not escape him. Tare stressed every thrust of the beautiful warrior with a low moan of pleasure.
"You like?" Masu asked again with a smile.
"Oh yes, I like. You warriors know how to fuck, you're really good," the young man gurgled with an expression of ecstasy.
"You've had a lot of warriors?"
"Yes, many... but never enough... And you're really good..."
They were silent for a long time while Masu gradually increased both the rhythm and the force of his thrusts, stopping occasionally to deeply kiss the mouth of the young craftsman, to lower a little the level of his excitement and not to reach too quickly the point of no return.
During one of those short stops, Masu asked him: "Do you do it with your apprentice?"
"Sometimes. After we close the shop and before he returns to his home. I like him, but he is not as good or as nice as you are..."
"But is he your boy? Is he your steady lover?"
"No. Even if we do it almost every night."
"He's a nice guy. How old is he?"
"Eighteen. Five years younger than me. Do you like the guy? Do you want to do it with him?"
"Maybe... but does he like to take it?"
"Yes, sometimes he takes it from me, even though he likes it more to be on top. Do you want him?"
"If he is game, why not?"
"Can you do it with him, after you have come inside me?"
"It is enough for me to have a short rest..."
"Then I'll send him here. But later, first I want to enjoy you myself."
Again Masu began to beat inside him. Both were silent, enjoying their intimate and long union. The warrior was thinking that, at least for now, the curse had taken away from him the ability to fall in love, but fortunately not to have sex. If he were to launch a curse, it would have been the opposite: the ability to fall in love, but not have sex... This would certainly be much more burdensome. Fortunately for him, the witch had not thought of that.
Suddenly the young artisan began to hum with increasing intensity. Masu felt the young man's hard member, imprisoned between their bodies, beginning to shoot its broadsides of warm semen. The resulting rapid contractions of his tight anus almost immediately unleashed the orgasm of the strong warrior, who pushed all inside, as he emptied himself into the warm, soft intimacy of the beautiful artisan.
For a while they lay, lazily abandoned to each other, panting slightly while their breathing and their hearts slowly calmed down and their limbs relaxed.
"It was too good..." Tare sighed.
When Masu slipped out of him, the young artisan stood up, took a jar and a cloth and thoroughly cleaned the body of the handsome warrior, then also his own.
"Stay here... I am sending you Juji, my apprentice," he said while clothing himself.
Tare opened the door and went into the shop. After a few minutes a boy entered the room. He carefully closed the door behind him and approached the straw mattress, looking with open admiration at the naked body of the handsome warrior.
"Chi Tare told me you want me here with you... I am Juji Chulo..."
"But... do you feel like doing it?"
"And how! I was not expecting it, but as soon as I saw you, and when Chi Tare told me that was going here with you, I thought I would have liked to be in his shoes."
"Then take off your clothes and come here," Masu said with a smile.
In a jiffy the boy freed himself of his clothes, climbed on the mattress, and while Masu drew him to himself, he bent between the strong legs of the beautiful warrior and began to greedily suck his soft member. He did it with real skill, so that soon it was straight and hard again.
Then he straddled the warrior's muscular body and, as he bent to suck his nipples, he lowered his pelvis, rubbing his small, firm buttocks against a quivering, strong and beautiful pile of meat.
When he felt that the warrior was well excited, the boy sat on his knees, spread his buttocks and went down with his pelvis. Masu held his shaft up with one hand. When he felt that the tip was nestled in the boy's warm flesh, he removed his hand. Juji then dropped suddenly, making penetration complete. When his buttocks were in good contact with the warrior's body, he artfully waved his pelvis, to better accommodate the hot firm column and to better feel its presence.
Masu then took him at the waist, with his large and strong hands. He started a well calibrated up and down movement. Juji took the pace and began to ride his pile of hard meat with evident pleasure. While springing up and down he held himself on the mat with his knees to the sides of Masu and with his hands on the chest of the handsome warrior. With his fingers he teased his nipples. Masu enjoyed the warm attention. The boy was really unbridled: his big mop of hair was swaying up and down, his face was illuminated by a satisfied smile, and his eyes were shining.
The warrior took in one hand the beautiful smooth, hard member of the boy and in the other his hairless testicles, and began to knead them, sometimes gently, sometimes with force.
After a while Juji stopped, murmuring: "No, please, I don't want to come... not yet... The pleasure is too strong..."
Masu nodded, drew him to him and kissed him on the mouth; the boy moaned and made his anus throb. Then he got up again and went back to bouncing his body up and down, resuming the strong and carefree ride.
During another pause Masu asked: "How can you be so skilled? Do you often make love with men?"
"For four years, since Su Rafe'-Daa and his lover Su Koo-Mate' took me..."
"What happened?"
"I was working in my father's tavern... Two warriors, who were on duty at the border, had to spend several days here in the capital, so they rented a room from my father. I was cleaning their room, on all fours, rubbing the floor with a cloth, when the two warriors entered. One came a behind me, knelt down, took my waist and made me feel his erection. I didn't move and let him do it, because I liked what I felt..."
"But had you already done it before?"
"No, never. Nor did I ever think about it... but I liked the feeling. Rafe' asked me if I liked it and I said yes. Then he undressed me and himself, put me on his bed on all fours and began to prepare me, licking and teasing my little hole, first with one finger, then two... I liked it more and more. Koo knelt in front of me, he was wearing nothing and moved his hard pole to my lips and asked me to take it in my mouth and suck..."
"And you liked it..." Masu nodded, imagining the scene.
"Yes, very much. Then Rafe' began to push inside me. At first I felt a little pain, but in spite of this, I wanted it all in, so I tried not to resist. Soon both of them were inside invading me, one in front and the other from behind..."
"Even though it hurt, you wanted it," Masu said.
"And how! It was increasingly less painful and more pleasurable. So every night I would sneak into their room. The two warriors put me between them and fucked me... But then they had to leave. Meanwhile they had told other warriors in the castle about me, so at times they came looking for me, and I never lacked firm male meat to enjoy."
"But Tare told me that you prefer taking over being taken..."
"This is partly true... The first I took was in fact Chi Tare, who had made that a condition to have me as an apprentice. Apparently I passed the test... I took him and he loved it. But sometimes I like to be taken, especially from a handsome and strong male like you..."
Juji started again to ride the beautiful warrior. Masu liked the fresh enthusiasm with which the boy waved above him. After a while the boy, despite Masu not touching his beautiful genitals, reached the most intense pleasure and unloaded with strong splashes, spraying Masu's chest while continuing to bounce on him. The warrior stopped him, made him lay on his back, took his legs on his shoulders, entered him once more and started again to push with a set of bold strokes. In his turn he unloaded in the hot boy's narrow channel, who to his surprise ejaculated again, despite he had just come.
The boy let out a long sigh, pleased. "It was really great!" he murmured. "You liked it also, warrior?"
"Yeah, sure."
"More or less than with Chi Tare?" the boy asked a little flirty.
"Maybe a little more... but do not tell him, he would feel bad. Anyway I liked him too."
The boy laughed, but nodded, then asked: "Do you stay long here?"
"I cant, I have to move on."
"What a pity... Not even a night?"
"Maybe one night, yes, but no more. But I do not have a place to spend the night."
"You can spend it here, can't you? Chi Tare would certainly not say no, and we could do a threesome... Come on, stay if you can, we would be happy, both of us..."
"Well, if you insist, and Tare agrees..." Masu said, anything but unhappy.
"You'll see he will agree. Then it is enough I warn my family that I will stay here tonight..."
"But will your folk not find it strange?"
"No, because they know that sometimes I want to stay here... They know that I like boys."
"And they say nothing? I know that most ordinary people don't understand..."
"If I were the eldest son, possibly... but since I am the youngest, the fifth male, my father does not care much. He knew well why the warriors often came to drink in his tavern, why I went up with them in the room. And he also knows what there is between me and Chi Tare. My father even stopped looking for a wife for me."
"I thought that only among us warriors there was so much freedom," Masu said.
"If I were the eldest son, I should marry, to give grandchildren to my father. It is sometimes an advantage not to be the firstborn," the boy mused. "So can I go and ask Chi Tare if you can stay here, and me too?"
"Why not? I don't mind at all." Masu answered.
So Masu stayed. He dined with the two, guest of Tare. Later all three joined on the craftsman's mattress with mutual intense pleasure, taking turns to be in the middle of the exuberant and hot trio.
The next morning Masu put on his dry clothes while his companions of the night reopened the shop. He said goodbye them and walked away.
He spent another day hanging out in the capital, then, before it was evening, resumed his journey toward the center of the continent.
It was late at night when he stopped at an inn to ask if there was a place to spend the night. Since he had no money with him, he said he would be satisfied to rest just in a corner... The innkeeper replied, sounding cranky, that he didn't earn a living by being charitable with the penniless.
Masu, holding back the instinctive impulse to respond in kind to the innkeeper, was about to leave when one of the patrons stood up and said aloud: "The warrior is my guest, host. How dare you treat him that way? Do you want me to make you lose your inn, as well as the few teeth you have left? "
Surprised, Masu turned to see who had spoken. It was a tall young man with well groomed chestnut hair, held in place by a thin ring of lapis lazuli, green eyes, and a pink smooth skin, as only nobles usually have. Also his dress suggested he was a member of the class of the Lords. He was wearing a waistcoat and tight trousers, both in gold brocade with an elegant decoration of green leaves, and a red mantle embroidered with high flames. A dagger was hanging from his belt.
Without losing his rude tone the innkeeper said: "If he is your guest, Tu Toma-Bekere, it is on you to give him your bed, and to offer him your food, not on me!"
"So it will be. Bring immediately something to eat and drink, and a stool for my guest."
The innkeeper went in a hurry, shrugging and muttering who knows what. The lord turned politely towards Masu: "Excuse me, warrior, that I have taken the liberty, but I hope you accept my hospitality..."
"With pleasure," Masu said a little surprised, "and I thank you. My name is Su Masu-Yari, and I'm from Machi-Sanisu'... But to what do I owe such kindness?"
"Well, I don't know how it is in your land, but here, when one meets a stranger, it is said that you go down two steps and the stranger goes up two. So it's as if I were a Supreme warrior, a Wisa, and you also a Wisa"
"No, it is not so in my land... This would make us peers..."
"And here, when two peers meet, the one who is far away from home is as if he were still a step higher, so for me you would become a Teha... therefore I have a duty to put myself completely at your disposal..."
"A very complicated system, yours, but... I can only be pleased."
"Then do you accept my hospitality? And will you forgive me for saying that you are my guest, without asking you if liked that?"
"Forgive? On the contrary, I am truly grateful. But tell me, why and since when do you have these... beautiful customs?" Masu asked, sitting down at his table.
"Strangers and travelers are in a position of weakness and disadvantage. This practice helps to redress the balance. Since when it exists, I don't know, but as far as I know, it's so since... since always. This is why the innkeeper has twice behaved badly. Not everyone is so uncivilized in our land. But you know, the innkeepers belong to the class of merchants, they are little more than slaves, you can not expect them to be refined. And the fact of being free men and not slaves sometimes makes them arrogant."
"Do you come from afar?" Masu asked.
"No, my residence is in the village nearby. I just left because I decided to travel, I want to know the world. You see, being the third son of my father, the Lord of Vemer'e', the village which I come from, I will never take his place, so... I prefer to travel, to discover new things, to try my luck elsewhere."
"And where you want to go, when you'll leave the inn?"
"I will decide tomorrow morning, along the way... I will follow the wind like a leaf or a bird. And you? I was curious about the fact that you, being so far from your land, don't even have some money to pay for a room... Have you been robbed? "
"No... not exactly..." Masu said to him, and told his story.
He told him everything, because this man, a couple of years older than himself, inspired sympathy and confidence. As the story progressed, the noble nodded, made brief comments, sometimes smiling, sometimes shaking his head.
The innkeeper brought the food and a jug of berry wine. Masu and Toma ate with a good appetite and drank the light, fruity wine. The evening was falling rapidly. After eating, Toma invited Masu for a walk, before retiring to bed. They went out. The islet on which the inn was, connected via an old wooden bridge to another island on which stood an old stone tower.
"This was built by my great-grandfather, in the days when pirates roamed the islands. Now it is abandoned, it is no longer needed. But from its top there is a beautiful view. From an early age I came here when I wanted to be alone for a while. Do you want to go up? "
"Yes, sure. But you do not seem a loner to me..." Masu said, while they entered a dark spiral staircase, carved into the stone wall of the tower, that lead to the summit.
"No, I'm not a loner, you're right. But at times also a good companion like myself needs to be alone, to restore order to his thoughts, his emotions. Or to calm his passions. You see, for all I know, I'm very well, both in company and alone... I mean in company of myself."
"I see, in the company of oneself... a beautiful expression . For us warriors however, the best loneliness is to be together with a companion, another warrior."
"Yes, I guess it is as you say. This is why sending you into exile was... cruel. Condemned to be alone... Your Shiti really is a witch, a whore indeed!"
Masu looked at him a little surprised, and slightly amused: "It is said that, if there is a class solidarity, it is amongst you Lords..." he observed as they came on top of the tower.
"It's like you say... maybe that is why I have never been considered a good To, even by members of my family. But you see, from childhood I have always tried to reason with my head, and not with the head of my social class. After all, if I am a To, it is not because of me, nor my fault. I was born into the class of the To, that's all. For you warriors is different; you So, even though kids, you choose to be So... Perhaps for this reason you are strongly supportive among yourselves."
"I have never considered this point, but I think you're right."
"Do you see those lights over there?" Toma asked, changing the subject.
"Yes, what are they?"
"Fishing boats. With the light they attract the fish into the nets. Sometimes I wanted to be a fisherman. There is a certain solidarity among fishermen, required to survive for those who live off the sea. Craftsmen however, and even more merchants, have little solidarity, because they are often competing with each other."
"And the slaves?" Masu asked, intrigued by the vision of the world that Toma had.
"Slaves? They also think of themselves, to survive and to please their lords. A bit like the parents of the kid you saved. Those who have nothing, tend to think only of themselves. But so do those who have everything, like us the Lords. Those lights on the water are beautiful, aren't they? "
"Yes... they are like stars in the sea."
"Beautiful image. Worthy of a bard. The first time I wanted to leave my land and travel, was when I listened to the stories told by a blind singer."
"I've never met a blind bard..."
"They are the best, because not being able to use their eyes, they must see through the eyes of the soul, through the eyes of the heart. You know, the blind singers are a very closed group: the old traditions that are handed down, the ancient secrets with each other... It is said they possess a magic that can be greater than that of all other singers. Whatever the case, certainly they see things that normal eyes are not able to see."
"And... have you ever known, met with a Mask?"
Toma smiled: "I myself could be a Mask, or maybe you could be...", he said almost in a whisper.
"No, you're not, else my ruby would become hot..."
"I have heard about the tears of the Kaoka, but yours is the first I see... They say he poured 4096 of them... that is eight times eight, multiplied by eight times eight... Eight, the magic number for excellence... Perhaps this is why we humans have ten fingers, because magic does not belong to us. Two times five, an even and an odd, a bit of good and a bit of evil, as it is in our hearts."
"Are you also expert of theosophy and anthroposophy?"
"Not really, but I have always enjoyed reading everything I could get my hands on, and listen to all those who had to say something new to me... and then think about it."
"But tell me, Tu Toma, if you could choose, what would you be? In what class would you like to have been born?"
"I would want to be... Tu Toma-Bekere, neither more nor less. And you, Su Masu?"
"I chose to be a So, therefore..."
"Good, this means that we both, despite my desire to travel and your sentence to travel, are happy with what we are... no small thing."
"We both belong to the two upper classes, with all the advantages and privileges that this entails..." Masu pointed out.
"Even if you have them removed from, and I want to leave them behind me..."
"It is easier to lose or leave what you have, than to obtain or acquire what you do not have..."
"That is also a privilege, after all... Well, what if we return?"
"As you wish..."