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--------------------------Page1------------------------------MAYIANSWERTHAT?BySRISWAMISIVANANDASERVE,LOVE,GIVE,PURIFY,MEDITATE,REALIZESriSwamiSivanandaSoSaysFounderofSriSwamiSivanandaTheDivineLifeSocietyADIVINELIFESOCIETYPUBLICATION--------------------------Page2------------------------------FirstEdition:1992SecondEdition:copies)WorldWideWeb(WWW)Reprint:1997WWWsite:/~pkanagar/divine/ThisWWWreprintisforfreedistribution(C)TheDivineLifeTrustSocietyISBN81-PublishedByTHEDIVINELIFESOCIETYP.O.SHIVANANDANAGAR—249192Distt.Tehri-Garhwal,UttarPradesh,Himalayas,India.--------------------------Page3------------------------------Publishers’NoteThisbookisacompilationfromthevariouspublishedworksoftheholyMasterSriSwamiSivananda,includingsomeofhisearliestworksextendingasfarbackasthelatethirties.Thequestionsandanswersinthepagesthatfollowdealwithsomeofthecommonest,butmostvital,doubtsraisedbypractisingspiritualaspirants.Whatinveststheseanswersandexplanationswithgreatvalueistheauthority,notonlyofthesage’sintuition,butalsoofhispersonalexperience.SwamiSivanandawasasagewhosefirstconcern,evenfirstlove,shallwesay,wasthespiritualseeker,theYogastudent.SivanandthispricelessvolumeistheoutcomeofthatSevaBhavofthegreatMaster.Wedohopethattheaspirantworldwillbenefitconsiderablyfromacarefulperusalofthepagesthatfollowandderiverareguidanceandinspirationintheirstruggleforspiritualperfection.MaytheholyMaster’sdivineblessingsbeuponall.SHIVANANDANAGAR,JANUARY1,1993.THEDIVINELIFESOCIETY--------------------------Page4------------------------------MAYIANSWERTHAT?1.WhyshouldwebelieveinGod?BeliefinGodisanindispensablerequisiteforeveryhumanbeing.Itisasinequanon.OwingtotheforceofAvidyaorignorance,painappearsaspleasure.Theworldisfullofmiseries,troubles,difficultiesandtribulations.Theworldisaballoffire.TheAntahkarana(mind,intellect,egoandthesubconsciousmind)chargedwithRaga(attachment),Dvesha(hatred),angerandjealousyisablazingfurnace.Wehavetofreeourselvesfrombirth,death,oldage,di
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From: George Gauthier
Subject: Source of the Nile
Source of the Nile
Naked Prey 8
by George Gauthier
Author's Note: This is tale of the attempt by Roman soldiers to reach the
source of the Nile River during the reign of the emperor Nero. It is the
seventh story in my 'Naked Prey' series for the Historical section of the
Nifty Archive, each with different characters. The other stories in the
series so far are 'Naked Prey' set in 19th century Africa, 'The Shawnee',
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some non-sexual violence (good guys vs bad guys).
If any of this would offend a reader, read no further. This is not intended
for persons younger than an age where they may freely and legally select
their reading matter in whatever jurisdiction applies.
It is entirely fictional, with no resemblance intended to any person living
or dead. Otherwise, it is reasonable accurate historically as far as its
setting. There really was such an expedition, but I made up all the
characters and incidents in this story.
Readers who like these stories might want to try my 'Daphne Boy' historical
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Comments and feedback welcome.
Chapter 1.
Alexandria by Egypt, 60 AD
"Now there's a tumbler I'd like to give a tumble to myself, Lucius."
The centurion nodded toward the naked acrobat doing back flips in the open
square in front of one of the innumerable temples that graced the capital
of Roman Egypt.
"A street boy, Marcus? Is your purse so flat you cannot afford to rent a
lad at one of the boy brothels this city is famous for?"
"Look for yourself, you nitwit. That is, if you can tear your eyes away
from that sloe eyed Egyptian lass. You do realize she probably hopes to
lure you into an alley where her friends can roll and pluck you".
"All right, let's have a look at your fancy boy. Hmmmn, now that you
mention it, he is quite good looking, I'll give you that Marcus."
"Come, come, Lucius, admit it. He is the most beautiful boy either of us
has ever laid eyes on or likely ever will. Let's see him close up. Here,
this will get him to come over to us."
The big soldier flipped a silver drachma into the cup the acrobat had put
on the ground for offerings from the public. Like any street boy he could
readily distinguish the clear ring of silver from the clink of a copper
coin and dropped from the hand stand he had been maintaining to check the
coin out, bowing his head to Lucius in gratitude.
"Thank you, kind sir. How may I may serve you further?"
"First tell us your name boy. I am Marcus and my red-headed friend here is
named Lucius."
"I am called Xenophon or Xeno for short."
"Well named, you are then, Xeno for short, for the top of your head
scarcely reaches my breast."
"I cannot help my slight stature, sir. Even though it makes me a better
acrobat, I still wish I could add another span to my height, but I fear my
growth is over, leaving me nearly a head shorter than other boys of
seventeen."
"Seventeen. is it? You hardly look it, more like fifteen at most, so small
and slender and smooth."
The two soldiers looked the boy over motioning at one point for him to turn
around slowly to display his back and bum.
Actually still two months short of seventeen, Xeno was a comely lad, small
for his age and slender. Standing not quite four inches over five feet (162
cm) and weighing only 110 pounds (50 kg) he had a fawn-like physique but
with a wiry musculature, toned and taut, as befits an acrobat. Xeno was
pretty as a girl with delicate features, a straight nose, high cheekbones,
and large green eyes topped by a blond thatch. He had no hair on his body,
not even wisps under his arms or at the fork of his legs. Acrobats kept
their bodies smooth, an easy task really for a naturally hairless boy like
the young acrobat, a condition probably related to his failure to reach
full height. His complexion was flawless, probably for the same reason.
>From his tiny red nipples to a deeply indented navel, to narrow hips
framing a surprisingly generous manhood for one so slight of build, Xeno
was real beauty. He carried so little body fat that his flat belly showed a
tracery of downward pointing veins just under the skin. The beat of his
heart was visible on the left side of his smooth chest. He was sleek and
smooth, deeply and evenly tanned all over, the sheen of sweat from his
exertions making his skin shine in the bright sunlight. The sweat on his
brow dripped off the end of his straight nose or followed the twin arcs of
his eyebrows to his temples. Stray wisps of hair were plastered against his
temples and forehead, darkened by perspiration as were the tapering
sideburns by his ears. It was obviously no razor had ever scraped his
cheeks or had needed to. He was naturally beardless, without even a hint of
peach fuzz.
Lucius inquired about the boy's background, finding out that he was
freeborn, an orphan, originally the bastard son of a German auxiliary in
Roman service and a courtesan from Gaul though legitimized later. That
explained his blond good looks on the southern shores of the Mediterranean
and also his ready command of Latin, the one language his parents had had
in common. Most foreigners in Egypt spoke the official language,
Greek. Marcus also asked the boy about the city's landmarks. Both soldiers
were new to Alexandria and needed a tour guide.
Xeno answered the man's questions readily enough, turning to point toward
different public buildings, the principal streets and the four quarters
that comprised the city. He spoke animatedly and intelligently showing he
knew his way around the city well enough to serve as their guide. He spoke
without the diffidence one might expect from a boy of humble station,
called before his elders and betters, entirely nude, getting scrutinized
intently, with a crowd of onlookers pressing close, chattering, and
jostling past.
Xeno did not feel particularly awkward just because he was standing there
entirely unclad in the midst of a crowd. Acrobatic showmanship was how he
earned his living, and who ever heard of an acrobat who did not perform for
the public naked? The idea, after all, was to show off the potential of the
human body. He also supplemented the coins tossed by the crowd with money
earned for more intimate services he provided to men attracted by the
display of his trim body and pretty boy good looks. Around this
neighborhood, everyone knew him, had seen him performing, and was aware
that he sold himself for coin.
The neighbors had often seen him going about on errands entirely bare. Xeno
saw little point in bothering with even the low slung linen kilt which was
all that was commonly worn in Egypt. He had nothing to hide, nothing that
had not been repeatedly put on public display. He might as well make
himself comfortable in the desert heat and stay nude. After all he earned
his living while in the nude, slept naked on his rooftop, and exercised
bare ass. He often went for weeks at a stretch without ever wearing even
the briefest of garments. Anyway, Xeno was hardly the only habitually nude
boy in the district what with the numerous boat boys on the canals, servant
boys, messengers, and slave boys in general, not to mention vain youths who
liked the chance to strut their stuff in public.
Besides, the boy rather liked the kiss of the hot sun on his bare skin, the
way it turned his skin a tawny gold, complementing his blond mane. He
preferred to live simply, without possessions and often without clothing
too, going about just as the gods had made him. So whether performing,
running along the strand for exercise, sleeping on the flat roof of his
hovel, or just strolling about the district, he typically went naked. He
did not mind the occasional pats on the rump or the caresses down in front
from strangers in the press of the crowd, taking these as no more than
tactile compliments to his comeliness.
For his part Lucius was enthralled by the musicality of the boy's voice,
the animation in his face, and the delightful play of muscles as the boy
turned this way or that and raised his arms to point or to explain with
gestures. The youth's aplomb showed that he was comfortable with nudity
even with everyone else around him clothed, indeed that he not only
expected to be fully on display but rather relished it.
"You enjoy this don't you Xeno, letting everyone ogle you, to see you
completely naked and hairless, putting yourself on public display?"
"Yes, I suppose that is true, sir. I know that makes me a vain boy, being
so proud of my pert rump and rippled chest and belly, not to mention my
pretty face. But if the gods have graced me this way, who am I to conceal
their handiwork? I like to think that showing off my physique is as much an
act of generosity on my part as an assertion of vanity. How rude and
selfish of me it would be not to share."
The boy's tinkling laughter showed that he did not take himself or his
claim terribly seriously. He knew full well that the reason he exhibited
himself so readily was that he found it titillating and sexy, and yes,
naughty too. And why not, the soldier thought, a youth like that should
always be naked, his beauty a gift to everyone whose eye chanced upon the
lovely lad. He was sleek and smooth and deeply tanned, his wiry physique
the very incarnation of youthful male pulchritude.
When they learned that the boy also spoke common Greek, the lingua franca
of the East, plus the native Egyptian language, the two soldiers offered
him the job of guiding them around town for the next few days. They had
reported a week early to their new posting in Alexandria and wanted to
explore the town before formally taking up their duties in the
garrison. Xeno accepted, showing up at the barracks in time for breakfast
the next morning dressed for the occasion in a linen kilt. Wrapped low
about his hips, the minimal garment showed off the flatness of his belly
and the roundness of his trim rump. So even dressed the boy drew admiring
glances at his physique and elfin features, not to mentioned amused looks
and raised eyebrows from the soldiers.
Xenophon showed Lucius and Marcus the port area, and the canals that linked
the city to the Nile proper. Alexandria was geographically separate from
Egypt proper, lying just west of the Nile Delta. Its founder, Alexander the
Great, thought of his new foundation as being 'next to' Egypt rather than a
part of that ancient country. Hence its name of Alexandria by Egypt. The
two soldiers took in the sights, the old royal palace, the Moon Gate, the
Pharos (lighthouse), the famous temples, and the Great Library and
Museum. The streets and the buildings of the capital was decorated with
public statues depicting gods and emperors and generals as heroic nudes.
"You know Xeno, these physiques captured in stone are surely no more
pleasing than your own an actually much less so. Too many of the figures
have stern expressions or just too many muscles. And they are made of cold
stone, but you are a living and breathing flesh and blood boy. Why not get
rid of that kilt altogether and walk around the rest of the city in the
nude just as you do in your home district. Look about you. There are many
nude boys and men about, like those males slaves working on a road, that
runner carrying messages. After all, you said it yourself. It would be rude
and selfish not to share your trim body with the public."
"Now Marcus, you and Lucius just want an excuse to get me naked again and
to show me off around town as your pretty boy."
"Yes, that is true, but I think that is what you want too, isn't it? You
want people to take you for one of those expensive brothel boys for which
the city is famous or a naked slave boy who doesn't own a stitch of
clothing. Well from now on, you don't."
Xeno stood there humbly submitting to a public stripping as Lucius pulled
the kilt off his hips, handing it over to Marcus who donated it to a beggar
"But that is my only kilt, Marcus. My only garment really. Am I to go about
always naked from now on?"
But the boy's aroused nipples told the soldiers that the prospect excited
the boy, not just walking around without a stitch on but not even owning a
proper garment. The soldiers were so masterful towards him, taking charge
of him, stripping him naked, enforcing public nudity on him from now on. No
wonder his cock had plumped up and lifted off, pointing away from his
body. Passersby smiled at the obviously aroused pretty boy. Xeno clutched
himself down there practically shivering with the frisson of his own
naughtiness. If these soldiers wanted him totally on display then so be it.
As their tour continued, the soldiers were surprised that the boy was
literate in both Latin and Greek and, to a much lesser extent, the ancient
Egyptian hieroglyphic script. He was better at sounding out the phonetic
elements of an Egyptian text than reading the full meaning. Only the
priests and scribes could do that and not all of them. It was a dying
art. Still he could make out the names of rulers and places and dates on
inscriptions on buildings and stelae, that sort of thing.
All in all, the two men were satisfied with their young guide's skills. He
captivated them with his steady patter and his boyish sense of humor, and
his curiosity about their adventures in the army. He loved to hear tales of
far off places. Xeno was a dependable guide, steering them to decent places
to eat their midday meal, eateries that matched their purse and their
simple tastes. Utterly uninhibited himself and not the least bit body shy,
he did not mind if their hands brushed his rump or patted his shoulder or
stroked his belly and ribs or tweaked his nipples. If they wanted him to
sit on their laps, fine. Letting customers feel him up was all part of the
service. If others took him for a naked bum boy, well that is what he was.
There was that one time when their attentions got him aroused enough for
his cock to plump up and lift off. That was after they went swimming in the
harbor from the shore of the island on which the great Pharos was
built. Their swim was a way to cool off after climbing all the way to the
top of the great lighthouse, some four hundred feet (120 m) into the
sky. The soldiers had pulled rank to get access. Xeno was delighted to
finally get to the top of the monument he had seen all his life, regardless
of how much he had had to trudge to reach the very top where the flame
burned at night. In daylight, bright mirrors provided a beacon for sailors,
reflecting the sun's light. After taking in the magnificent view and
climbing back down, rather hot and sweaty from their exertions, the two
soldiers and Xeno had been happy to strip off and dive into the water.
Could Xeno help it if the sight of the powerfully built and hugely endowed
centurions in the nude turned him on? He was a professional pleasure boy,
after all, not to mention a randy teenager. No surprise really. What did
astonish him was when he heard himself asking the centurions to take him
right then and there, no matter who was watching, and at no extra
charge. He could hardly believe he had offered himself for free. Pleasure
boys never gave free samples. The soldiers were sorry to disappoint the
horny lad. Though off duty, they were in uniform, or had been before going
in for their swim, and had their professional dignity to maintain. Still it
told them something about their young ally, that he genuinely desired
them. His arousal was an earnest of his sincerity.
In the evenings, after a tasty supper in a tavern with rooms that rented by
the hour, the soldiers took the boy upstairs, and used him for their
pleasure. The boy's enthusiasm arose from more than the coins they paid
him. He was perfectly happy to frolic with the powerfully built soldiers
even when they double teamed him. At first that meant each of them plugging
the boy at opposite ends. It gave the two big soldiers a chance to kiss
each other as well as the delectable boy they were fucking. Who would not
be aroused by the sight of his delicate features, his trim little body, and
the shameless delight he took in male sex. Xenophon loved being sandwiched
in between two lusty men. It drove him wild with desire, having a big cock
in each orifice. He did his best to pleasure both invading tools, working
the muscles of his throat and his ass to squeeze and knead, and excite till
the lusty soldiers spilled their seed into his bottom or down his
throat. He loved to feel the pulsing of their turgid members as they shot
their wet warmth into him.
However, Lucius and Marcus also liked to double penetrate a boy's bottom,
that is get both their cocks up his ass at the same time. Xeno's petite
physique, narrow hips,and pert rump made that particularly attractive and
exciting but also a bit difficult. After all, it was only natural for
little Xeno to be a bit apprehensive, given how large the soldiers
were. Still Xeno consented though knowing his rump would surely ache the
next morning. The prospect of a double penetration was too exciting to turn
down. Marcus and Lucius were so terribly sexy, and they had been so nice to
him, treating him like a friend, not like an anonymous whore boy.
Not so very experienced at this, Xeno followed instructions. Facing Marcus,
he straddled the big soldier who had stretched out full-length, cock
rampant. Xeno sank to his knees and sat down on the massive member, slowly
sinking back onto his haunches letting the first cock plumb his depths. He
rocked back and forth a little, letting Marcus slide easily in his
channel. When Marcus was well seated up his chute, Lucius bent him forward,
telling him to kiss Marcus and lick his nipples. Meanwhile Lucius forced
his own cock up the back door into the tight chute already occupied by
Marcus' cock. It was a close fit since they were big men, proportionally
endowed, and Xeno was quite small in the hips and rump.
Poor Xeno, his hole always ached from a double penetration, however excited
the sex play got him. He did love that impossibly impaled feeling the two
soldiers gave him. Gods, when he was with them he found out what it was
like to be really and completely fucked. Using his thigh muscles to lift
himself up and down on the twin shafts, it didn't take long for all the
friction and prodding to set him off. In turn his anal contractions brought
both soldiers to a simultaneous climax filling the boy with their manly
The soldier's enthusiasm sometimes threatened to get out of hand. At times
Xeno was not sure his anal ring would survive their vigorous double
assaults, but it did, somehow, though not without incidental pain. The pair
loosened Xeno up so much that his hole sometimes sputtered and farted the
next day during their walkabout. The young acrobat did not embarrass
easily, but he did blush when teased about anal incontinence. It made him
feel so terribly slutty.
Xeno did not question why the soldiers took him together almost as often as
they did separately. If they wanted to plug him at both ends, that was fine
by him. If they wanted to fill his ass together, OK. Even if it hurt a
little it was terribly exciting. The boy did not quite realize that they
also had an ulterior motive of their own.
The soldiers knew that the Army was harsh on those who took lovers among
their fellow soldiers. It was said to be prejudicial to good order and
discipline. Caesar wanted manly aggressive men for soldiers, and that did
not include males who allowed others to use them as women. It was fine,
though, for a soldier or for any Roman male to poke a boy, taking the
active role in the relationship. Double penetration allowed the two friends
of feel the other's cock sliding past his own as they double fucked the boy
and to enjoy a simultaneous orgasm with the captive cocks throbbing against
each other in the warm moist channel of the boy's butt. It was almost like
making love to each other via the boy.
That aside, each of them eagerly took the boy separately. He was the
prettiest and sexiest thing either of them had ever fucked, male or
female. Marcus loved to look at Xeno down on his knees, all humility and
submissiveness, pouty lips locked about his member, worshiping Marcus'
manhood. The boy gave better head than anyone he had ever known. He was
able to take him fully down his throat without gagging. Not many could do
that. A natural submissive, he also enjoyed getting his ass plowed. Lucius
loved the way his big hands fit so well around the boy's sharp hip
bones. He loved to pull back on that small ass while he thrust forward with
his cock, feeling the warm flesh enclose it like a glove.
They both loved taking Xeno face to face, on his back, legs and heels in
the air. There is nothing so sexy as the face of a pretty boy rising to his
climax. With his small body trapped beneath him, Lucius or Marcus could see
the boy's arousal build and build, his eyes closing as his mind and body
concentrated on the good feelings coursing through him, readying itself to
let fly with his spunk.
After his ejaculation, the boy would look at them happily, his face lit up
with the post coital look that boys get, comprised half of pride at his own
cocksmanship and half of embarrassment for the mess he had made between
their bellies. As a joy boy of considerable experience, Xeno knew he must
concentrate on his customers' pleasure first, not on his own. It worked out
for him anyway since he liked nothing better than to have a man's cock
stimulate him to his own orgasm without even touching himself down
there. Getting fucked till you shot, that was the best way for a bottom boy
like him to get off, and he knew it.
Both men relished ruffling the boy's hair in those moments as a
demonstration of their satisfaction with and affection for him. They talked
with him too and really listened to what he had to say about his hopes and
expectations. Xeno was not used to customers who valued his own pleasure
with their own and who wanted to get to know him as a person, not just a
sexy body and a pretty face. He realized he could get to like the pair of
them a whole lot.
"So why aren't you working in a high class brothel, Xeno?" Marcus inquired
one day. "Surely you must have had offers."
"I am not sure 'offers' is the word for it. Yes I was dragged into
Philotas' place when I was fourteen and forced to work there for a year,
but I don't like being cooped up all the time in a dark and dingy
brothel. I need fresh air and the sun and the freedom to run and swim, and
tumble. Philotas likes to beat on his boys to keep them in line, and he
kept most of the take.
He didn't like my wild dances either, insisting
that everything had to be slow and sultry. I finally made friends with the
sergeant of the city watch in this district who protected me when I ran
away and went into business for myself."
"And what does the sergeant get in return?"
"Why me, of course. I give him and his men the best sex they have ever had
in their lives, the sergeant for free and his men for half price. Say what
you will about me, but I don't have a single dissatisfied customer. I
always leave them happy." He said with firm nod.
"I can believe that, little Xeno. You are truly delectable. I cannot
remember when I had so much fun with a boy before."
"That's because you didn't," the boy countered with impeccable logic, an
impish smile, and not a little pride in his voice.
The big soldiers hugged the lad, enjoying his warmth and good humor. Good
looks, intelligence, cheery personality, great sex. What was there not to
like about the boy? They knew that even after they no longer needed Xeno as
a guide around town, they would visit him regularly, as friends as much as
customers, though they certainly would not begrudge the boy his hard earned
silvers. He had to earn a living after all.
Chapter 2. The Nile, 61 AD
"What do you mean you own me now, Philotas?" Xeno exclaimed to the brothel
master. I am a free citizen. I even own this tumble down hovel. Slaves
cannot own property. You know that."
"You only passed for a free boy these last two years. I have the bill of
sale from when old Sosthenes sold you to me three years ago. Now I am
re-taking possession, able once again to offer my customers access to the
most beautiful boy in Alexandria."
"You won't get away with this!" the boy shouted as the man's thugs bound
his hands behind him and fitted a loop around his neck the better to
control him.
"Perhaps you are hoping for intervention by your friend, the sergeant of
the watch? I am afraid the poor man has a gambling problem. He owed money
to some unsavory characters, and only my timely intervention provided him
with the wherewithal to pay off his creditors and save his life."
At a gesture, the thugs bent the boy over and held him in place while
Philotas took him roughly, an assertion of ownership as much as an
expression of lust, though the brothel keeper did find himself intensely
aroused by the blond beauty who had once again fallen into his hands. Yes,
if anything the boy was even more delectable than a couple of years earlier
with better muscle definition and more experience at pleasuring males. The
way he gasped and moaned and writhed in his bondage as Philotas raped him,
all the while pinching and twisting his nipples, was so arousing. He was so
very much alive, the perfect joy boy.
Looking several years younger than his true age and already at his full
height, slight as that was, the boy would give him years of service looking
much the same as he did then. The brothel master could pass the youth off
as fourteen for the next couple of years and fifteen for the next
two. Small, hairless, and girlishly pretty, Xeno could pull it off easily.
Philotas knew he would have to tame the lad properly and break his will
before putting him to service, but that would be fun in itself. A man with
long experience in keeping his boys in line, Philotas knew ways to inflict
pain that left no permanent mark on the boy that would decrease his
commercial value. Suspension with ropes in contorted positions soon leads
to agonizing pain as cramps wrack the stretched and immobilized limbs. A
few hours a day like that over a week reduces even the most rebellious boy
to abject servility, agreeable to anything to stop the pain.
To speed things along, a disciplinarian like Philotas would hang weights
from a leather thong wrapped around a recalcitrant boy's balls or tie them
to small cords ending in fishhooks pushed through a boy's nipples and set
to swinging. And that does not count all the things a man with patience and
a nasty mind could think to do with a boy's asshole. There are many objects
or substances that can be inserted into that orifice, not all of them
intended for pleasure.
Oh, young Xeno would put up a good fight. He probably would resist longer
than most. Philotas rather liked that thought, to see the boy struggle
against his fate, against his bonds, against his own weakening resolve when
he realized he was slipping into thrall. His own lusts would work against
him, weakening his will, till his mind and body surrendered, slipping into
a state of abject obeisance and compliance. It would take time, but
Philotas would enjoy the way this exercise of power transformed little
Xeno. The boy had spunk, as Philotas had found out when he had first
impressed him into service only to have him slip through his fingers. But
nobody gets the better of Philotas in the long run, especially not some
runt of a bum boy like Xeno.
Although helpless to prevent the rough rape by Philotas and then his thugs,
Xeno had no intention of accepting enslavement as a pleasure boy in
Philotas' establishment or giving him time to break him again as he had
others in his service. All the man held over him was a forged bill of
sale. The man did not know that Xeno was literate thanks to old Sosthenes,
the begger who had taken him into his home. The date of sale was
impossible. Sosthenese had been dead for six months by then. Also his true
father had legally acknowledged him as his legitimate son in front of
witnesses, some of whom were still in the garrison or retired to
Alexandria. If he could get a hearing, Xeno could prove he was freeborn,
but who would listen to a naked pleasure boy?
Lucius and Marcus would help if they could. The trio had grown close in the
four months they had known each other, but the soldiers had been assigned
joint command of an expedition up the Nile. They were leaving at dawn in
two days' time and had already said their farewells to their young
friend. Suddenly Xeno knew what he must do. He had to get to his soldier
friends and ask for their protection.
Xeno's first obstacle was to escape his bondage. Philotas was overconfident
of the effect of painful suspension on the boy's body, leaving him alone in
a dark cellar overnight. He forgot that Xeno was a acrobat and something of
an escape artist too thanks to Sosthenes training. So he found a way to
twist and pull himself into position to get at the knots of the ropes that
bound him. Once he was loose it was simply a matter of getting away from
the premises. Now the boy had been in Philotas' brothel before and he knew
of two ways to slip out undetected.
So on the last night before the expedition's departure, in the early hours
of the morning, Xeno escaped from the room he had been confined to and ran
down to the canal that connected the city to the river. Sure enough he
found the expedition just readying itself for departure. The men from two
infantry centuries (80 men each, despite the name) plus some auxiliary
archers were already filing aboard the five boats that would take them
upstream. Marcus was in overall command of the expedition while Lucius was
the military commander of the troops.
"Marcus, Lucius," the boy cried out with tears running down his face. "Help
me, please."
"Little Xeno, whatever are you doing here?" Marcus asked, puzzled.
The boy explained what had happened, showing the rope burns on wrists and
ankles and his collection of bruises and welts. The two soldiers were torn
between their desire to help their young friend and correct an injustice
and their clear duty to set off on their expedition right away. After some
discussion, Marcus made his decision.
"All right, little one, if this man Philotas' claims you are a runaway
slave then it is our duty to take you into custody."
"Whaaat!" the boy wailed.
"Indeed," intoned Lucius with mock seriousness. "And you will remain in our
custody till we can return you to Alexandria and let the law takes its
course. You will be on your parole not to try to escape till then. Is that
acceptable, young Xenophon?"
With a big sigh of relief, Xeno hugged his friends fiercely, grateful for
their protection.
"So how far are we going up river? You never said all this time that you
two were getting ready."
"Well, that is a military secret, but since you are already aboard I think
it is safe to tell you. How far upriver? All the way."
"All the way to where?"
"Marcus is just having his little joke, Xeno. What he means is that we are
setting off to find the source of the Nile. The emperor Nero wants to
control the source for strategic reasons."
"The source of the Nile? What is the point of that? Who cares that the Nile
starts in some lake or other in the mountains that must lie far to the
south. The river will still flow down to Egypt regardless of where it
originates or whose army is encamped at its headwaters, or am I missing
something."
"Ah, out of the mouths of babes." Marcus chuckled. "Just what I said to the
prefect, but our assignment comes from the emperor himself. We are to
follow the river to its source."
"Now let's see. We cannot tolerate idlers on a military expedition, so you
will be earning your keep as a cabin boy and body servant to the both of
us. You might as well stay naked, at least while we are out on the
river. Better for morale that way too, and don't roll your eyes, boy. You
know you wouldn't keep your clothes on for very long anyway, shameless show
off that you are. Never fear that Lucius and I are going to pass you around
to one and all. You will confine your attentions to just the two of us. Now
step over there out of the way while we get ready to leave."
"Yes, sir. Reporting for duty, sir. I am yours to command!" the boy flung
back, giving a Roman style salute, unabashed joy on his face.
Not only had he escaped torture and sexual slavery, he was off on a
glorious adventure with his two soldier friends. Little Xenophon of
Alexandria was an explorer. Life doesn't get any better than that!
The first part of the trip went easily enough. After negotiating the
connecting canal, the five boats reached the river and proceeded
south. Although that was upstream and against the current, the wind blows
steadily from the north most of the year making navigation on the Nile
simplicity itself. Either let the current carry you north, downstream, or
the wind south, upstream. The sailors used the oars mainly for daily
landings and for steering.
Besides the two hundred soldiers (including archers) there were a hundred
sailors and servants. This was a force large enough to protect itself from
marauders but too small to look like an invasion to the rulers of the lands
to the south. Officially they were an embassy, conveying the emperor's
wishes for good relations with the lands to the south of Egypt. One of the
boats carried extra supplies, though the other boats would purchase what
they needed as long as they were in cultivated lands. Water was obviously
no problem, even though the Nile flows across a desert, and the river
provided fresh fish in abundance. Xeno was really good with a fish
spear. Long practiced in the art, he knew how to correct for refraction of
the image of the fish underwater.
Marcus had decided to make sure all the men could swim. If they fell
overboard, he wanted them to know how to stay alive long enough for someone
to throw them a rope or to bring a boat alongside.(The soldiers were under
orders not to wear armor while on the water unless attacked.)
The senior
centurion enlisted Xeno as a demonstrator. The boy could swim like a
porpoise while the archers ensured that crocodiles did not become too nosy.
He went among the men training in the shallows, correcting their technique,
mostly ignoring the questing hands that roamed all over his delicious body,
slipping into his cleavage or squeezing his buttocks.
"Honestly, Sixtus," Xeno complained with some exasperation. "You are
supposed to stroke the water, not my ass."
"I cannot help it, little one. You are so very sexy, so close to hand, and
so available."
"I am available only to those I give myself to. No free samples, you big
oaf." he retorted, splashing the offender in mock outrage, then swam out of
Actually Xeno had developed a fondness for the big soldier who was one of
the most appreciative fans of his singing and dancing. Forward he might be
but essentially harmless, content for the nonce with Xeno's promise to
sleep with him when they got back to civilization. The two mismatched
males, one so large and strong, the other so slight and pretty, soon made a
game of the soldier's unrequited longing for the blond boy. Xeno joked and
Sixtus growled theatrically and copped an occasional feel.
The other members of the expedition found Xeno utterly charming, wondering
where their commanders had ever found this lovely creature who graced the
expedition with his participation. They readily accepted the blond boy as
one of them, though perpetually naked as he was and utterly hairless. For
one thing, he was not the only naked boy among them. Several of the servant
lads were equally blase about clothing or, for that matter, sharing their
charms with the boat captains and sailors. Besides, nudity was so habitual
with Xeno that he went about his business unselfconscious of his total
exposure to the lustful gazes of the men, oblivious, for the most part, to
the feelings he aroused with his lubricious display of concupiscence.
Bending over to reach a coil of rope, he gave no thought to the sailors and
soldiers behind him drinking in the curve of his torso punctuated by the
bumps of his spine or the split at the top of the taut ass cheeks, the
crinkly hole lying in between, or the glimpse of his dangly bits framed by
his slender thighs. They watched enthralled as he shinnied up the mast,
arms and legs locked around the symbolic phallus that seemingly impaled his
entire body, to finally perch on the spar of the mainsail as lookout. From
the top, his keen young eyesight could pick out shoals and sandbars and
rocks. He could see everything going on and about his boat, and everyone on
his boat or the others could see everything about him.
He also won over the men by the way he entertained the company in the
evening with his acrobatics, his dancing, and his fine singing voice, a
light tenor. With an infectious sense of humor and his outgoing
personality, Xeno was soon everyone's favorite. The men particularly
respected him for the way the boy pulled his own weight and did his chores
uncomplainingly. He did not think himself privileged just because their
leaders were his lovers.
For his part, Xeno limited his sexual favors to just Marcus and Lucius so
as not to arouse jealousies with the men under their command. The trio
carried on their lovemaking as discreetly as possible in the commanders'
small tent, though nothing could keep the sounds of lusty sexual congress
from carrying all over the camp.
"Yep," Sixtus opined. "They would be plugging him at both ends right about
"How can you tell Sixtus?" one of the younger soldiers asked in a
conspiratorial stage whisper.
"Didn't you hear the boy? That 'glumph' that came from him just now? That
is when his mouth and throat are plugged by one shaft and he is just
starting to take the other one up the ass. Quite different, don't you know,
when they are both trying to get up his back chute at the same time."
"Oh? In what way?"
"That is when you will hear the hapless lad calling out to the gods for
strength," the veteran soldier chuckled.
All in all it was a happy company, at least during the easy first stage of
the journey. The soldiers just relaxed on the boats and let the wind and
the sailors do all the heavy work. They just had to keep their weapons
sharp and practice their individual sword work. There wasn't room on deck
for normal drills in formation.
The second stage was passage of the Nile cataracts. They lay south of the
last agricultural villages inhabitant by Egyptian peasants. The land there
was rich in minerals and the river itself was a vital trade route with
central Africa. To protect their trade monopolies, the locals did not talk
much of what lay to the south. They did not want the Romans cutting them
out of the lucrative trade, which is what they suspected was Nero's real
intention for this mission.
The six cataracts of the Nile hinder navigation from Aswan nearly to
Khartoum but they are not impassible. Well known to the Ancient Egyptians,
only the first, the northernmost, is in modern E the rest are in the
Sudan, in those days called Nubia. The cataracts are not really waterfalls
at all but shallow stretches passing around many small rocky islets or
where the water's surface is broken by boulders in the river bed. In some
places, the cataracts amount to white water rapids though in others the
water flows smoother. With sailors pushing on poles and professional
haulers pulling on ropes, the boats managed to get past the first three
cataracts easily enough. Most of the soldiers marched along the bank to
lighten the load on the haulers. Marcus stayed with the boats while Lucius
took charge on land with Xeno at his side.
Nubia had sometimes been within the dominion of Egypt and sometimes an
independent country. For a while Nubia even conquered Egypt and Nubian
kings ruled as Pharoah. Roman rule did not extend as far up river as that
of the Pharaohs, certainly not to the sixth cataract as had happened at the
height of Egyptian power. More typically Pharaoh's writ ran up to the
second cataract.
The Nubians of the region were a tall and dark skinned people and could
hardly have expected to see a nude blond boy on the river. Since Xeno
wasn't tramping along in armor as the soldiers were the Nubians invited
Xeno to add his wiry strength to the towline, which he did. That gave the
Nubians a close up view of his deliciously taut body straining on the rope,
every muscle bundle defined, buttocks rock hard as he pushed himself
forward. The dark skinned men encouraged him with pats on the shoulder and
especially his curvaceous rump.
After passing each cataract, the locals invited the boy to spend the night
in their young men's lodge, but the Roman commanders had to decline the
honor for him. Xeno was relieved. Much as he liked the Nubians, he really
did not want to spend the night getting fucked by several dozen of their
lustiest lads. For one thing, after a day hauling on the tow rope, he was
too tired to enjoy an orgy. Besides it would be unfair to their own
soldiers and sailors who longed for the boy themselves. The Nubians had to
be satisfied with Xeno's brief song recital at supper time.
Halfway between the third and fourth cataracts the Nile swerves to the
northeast then the southeast and finally southwest to the junction of the
Blue and While Niles. This deviation is called the Great Bend of the
Nile. Since ancient times, a caravan route took the shortcut across the
Great Bend of the Nile, bypassing the long loop.
The third stage of the journey started from the southernmost point that the
river reached before its course turned northeast into the loop. The whole
expedition proceeded overland leaving the boats and a third of the sailors
to bivouac against their return. Meanwhile they would provide transport to
the local Roman garrisons as needed. The rest of the expedition struck out
across the desert landscape. Xeno donned sandals and tunic and a hooded
cloak for the crossing, tramping along with the rest. A sandstorm was no
place to be caught out in the nude. Donkeys carried water casks for their
expedition, this being before the introduction of the camel to North
Africa. They were getting into regions that were, if not totally unknown,
were scarcely familiar to the Romans or their Egyptian subjects. Xeno's
language skills were useful mainly for communicating with the native
sailors who had come along with them though he could understand some of the
native jabber.
One local merchant asked permission for his small caravan to travel with
the Roman party for mutual protection, but Marcus too cautious to let them
mingle with his own group on the march. They had to follow close
behind. Marcus also insisted on separate camps every evening. The Romans
were too few to build a regular fortified campite, but they did what they
could with a modest ditch and earthwork plus the usual staked
palisade. Marcus doubled the guard the third night out, the night of a new
moon, and quietly roused the whole company to stand to before dawn in
expectation of treachery. He was not disappointed. The caravan was a cover
for ruthless bandits who liked to mingle with unsuspecting fellow travelers
then stab them in the back when their allies attacked the camp from
outside. Just at dawn, a force of several hundred charged the Roman
Xeno took no part in the vicious battle. He was too small, essentially
unarmed, and had only a street boy's knowledge of knife fighting. Marcus
kept him in the center of the encampment with the sailors and servants
where he himself directed the defense. Lucius led the flying platoon that
plugged holes in the perimeter as needed. Enemy spearmen and swordsman
hurled themselves at the Romans but like all bandits they essentially
fought as individuals. The Romans were professional soldiers and fought as
a team. They covered the man on their left as well as themselves with their
shields. While one man used his shield to block an enemy's swing with a
blade the man next to him stabbed into the groin or the belly of that enemy
with the gladius or short stabbing sword that the legionary infantry had
borrowed from its old enemies in Spain.
Roman armor, weaponry, tactics, and discipline won the day, sending the
enemy reeling with heavy losses, a dozen times their own. The Romans lost
seven men killed outright with a equal number wounded, only two
seriously. Victory or not they were down at least ten fighters out of 160.
After finishing off the enemy wounded (the Romans took no prisoners),
scouting for stragglers, cleaning and repairing equipment, sharpening
blades, and tending their wounded, the Romans marched out of camp the
following day, headed toward the confluence of the Blue Nile and the While
Chapter 3. White Nile, Blue Nile
The White Nile is called that from the whitish clay suspended in its
waters. The Blue Nile drains the highlands of Ethiopia and really should be
called the Black Nile. During its flood the water flow is so high its color
changes to almost black. In the local Sudanese language the word for black
is the same one used for the color blue. (Not every culture splits the
light spectrum the same way.) During the summer flood most of the water in
the river downstream of the junction comes from the Blue Nile, indeed it
causes the annual Nile flood downstream in Egypt. In the dry season the
main flow is from the White Nile. That is why, when the expedition returned
to the river at Khartoum and rented smaller boats and paddlers to go
upstream, it followed the course of the White Nile.
It was still a couple of months till the Nile flood so the water level was
low. Sometimes the sailors used oars and sometimes they simply poled the
boats along. The channel here meandered back and forth across the
landscape, adding to the miles they must cover. Sometimes the river spread
wide, breaking up into a network of shallow braided channels that hardly
floated the boats.
>From time to time they passed a town, but none of the local rulers was a
proper king. These regions were politically fragmented into dozens of
baronies and chiefdoms. A little oratory and a demonstration of Roman arms
by marching in formation usually sufficed to overawe the natives. Their
warriors were astonished when the Romans demonstrated the rectangular
turtle formation with shields locked together on top as well as on all four
sides. Roman archers shot arrows at the formation without effect, being
careful to aim at the centers of the shields. The turtle was not a static
defensive formation either. Thanks to constant drill, the turtle could
maneuver back and forth and left and right, maintaining the tightly
interlocked shields that kept it impervious to arrow or spear. Its
applications to siege warfare were obvious. The mud walls of these towns
could not have long resisted Roman arms.
In these low latitudes so close to the Equator, the heat and humidity were
oppressive. Xeno happily went back to total nudity though the soldiers did
not have that option. He sometimes wondered why people bothered with
clothing in the first place. Oh maybe it was understandable for the old or
the infirm, and females of course. Xeno was realist enough to recognize the
predatory streak in the human male. Better that females cover up rather
than attract unwanted attentions, especially women already bonded to
another. But why should a comely young male bother with clothing except as
defense against the elements. As far as he was concerned, total nudity
should be the normal condition when you were young and male and pretty. A
pretty boy should be no more concerned about covering himself than a
handsome colt or filly. The only covering a lovely lad needed was his bare
"How well they swim, Xeno," Sixtus remarked observing a small pod of
hippos. "Such big ungainly beasts. You wouldn't think they had it in
them. Perhaps there is hope for me yet."
"Good thinking, Sixtus. Actually you already swim well enough for the
commander's purpose."
At the big soldier's raised eyebrows, the boy added:
"Marcus doesn't need men to swim like a porpoise. He just does not to want
to lose anyone to drowning because they panic or cannot keep afloat for a
few minutes if they fall overboard or step into a deep spot when crossing a
river on the march. Half the people I have seen drown are no more than the
span of their arms from safety: the gunwale of a boat, the shallows of a
river, a pier jutting into a stream."
"Unlooked-for wisdom in one of such tender years. Very well then, answer me
this, young philosopher. How is it that such inoffensive roly-poly
creatures as those river horses, what you Greek speakers call hippopotami,
can survive in the midst of these fearsome crocodiles. Why don't the
lizards attack them?"
"Because if the crocs attacked, the hippos would kill them, my unobservant
friend. Look closely where that big male is yawning. Yes, the mouth is
built mostly for grazing on succulent grasses but look at those tusks. See
how the long pair in the lower jaw mate with the shorter tusks in the upper
jaw. What do you think would happen if a hippo closed that big mouth on a
"Chomp! Those tusks could puncture my lorica, I'd wager. They could easily
punch right through the skin of a crocodile, tough though it is, and deep
into the body. You are a bright boy, little one."
"Thanks for the compliment, but I still won't go to bed with you Sixtus,
not till we are back in Alexandria. You can let go of my manhood now. I
have to answer a call of nature. We wouldn't want an accident now, would
Chuckling the big soldier let his hand fall away from where it had been
toying with the boy down in front. Xeno turned to go to the bow of the ship
then, on impulse, spun around and planted a big kiss on Sixtus'
lips. Surprised and thoroughly pleased, the big soldier gave Xeno a
friendly slap on the rump as the boy stepped away. He went back to studying
the hippos. Hard to believe they could outrun a man on those stumpy legs,
but the boy had said that too. Funny how the hippos tolerated those white
birds which were always hopping on their heads and bodies, picking at
The expedition was now well out of lands known to the peoples of the
Mediterranean. Far upstream from the joining of the Blue and White Niles
they came upon a sizeable lake fed by two substantial rivers. One led west
and south into open country swarming with gazelles. This soon proved to be
a tributary fed by a range of low mountains extending east and west. They
returned to the lake and followed the other stream south. There they
encountered the Sudd.
The Sudd is a vast swamp, one of the largest wetlands in the world, a maze
of meandering channels, lagoons, and fields of reeds and papyrus where the
river loses half of the inflowing water through evaporation and take up by
the abundant plant life. The Sudd is really a shallow flat inland delta
stretching over some 4 degrees of latitude, easily 300 miles (500 km) north
to south and 125 miles (200 km) east to west.
The Sudd is too wet to march across but is also impassible to boats. There
is no clear channel to navigate and no landmarks to steer by. Water passes
through it so slowly that there is no discernible current to guide a
traveler. It could not be flanked either. Further swamps to the east and
west fed by the Nile's tributaries formed a barrier hundreds of miles
wide. For centuries it had kept men from the north from finding the source
of the Nile, and it did the same to the Roman expedition.
After going more than 3,000 miles (5,000 km) upriver from Alexandria in
just under a year they had to turn back. Maybe they could find the source
of the Blue Nile, but they had reached a dead end on the White Nile. Still
those three thousand miles upriver were longer than the full length of all
but six other rivers in the world. Even the Congo is not so long.
Actually they were still hundreds of miles even in a straight line from
Lake Victoria, whose existence they did not even suspect. Beyond Lake
Victoria lay the Great Lakes Region of Africa in the Rift Valley of which
they knew nothing. Some of those lakes also fed their waters to the Nile
which drained north to the M others sent their waters to the
Congo which flowed west to the Atlantic, and still others south to link up
with the flow of the Zambesi River into the Indian Ocean, known to the
ancients as the Erythraean Sea.
Everyone was happy about the decision to turn back north. They were getting
eaten alive by the bugs. Even Xeno, though usually less vulnerable to bugs
as a blond, was miserable with pricks and bites from mosquitos and
flies. Squeezings from plants deterred but did not stop the flying
pests. The worst was the constant loss of soldiers and others to
disease. Coughs and fluxes and fevers of all sorts haunted these inundated
lands. At least the area was not plagued by the tsetse fly which carried
the dreaded sleeping sickness. Sadly, one of the first to die in this
inundated region was Sixtus, the big soldier with the roaming hands. Now
his promised tryst with Xeno would never happen. The boy wove a garland of
flowers and put it on the big man's brow as he lay on his funeral pyre. His
tearful eulogy to his friend touched all their hearts.
"Oh, no! First that uncrossable swamp, now an impassable canyon." exclaimed
Xeno articulated for all the members of the expedition their intense
disappointment. After laboriously retracing their steps for five hundred
miles (800 km) to the confluence of the two main branches of the Nile, they
had sailed upstream through dry grasslands, pushing nearly four hundred
miles (640 km) up the Blue Nile, into the forested highlands of Ethiopia.
Now two months from the day they turned back from the Sudd, they realized
that the river ran through a series of gorges thousands of feet deep and
apparently hundreds of miles long, to hear the natives tell it. Its rapids
were unnavigable especially against the current. Nor was there room at the
bottom of the canyons to march along the river bed. Even had there been,
there was too much risk of being caught by the river flood and drowned like
For this reason, the Blue Nile has never been an avenue of commerce. The
great trench it carves in the landscape cuts northern Ethiopia off from the
rest of the country even in modern times. It was only in the twenty-first
century that men managed to paddle its length in modern rubber boats. The
natives did report that the river originated in a deep lake only to flow
over a spectacular cascade a short distance downstream.
"Another dead end then." Marcus mused. "We will just have to report the bad
news back to Alexandria. At least there is no strategic threat from either
branch of the river. No army could move downstream past the swamps or the
"Maybe we don't have to admit defeat and just turn around and retreat to
Egypt, Marcus. The local tribe says that the river flows in a great loop
from a lake which lies due east of here. We could march straight to the
lake much like we took the shortcut across the Great Bend of the Nile."
"Very chancy Lucius, and how can we be sure any lake we found was feeding
the Blue Nile? Aside from what the natives told us."
Suddenly Xeno had a thought and piped up.
"Why not mark big chips of wood with 'SPQR' and throw them into the river
below the falls that drain the lake you mentioned? If we march back here
afterwards, across the mouth of the loop, we should get here in time to
spot at least some of the wood chips floating by. That would be
confirmation wouldn't it?"
"By the gods, I think the boy has it. Clever lad!" Marcus exclaimed.
No one in central Africa, or Libya, as the Romans called it, used the Latin
alphabet much less the characteristic tetragram SPQR for Senatus Populusque
Romanus, the Senate and the Roman People.
The test of a good plan is the execution. A march cross country meant
abandoning the boats to the care of the remaining sailors and a small force
of guards. The remaining two hundred or so would push east, forced to live
off the land. They had gold to purchase food and numbers enough to
discourage hostiles from simply seizing their wealth. It was a balancing
act. They had to present enough of a threat to protect themselves but not
enough to alarm whoever ruled these uplands. It was a test of diplomacy as
well as of logistics and military skill.
Xeno came into his own on the march as a forward scout. Unencumbered by
armor or clothing, small and agile, he could cover ground faster than any
of the other scouts. Marcus kept three scouts deployed ahead of him to
search for the most negotiable paths ahead, to find good places to camp at
night, and to keep an eye out for villages or hostile tribesman. Xeno had
long since traded in his Roman javelin for a native spear with a leaf
shaped blade of steel at the end of a strong handle. That was much more
suitable as an all round weapon. By contrast, the Roman javelin was
designed to be used only once, thrown at the enemy line of battle, just
before a legionnaire drew his sword and waded in to hand to hand combat.
So Xeno was often the first from the expedition to contact the natives,
usually at the young men's lodge on the edge of the village, Xeno's
appearance was an earnest of their peaceful intentions. He approached
openly, alone and armed only with a light spear, entirely naked like their
own young men and boys. His blond locks, grown long during the voyage, gave
potentially hostile tribes pause. They wanted to know where this girlish
visitor with hair the color of the sun had come from.
Many of the unmarried men and boys wanted to hustle him into their lodge to
get better acquainted. They found his exotic good looks terribly
sexy. Physically and socially isolated from their young women, restricted
by custom to narrow windows of opportunity for courtship only after they
reached their mid-twenties, these young males had only each other for
sexual relief in the meanwhile. Perpetually nude themselves like their
young visitor, the young tribesmen buzzed around the attractive young
stranger like bees around a fragrant blossom.
Alas, for all his devotion to duty, Xeno could not always refuse their
suit. So sometimes the main column arrived in a village only to discover
their forward scout in the mist of a tangle of limbs and bodies, engaged in
an exercise in personal diplomacy, as he later called it. Marcus shook his
head tolerantly. He could hardly fault the boy. The young men of these
Nilotic tribes were stunning physical specimens, tall and well built if
slender, and generously endowed.
No wonder a randy boy like Xeno succumbed
to their charms.
After all, theirs was a diplomatic mission. So if the boy arrived in a
village and surrendered his spear as a sign of good will, well there he
was, utterly naked and supremely desirable. It was only natural for his
interlocutors to be enthralled by his extraordinary physical beauty, to
explore his exquisite physique, to touch him in a manner calculated to
arouse. Surrounded by a crowd of nude young males, Xeno felt their hands on
him everywhere, caressing his rump, delving into his cleavage, tweaking his
nipples. Soon his cock was fully erect and dripping. Little Xeno was in no
position to decline the tribute to his sexuality that the young males of
the tribes proffered to him.
"I am sorry, Marcus and Lucius," he tried to explain. "But I wanted to show
that we were friends not invaders or raiders. What better way then than to
deliver myself to them completely, unarmed and totally naked, hiding
nothing from them, neither a holdout weapon nor any part of my body. So I
let them take my spear from me. Well there I was in their midst, entirely
naked, as all the young men were. They were kissing me and smelling me,
their hands roaming all over me, stimulating and stroking and touching. My
cock got hard which they took as I consent for what they wanted to do with
me. I was carried away, literally. They lifted me off the ground, legs
drawn wide apart. One boy stepped between them and thrust into me while
another slapped my face with his member before presenting it to me to
suck. Almost before I knew it, I was being passed from cock to cock to
cock. I really cannot remember particulars after that. I know I deserve
punishment, sir, wanton boy that I am."
But Marcus was wise enough to put his chagrin aside and to look at it
rationally. A youth barely eighteen, a naked acrobat and pleasure boy no
less, how could he not be tempted beyond his ability to resist. It is not
like little Xeno was a soldier subject to military discipline. He was a
horny teenager. Who could blame him for doing what came naturally when
seized by a crowd of randy young males? No surprise then that at the next
village, the more enthusiastic youths led Xeno around by his hard prick,
letting everyone get a good look at him, giving them a chance to run their
hands over him and into his cleavage before bending him over their big log
drum to be fucked at both ends at the same time. It went a long way to
demonstrating their good intentions to the inhabitants of these regions.
Chapter 4. Maneaters
And then came Xeno's display of courage during his encounter with maneating
lions, the incident that saw him acclaimed by the tribes as the Lion Boy.
It began with a small party of native hunters finally tracking down a pair
of maneaters who had been plaguing the district. The full grown cats were
brothers from the same litter, big males with white coats. Not really
albinos, they had the yellow eyes of their tawny cousins. Already
twenty-seven people had been killed and carried off to be devoured. No one
knew why the big cats had turned maneater. Both appeared to be in the prime
of life, in excellent health, easily able to take their normal p