Chapter 45 | The Queen Who Ruled by Herself

Strangers and Friends

Temmin found himself paired with the postulant he’d begun to think of as The Walking Haystack--the raw-boned young man who’d been partnered with Anda, a huge pile of muscle topped with a thatch of straw-colored hair who was half a head taller than he was. “H’lo,” said the Haystack.

Temmin once again wondered about protocol when naked; did one shake hands, or bow, or what? He settled for an introduction. “Hello, I’m Temmin.”

“I know,” said the Haystack. “Everyone knows who you are.”

“I s’pose they do,” said Temmin. The conversation died. “And you are...?” he prompted.

“Mathanus, but everyone calls me Math.”

“Math. Right,” said Temmin. They stood there, Math looking down placidly, Temmin increasingly nervous, until finally he said, “So. Which of us should go first?”

“D’you not like men?” said Math curiously.

“Quiet, Mathanus Postulant!” said Barik, from the corner where he was subjecting himself to Davik’s nervous inspection. “You’re disturbing everyone’s concentration.”

“Beg pardon, sir,” said Math. He then nodded at Temmin and spread his arms slightly; he would go first.
Temmin sighed, looked him over and decided to start at the top. He slid his hands through Math’s rough, fair hair, eliciting a whimper of pleasure from the big man. “Well,” thought Temmin, “at least I won’t have to guess too hard at what he likes.” Temmin’s fingers traced over Math’s forehead, stroking his brows and cheekbones.

With each touch, Math gave the same little whimper, until Temmin reached his ears. For a moment, Temmin thought Math had stopped breathing, but then a groan of delight came from deep in his chest, startling Temmin so badly he pulled back. Timidly, he touched Math’s ear again, tracing its whorl down to the ear lobe; Math choked back another groan and trembled. There’s an obvious like, thought Temmin.

Over the hasty course of Temmin’s examination he discovered that in addition to the ears, Math found feathery touches to the small of his back, chest and ass cheeks groanworthy and seemed indifferent but appreciative of everything else. Temmin finished with strokes down Math’s calves, which seemed as thick around as most people’s thighs; when he sat back on his heels to gauge his subject’s response, he was at eye level with an equally thick and quite prominent erection that told him what he’d wanted to know. He scrambled to his feet, gave a weak smile and went to take his notes.

When he turned back around to take his turn, Math was waiting, still erect and still placidly smiling. Temmin himself was neither aroused nor calm, but spread his arms slightly and nodded. Math slid his thick fingers into Temmin’s mop of golden hair so delicately it took him by surprise; he shivered involuntarily as Math trailed his fingers expertly down his scalp from hairline to nape and back in light circles. He gasped in shock and pleasure, and his entire torso felt tingly. Math’s gentle smile broadened, and if Temmin had been able to focus, he would have seen the young man tick an item off a list in his head. He spent a long time just running his fingers and hands around Temmin’s hair and face, smoothing thumbs across his closed eyes, stroking his bearded jaw, making circles on his temples. Featherlight touches, firm touches, touches using only the fingertips, touches using only the palms--Math had done this before, it was plain.

By the time he’d made his way to Temmin’s hips the prince was at once relaxed and tense with arousal. He leaned back against Math’s shoulder and let the broad hands slip down his hips and circle his ass, making him shudder. He began to wish for the hands to slide to his front, to take his length in hand, let him push up through that huge fist. But Math did as they’d been instructed and stayed away from Temmin’s erection. He gently pushed Temmin away from his shoulder and dropped to his knees, keeping contact with Temmin’s legs. His fingers tapped and traced down the muscles of Temmin’s thighs, and when they reached the backs of his knees, Temmin shivered again.

By the time Math finished, Temmin was swaying on his feet and his eyes were closed. When Temmin opened them, Math had written out his observations in his notebook and was standing with his same placid smile. “Thank you,” said Math, reaching down for a kiss. Temmin met him halfway and kissed him fervently; he could feel the stubble on Math’s chin against his face, and it made him kiss the blond man harder. “You do like men, then,” said Math happily when it ended.

“It depends on the man, actually,” said Temmin with an embarrassed smile. “Girls are more in my line.”

“I’m the opposite,” said Math. “Men are more in my line. Women, however--” here he looked to where Anda was driving Evra nearly mad with caresses-- “I’m learning women can be fun, too.”

“Which one?”

“Oh, Anda Supplicant. I think I might break anyone smaller.”

“I don’t think any of the girls here are made of porcelain, Math,” said Temmin.

Their conversation was cut short by Barik, who had the room pair off again. They spent the whole morning touching and being touched, working their way through the various pairings, until the men’s arousal never subsided and the women had a glazed look. Temmin was finding it hard to keep his balance; he was getting tired, and he was so hungry. A few times, his stomach growled so loudly heads turned in his direction. By the time he came to his final partner, Barik, Temmin didn’t know what he wanted more--to come or to eat. Both his balls and his stomach ached.

Temmin was glad Barik was last; he’d learned quite a bit from the postulants, and thought he could make a good show of things with the Lover. He rubbed his hands together and began. Barik stood patiently as Temmin gauged his responses to various touches. Though the prince tried, he couldn’t get much reaction from the Lover, though the huge erection still stood out in front of him. At least I haven’t actively disinterested him, thought Temmin, trying to avoid the bobbing cock as he kneeled to work on Barik’s legs and feet. When he finished, he struggled to his feet and went to write down his eleventh set of findings in his notebook. Returning, he took up the stance in front of Barik.

However good Math and a few of the others might have been, none of them could match Barik. He seemed to instinctively know exactly where and how to touch Temmin, and within a minute the supplicant was panting and trying to keep steady on his feet. “If I fall over from touches,” Temmin thought, “I’ll look a right idiot,” and he straightened his legs stiffly to keep himself upright. Barik kept it up, sure touches to Temmin’s nape and shoulders, fingernails tracing along his arms and chest, a soft swipe of the palm along his ass cheeks. Soon he was trembling, and he broke out in a sweat. The room seemed unbearably stuffy; was it getting dark? he thought dimly as he began to sway back and forth. There was a crash that sounded as if it came from very far away.

Temmin woke up on his back on one of the wide sofas. Bessa was fanning him with her notebook, her face anxious, and the whole class was looking down on him, arousal replaced with concern. “What just happened?” he said, propping himself up on one elbow.

“You fainted, Supplicant,” said Barik, leaning against the wall.

“I what?”

“You keeled right over, Tem!” exclaimed Bessa. “Barik caught you on the way down--it was as if someone had knocked you over the head! Are you all right? Are you sick? Perhaps we should call a Sister, Barik Lover.”

“When’s the last time you ate, boy?” said Barik.

“Dinner last night,” he answered, ruffling his hair and sitting up all the way. “I just ran out of time to eat this morning.”

“He’s fine,” said Barik with a snort. “Hunger, overstimulation and locking your knees can definitely lead to passing out. Eat before you arrive next time, Supplicant, and don’t lock your knees. For now, off to the Supplicant’s Chamber with you. Bessa, go with him and make sure he gets something to eat. Take Mathanus with you in case he faints again. The rest of you can either leave now for the dining hall or go attend to your needs in the dormitory if the morning’s lesson has left you too flustered to eat immediately.” Clothes practically flew through the air as the postulants and supplicants hurriedly dressed and ran for some privacy.

“I didn’t faint,” grumbled Temmin as Math and Bessa escorted him down the hall, one on each elbow.

“It’s all right,” said Math cheerfully. “I nearly faint whenever I’m near Barik, too.”

“I didn’t faint!” They walked down the hall in silence for a moment, then Temmin added, “And besides, he knew my knees were locked and what could happen and didn’t tell me--what does that mean, anyway, ‘locked knees?’”

“Extending your legs too straight. You want to keep your knees a little bent, always,” said Math. “I learned at the Temple of Farr. I was a postulant there before here.”

“Why’d you switch?” said Bessa, opening the door to the Chamber.

Math shrugged and herded Temmin through the door. “I liked the training, and it was nice to be with just men--no offense,” he added to Bessa, who nodded. “But in the end, I’m not really interested in killing people, not even for the glory of Farr and the empire. Brother Imbert said I was a waste of muscle and that I’d be better off going home to Barle. I didn’t want to go home. He said I looked like the type who could learn to enjoy the touch of a woman, so why not try the Lovers Temple. And here I am.”

“Imbert?” said Temmin, letting Bessa settle him on a couch. “He’s our trainer at the Keep!”

“Really!” said Math, impressed. “He’s very good. You’ll learn a lot, if you live through it.”

“After this morning, I’m wondering if I will,” said Temmin ruefully.

“Apparently, Barik told them we would be here for lunch,” said Bessa, taking the covers off several dishes on the table before them--chicken, slices of ham, cheeses, fruit, bread. “Eat. Not you--Temmin!” she said, slapping Math’s hand away. “You do realize Imbert was insulting you, Mathanus.”

“He was?” said Math, wistfully watching Temmin eat.

“Nothing worse than being the type who could learn to enjoy the touch of a woman, as far as the Brothers are concerned,” she said. “Oh, eat something, Math, just don’t hog it all.”

“If I recall correctly, you’re not particularly averse to the touch of a woman yourself,” said Temmin, wiping his mouth.

“Not averse in the least,” said Bessa, picking grapes off a bunch. “I had to learn to enjoy the touches of men. And you? Which do you prefer?” She put down the bunch of grapes. “If you had to pick one of us right now, which would you pick, male or female?”

“Right now, the only body I’m interested in is this one,” said Temmin, waggling a chicken leg. He munched on it meditatively. “Actually,” he said, swallowing, “it’s all very confusing. It never occurred to me to be interested in boys. Whenever I fooled around with--well, I had some experiences, but I just thought of them as being because we didn’t have any girls around. Substitute, d’you see.”

“And now?” said Math, unable to keep the interest off his guileless face.

“Now, well, I still really, really like girls. And there’s something about boys, too, something I don’t entirely understand. The only man I’ve been with intentionally is Issak--” Temmin finally noticed the expression on Math’s face and blushed-- “and I mean, maybe it’s just Issak, I mean, really, Issak, how could anyone not want to do something with Issak? Ehm, Bessa?” he said, appealing for a diversion, “how do you feel about boys these days?”

“Oh, I like boys just fine these days,” she grinned. “Do go on about how much you like them.” Temmin turned bright red.

“It’s all right,” said Math, “I think I have my answer. You’re still coming to terms.” He leaned over and kissed Temmin until his toes curled. “That’s all right. I’ve plenty of time and plenty of things to keep me busy.” He stood up and gave a small bow. “G’day, Supplicants, I’ll see you after lunch.”

Temmin watched the big blond man amble out of the Chamber. “Did I insult him? I didn’t mean to.”

“No, he’s fine,” said Bessa. “He’s right. You’re still coming to terms with finding men attractive, let alone having sex with people you barely know.”

“It was easier with you and Anda because you’re girls. It just felt more--natural, I guess,” he said, groping for a term. “And Allis and Issak had me rather stirred up at the time. But now--” he took Bessa’s hand-- “you’re not strangers, either of you.”

Bessa leaned her head against his shoulder. “I don’t think we have time now, Tem.”

“That transparent?”

“That transparent, sweetheart.” She patted his knee and stood up.

“What if I called you my good little girl?” he said as she pulled him from the couch. Bessa just laughed and led him back down the hall.