Pueros

Princes

What Really Happened To The Princes In The Tower

Chapters 6-12

Chapter 6
Koceks

Three of the black eunuchs came to collect the appalled and tremulous Dane but, after releasing him, they did not drag him to the plinth. One simply gripped the quaking boy firmly by the arm as the other two unchained Edward, who was also not forced to the bloody edifice. The two naked 13 years olds were instead led out of the terrible chamber, held by a black eunuch apiece, and along a couple of the ostentatious corridors to another large extravagantly appointed room with seaview. The boys now realised that the words said by the bearded man in front of them, which were different to those uttered before their four companions, including Robert, indicated different fates. The Moor's promise to the Spanish captain was to be only half fulfilled, at least for now.

Two other beautiful blonde-haired blue-eyed boys, both aged 14, were lounging on two of the four beds inside the chamber. The older lads were virtually nude for they only wore a tight leather harness. This comprised a narrow collar connected, by straps at the front and back, to a slim belt from which cords ran down either side of their buttocks to join underneath their loins before linking with a genital cover, attached to the front of the belt by another cord. There was a small lock at the rear conjunction of the belt. However, it was the genital cover that fascinated the newcomers, who were also experiencing a strange mixture of relief at avoiding the castration plinth and intense sadness that their companions had not been so lucky. Edward was particularly mournful at having seen his younger brother suffer so and be permanently damaged in such a terrible way. He wondered when he would be able to see his sibling again and what their futures now had in store for them.

The genital cover was made of toughened very hard leather and had been made to fit the wearer perfectly. It was very noticeable because the boys' cocks were encased in leather tubes, standing out vertically with its end open. The chastity harness was designed to prevent the wearer from playing with himself, for the genital casing was taut and could not be squeezed, whilst still allowing him to toilet.

The 14 years olds, a German and a Lowlander, were addressed by one of the black eunuchs for, after twelve months in the Harem, they now spoke fluent Turkish. They were told that they had to help induct the newcomers to their new lives, as they themselves had been a year earlier by their own predecessors. Both 14 years olds were deeply dismayed, not at the order but what it would probably soon imply. However, they knew that the best way to try to change their likely destinies was to remain obedient and continue, in particular, to please their master for as long as they were allowed.

Edward and the young Dane, who was called Christian, spent two months in their sumptuous quarters, gradually learning some of the Turkish language and all of their demeaning new duties. The latter was achieved by observing practical demonstrations and then attempting what they had seen. Their own made-to-measure leather harnesses were only removed by their assigned black eunuchs for their daily bathing, in the opulent bathroom adjacent to their bedroom, or when necessary for their training. When the newcomers were eventually ready to take over the roles that had been performed for a year by the German and Lowlander, they were, to their shame, very eager to start for they needed sexual relief badly, a state intensified by aphrodisiacs.

The day finally arrived for the first performance by Edward and Christian. As they were being prepared, their two older companions of the previous two months, who had generally displayed a brave fatalistic attitude throughout, as they helped their new friends whilst also continuing to serve their master, were taken to the castration chamber to become the latest white eunuchs. Their courageous composure broke as they proceeded to the awful room, scene of many thousands of geldings during the previous thirty years, and both were fruitlessly sobbing and crying for mercy as they passed through the entrance door. At the same time, the last four north-western European boys to have had the pleasure of lying on the plinth, including Robert, were being readied for their inaugural duties. They had recovered, as fully as is possible, from being castrated and had been well trained to fulfil their new tasks, Robert for Prince Selim and the other three for the Sultan. Their instruction had been shorter than that of Edward and Christian because their roles were less comprehensive. This had enabled them to be ready to start at the same time as the older neophytes, despite having to wait to commence their training as a consequence of their necessary recuperation.

Edward and Christian were dressed completely in expensive but thin translucent white silk. Tight minuscule briefs were covered by a very short taut skirt and both were topped by a flowing hooded dress. Their faces had been made up, their nipples gilded and their bodies lightly oiled. Both now displayed feminine appearances, enhanced by allowing their hair to grow even longer than it had been and be combed in a girlish way, and this impression was deliberate. At the time and until the appearance of ‘rakkase' or ‘belly dancers', public dancing by women was not allowed under Islamic law. The Sultan's female concubines only danced for their own entertainment. It was custom instead to have effeminate boys perform at weddings and other public events. The two 13 years olds were the new koceks, as such boys were called, of Bayezid's Harem and their duties, like those of the eunuch concubines, were to extend beyond the court to the Sultan's bedchamber.

Chapter 7
Performances

(Topkapi Palace, Constantinople, March 1484)

The new koceks, dressed in tight minuscule briefs, very short taut skirts and flowing hooded dresses, all made from translucent white silk, were escorted by their black eunuchs to the Treasury, the Sultan's personal quarters. Both thoroughly humiliated boys, faces made up, nipples gilded, bodies lightly oiled and long blonde hair combed in a feminine way, could not now be physically distinguished from young girls, especially as their erections were tightly constrained by the briefs. They were deeply ashamed at what they now had to do but this was mixed with guilty excitement, enhanced by aphrodisiacs and enforced recent chastity.

Bayezid, fully and splendidly robed, was in one of the Treasury's main chambers, seated on a solid gold throne inlaid with ebony and mother-of-pearl. The walls of the magnificent room were decorated with jewelled armour and weapons and miniature paintings. The throne surrounds were decorated with beautiful boy eunuch concubines, aged from 6 to 15 and attired only in tiny thongs. The sparse garments of the white catamites were purple and those of their black counterparts red. They were attending to the Sultan's every need.

Six of the boys stood in threesomes, either side of the throne. One on the left held a full goblet of juice, another held a bowl of fruit whilst the third held perfumed cloths to wipe, whenever necessary, his master's hands and brow. One on the right held a dish containing salad, cheese and cold meat morsels, another a dish of sweetmeats whilst the third wafted a big feather-shaped fan, taller than the boy himself, to stir the air around his master for it was a warm early spring evening. Another young eunuch lay curled on all fours in front of the throne to provide the Sultan with a footrest. Two kneeled either side of this boy, ready to open their master's lower robe to service in tandem the erection hidden underneath. Four more gelded catamites, sitting cross-legged in a corner, played four different musical instruments producing soothing melodies. Another four stood nearby, ready to obey any command from their master. The Sea of Marmara, delightfully revealed through the large window, reflected many specks of light from passing ships as well as the full moonlight.

Edward and Christian were led past the large contingent of ogling white eunuch guards into Bayezid's presence. The new koceks and their escorts immediately knelt and touched the tiled floor with their foreheads before the latter, maintaining their demeaning posture, crawled backwards out of the chamber. The music changed to signal to the 13 years olds that they could stand to perform their dance. They did so but could not prevent themselves blushing in acute embarrassment, which was increased when they saw that most of the eunuchs were smirking at them, including the three freshly emasculated younger concubines from north-western Europe. At the same moment, the fourth new gelding from that locale was being re-presented to his own new master in the latter's bedchamber.

Richard's wound had healed well, with his now permanently flaccid little cock providing a nice ornamentation to his ball-less loins. Selim ordered the 10 years old to remove the red thong so that he could check the skill of the castrater. The Ottoman Prince held the English Prince's penis whilst he looked underneath at the empty scrotum. 'Good work,' Selim announced before asking 'What's it like not to have balls any more, slave?' The redness of Richard's beautiful face intensified as he now had sufficient grasp of Turkish to understand the question and be able to answer. 'It feels no different from before, Highness,' the boy replied with a strong foreign lilt to the words and whilst his gorgeous blue eyes filled with tears. 'That's because you're probably too young to appreciate what you've lost,' responded Selim, 'so I'll demonstrate what that is now. Go and lie face down on my bed, slave, legs wide apart!'

Despite their apprehensive nervousness, Edward and Christian proceeded well with their co-ordinated erotic routine. Having gradually removed the outer dress and then skirt, both boys were now dancing in just their briefs. The outlines of their hard cocks were clearly noticeable through the tight translucent material. Bayezid had become sufficiently aroused himself at the sight of his two new koceks that the heads of the eunuchs kneeling next to the throne were nuzzled in his lap.

The time eventually came for the briefs to be removed and, as they were lowered, the mouth of one of the kneeling catamites filled with white liquid, which was swallowed with practised ease. Edward and Christian danced nude for almost a quarter of an hour, during which time their own cocks became harder and harder. The musical tones then changed to announce the koceks' second act. Edward lay on the floor whilst his friend positioned himself on all fours above. Christian's mouth was located vertically above Edward's throbbing erection whilst his own rigid vibrating penis pointed invitingly straight down towards the English Prince's eager lips. A classic but quick demonstration of ‘69' sex then followed.

Selim disrobed, revealing a hard cock surprisingly big for a 13 years old. Richard's anus had already been greased by his black eunuch and so the Ottoman Prince just had to kneel between the English Prince's legs and lean forward to begin the removal of the 10 years old's virginity. Selim's erection probed between the horrified Richard's bumcrack searching for its target. Once found, the Ottoman wasted no time in deflowering the Yorkist. Richard screamed as his pink sphincter was agonisingly penetrated and the invading shaft filled his rectum. Tears soiled the rich bedclothes as the 13 years old began to thrust his intensely excited cock in and out of the 10 years old for ten minutes until finally exquisite orgasm was achieved.

Selim required Richard to use his English lips and tongue to clean and reactivate the tired Turkish penis before, after an hour of such attention, the boy's oral orifice was impregnated in the same manner as the anal one. The Ottoman Prince now ordered his sore new slave to redress in the tiny red thong and go to collect his supper.

Meanwhile, Bayezid had relocated from the throne-room to his own nearby bedchamber, where he had been undressed by some of his retinue of boy eunuchs. The naked Edward and Christian already awaited him on the vast bed.

Chapter 8
Threesome

(Topkapi Palace, Constantinople, March 1484)

Both Edward and Christian were terrified, although their re-hardened cocks might have suggested otherwise. The two 13 years olds, one the true King of England, now expected to lose their virginity and they had been told to expect pain as their innocence was taken away. Bayezid approached his huge richly draped bed with the two new naked koceks lying face-up on either side leaving, as instructed, a wide space for the Sultan to recline in the middle. The potentate's hairy penis, exceptionally large for a man of his short height, was only semi-erect, having been recently serviced by a couple of his eunuch concubines as he sat in the throne-room watching the latest additions to his inner household perform their highly demeaning erotic dance. With the eunuchs now departed from the bedchamber, the threesome was alone.

Bayezid took his place on the bed and the two new koceks began their disagreeable duties according to their training. Edward, lying on the left, started to lick and suck the Sultan's nearest nipple whilst Christian did the same to the potentate's cock. Both boys had practised on life-sized wooden dolls and themselves but this was the first time that either tasted an adult male and it disgusted them, especially as the man's body pervaded a natural sweaty stink despite his frequent perfumed bathing. However, the koceks had been too well versed in their tasks, as well as suitably frightened about the consequences of under-performance, to proceed inefficiently.

At the appropriate moment, Christian moved to pay attention to Bayezid's right nipple whilst Edward transferred to the Sultan's balls. The man's cock had already grown hard again. The young Dane eventually moved his mouth down the hirsute body to the navel whilst his English companion tongued all sides of the penis, which was now dribbling precum.

After a while, Bayezid turned over to allow his new slaves to use their oral orifices to pleasure his hairy back and buttocks, before running the tips of their tongues up and down the cleft in the middle of the latter, each in turn successfully lingering at the fetid sphincter despite the strong urge to be sick. The Sultan eventually returned to his former position so that the boys could resume their original work until he was ready to destroy the virginity of the first of them. The man signalled whose it was to be by tapping his hand on his initial choice's head, which was that of Edward, of whose royal status he was fully aware.

Bayezid was gaining much pleasure from observing the Prince's degradation for most Turks and their neighbours had never forgiven what English Kings and their allies had been responsible for during the various Crusades of earlier centuries. The thought that his son, Selim, was almost certainly subjecting the other younger emasculated Prince to similar indignities further pleased him, as did the notion that the older sibling's balls, or possibly even more, would also be removed whenever he chose. Meanwhile, the Sultan had elected to play with the possessor of the endangered royal testicles.

Edward reluctantly assumed the required position, back against the ornate headboard, legs wide apart in the air, wrapped in position by his elbows. Bayezid had always liked male virgins to adopt this stance so that he could enjoy the sight of their tears and agonised expressions as he buggered away their innocence, and this occasion was to be no different. The Sultan had deprived several thousand of their anal purity over the years, ever since he was boy, and now had at least one a week brought to him to supplement the delicious fare provided by his various concubines. After honouring the pretty male slaves by debauching their young bodies, they would be found work somewhere in the outer courts. The potentate was pleased to see his oldest son was now maintaining the family tradition and had already decided to reward him by allowing him access to the new koceks.

Bayezid knelt before the quivering Edward, relishing the sight of the beautiful but frightened young face and the delightful upturned orbs of his smooth scrotum with the rigid cock pointing upwards towards his navel. The boy's penis seemed to throb in rhythm with the winking of the exposed lips of the pink virgin anal entrance below. The Sultan moved himself and his erection towards the target until his large drooling cockhead pressed gently against it. The English boy immediately shuddered and white liquid flowed up his belly, forming a pool around his navel. The potentate responded to the effrontery by driving himself forward to take away the 13 years old's virginity to accompanying crying and tears from the victim and groans of pleasure from the perpetrator. Meanwhile, Christian had returned to licking the man's vile bumcrack, but with some difficulty because of the now fast and frequent thrusts his new master was making in and out of his friend's freshly violated rectum.

It took the Sultan half an hour to impregnate the true English King, having slowed his action to enjoy the experience of deflowering him more fully. Edward's own cock gradually and humiliatingly rose again from its flaccid condition as his prostrate's pleasure overwhelmed his anus' agony until, when he felt Bayezid begin to fill his insides with hot thick sperm, he produced more of his own.

By the time the potentate withdrew and lay down on his back again, Christian's tongue was as dry and numb as his friend's rectum was wet and raw. The young Dane was accordingly pleased not to have to undertake the cleaning of the man's bloody, cum-covered rapidly softening penis, despite his sorrow at seeing the clear distress of his friend, who was now required to discharge this particular onerous task.

Whilst a tearful Edward performed his distasteful work, Christian attended again to the hairy nipples, hoping that Bayezid would now be too tired to deflower him. However, the boy was disillusioned within the hour and he too could not prevent himself from cumming as his virginity was agonisingly taken away.

Having literally had his fill of his two new koceks for now, Bayezid rose from the bed. The two nude boys, semen spilling from their ravaged rectums and bellies, immediately followed, despite their very sore behinds, and prostrated themselves before their debaucher. They did not raise their brows from the tiled floor until they were sure that the Sultan had been cleansed and redressed by the recalled young eunuchs and had left the bedchamber to return to the throne-room.

The 13 years olds, speechless in trauma, waited kneeling, as instructed, for their black eunuchs to arrive to collect them. They then expected to go back to their quarters. However, their expectation was not to be immediately fulfilled for they had to pay for their unauthorised ejaculations and the Turks gave far more imagination to their punishments than other civilisations. Edward and Christopher were not to suffer beatings but something far more discomforting and very appropriate for displeasing their new master in the way they had.

Robert, however, was due to receive a thrashing, his first ever. The boy had also suffered an accident but not from his genitals, which were sexually lifeless. The trembling 10 years old, fearful of his own new 13 years old master, had dropped the supper tray on his return to Selim's chambers.

Chapter 9
Displeasure

(Topkapi Palace, Constantinople, March 1484)

Black eunuchs did not arrive to collect the naked Edward and Christian from their demeaning positions, quietly kneeling in front of the bed on which they had just been debauched, semen, mixed with a little blood, dribbling down the insides of their legs from their painful rectums. Two of Bayezid's young emasculated catamites, bearing broad smiles on their faces, eventually came instead to return the 13 years olds to the throne-room next door.

The koceks were faced with a scene similar to previously, when they had performed their degrading erotic dance for their new master. The Sultan was sat on the throne, being attended as before by nine boy eunuchs whilst sweet musical tones flowed around. However, two box chairs had been placed next to each other on the tiled floor, facing the throne. The escorting duo had been half of the foursome who had been standing in reserve near the musicians and the other half were now sitting crosslegged, one behind each chair, holding a handle apiece.

The deeply apprehensive Edward and Christian were soon to discover the purpose of these handles after they were instructed by their escorts to sit on the chairs, positioning their sphincters against a small round protuberance in the centre of the seat. The two young eunuchs then tightly strapped the nude boys' limbs to the front edges and the arms of the chair, securing them immovably in place, and gagged their mouths. Bayezid nodded to their crosslegged counterparts, who began to turn their handles slowly. The two koceks both blushed vividly and uttered muffled surprised groans as their already sore anuses were invaded by dildos sized to fill their rear orifices to the full. Each escort whispered the same sentences in an ear of each agonised boy. 'For displeasing your Almighty Master,' they said, 'by not being able to control your penises. You will remain here until you cum again, with the last to do so staying in his chair until he cums a second time!' Both penitents immediately developed goosepimples.

The four spare eunuchs took turns to revolve the handles remorselessly, initially to accompanying stifled moans and sobbing. However, the seated boys' flaccid cocks, fully exposed between splayed legs, gradually began to rise as the pain from the dildos' regular thrusts into their insides slowly transmuted into pleasure as their prostrates started to appreciate the attention afforded by the contraptions.

The chairs had been brought to entertain the new koceks from the Forbidden Palace's punishment chamber, very well equipped to inflict a wide range of chastisements and to which, in return for dropping the supper tray, Selim had decided to take his latest young eunuch. A black eunuch, ingeniously expert in the art of inflicting pain, presided over the establishment. After suffering the usual prolonged prostration from the man, the Ottoman Prince ordered that the petrified Richard be manacled and suspended off the floor, whilst he went to inspect the array of paddles, canes and whips.

The smirks on the faces of Bayezid's eunuch concubines were not as full as might have been expected as they observed the facial and genital contortions of Edward and Christian. They found the koceks' predicament amusing but this was tempered by the realisation that they themselves were literally incapable of rising to the challenge facing the 13 years olds.

Edward and Christian had spent over half an hour on the chairs when their cockheads, drooling precum, almost simultaneously emerged from under the foreskin cover of their uncut throbbing vertical penises. The spectators realised that the boys were very close but most changed their minds several times about who would achieve first climax. Those who finally chose the young Dane were to be proved correct as white fluid oozed gently out of his penile slit and ran down his engorged member. Disappointingly for the watchers, there was no spurting of semen as the lad had spent most of his reserves during his earlier two orgasms of this balmy spring night. However, this initial lack of spectacle was compensated for soon afterwards as the former English Prince produced a little white fountain, resulting in his scrotum being fulsomely smeared with his own seed. For his efforts, he was rewarded with the delights of the dildo for a further hour before he was capable of another, much less dramatic ejaculation.

Selim decided to be merciful as the beating would undoubtedly be the first of many of the 10 years old eunuch's life. He selected a hard wooden paddle, this one kindly without perforations, which would have caused far worse wheals. The Ottoman Prince stood behind the former English Prince, now nothing more than a miserable emasculated miscreant slave. Richard, attired in his tiny thong, was already crying quietly in terror before he felt the paddle rub teasingly against his bare rump. The tremulous boy became much louder when his 13 years old master delivered the first blow that reddened the left bumcheek. A second strike quickly followed, adding symmetry to the crimson marking.

The suspended and screaming Richard, face awash with tears, swayed gently as a rain of hits were applied to his bottom, already very sore because of his earlier deflowerment. The boy's worst suffering occurred when the paddle straddled the bumcrack or landed on the very sensitive areas between upper leg and buttock. However, Selim became bored and a little tired after inflicting sixteen blows and threw the implement to the floor. A 13 years old hand felt the now purple 10 years old backside, the fingers relishing in the heat that had been created and the agonised winces their touch induced from the victim.

Selim, always wanting to experiment, asked the fawning black eunuch whether he had any new devices of torment that could now be tried on Richard.

Chapter 10
War

(Topkapi Palace, Constantinople, March 1484)

13 years old Edward was brought before the similarly aged Selim, who was lying naked on his huge, richly draped bed. Next to him, equally nude, was his latest gelded catamite, just 10 years old. 'I have just enjoyed buggering my eunuch,' the heir to the Ottoman throne kindly informed the rightful King of England, 'so I want you to strip and join us. You may have the pleasure of cleaning your younger brother's juices from my member before I enjoy your anal orifice as well.'

Edward, like his younger sibling, deeply ashamed at the circumstances in which he found himself but fully knowing the likely excruciating consequences of disobedience, having seen the Forbidden Palace's well-equipped punishment facility, meekly complied.

(South-east Anatolia, June 1484)

Bayezid had grown impatient of his generals' lack of progress in the conquest of Syria and had therefore made a rare foray from the luxuries of life at his Constantinople home to visit his main Asian army. The Sultan wanted to emulate, if not surpass, the conquests of his father, Mehmet II, and thought that his presence amongst the troops would speed victory.

Bayezid had taken Selim with him so that his heir could experience war for the first time. The Sultan had also decided to be accompanied by a couple of bed companions. It was unacceptable to be seen outside the Forbidden Palace with eunuch catamites, but koceks were a different matter altogether. Edward and Christian therefore emerged from the 3rd Court, after six months of gilded incarceration, to pass through the palace's outer water gate, guarded by two massive cannons, to join the illustrious duo on a resplendent galleon anchored in the Bosphorus. The potentate had enjoyed the still-whole bodies of young English royalty and Danish peasantry so much that he had decided not to castrate the boys until the Moor could provide adequate replacements later in the year.

The ship sailed, under the protection of a large fleet of similar vessels, to the current southern edge of the Ottoman Empire. The koceks did not enjoy the voyage as, without their eunuchs, the Imperial father and son shared the boys so that their every minor requirement could be constantly instantly attended to, including certain voracious needs within the boat's magnificent state bedchambers.

Bayezid and Selim had been received in great splendour at the port of Iskenderun, not far from the scene of the great battle of Issus in which Alexander the Great had first defeated Darius and his Persian host 1817 years previously. The Imperial party, escorted by many Janissaries, then made its way inland to the army's main encampment. As the road was treacherous for wagons, all rode on splendid Arabian steeds, including the koceks, who were dressed in silken baggy shirts and trousers, jewelled turbans and shoes curled at the toes, with the predominant colour being purple.

Edward had been accustomed to horses since his earliest years but Christian had never ridden and so his friend had had to introduce him to the basics of the skill. The young Dane's bottom felt very sore after he had dismounted, as dusk approached on the first day of the journey and night camp was being arranged. However, Selim, to whom Christian had been allocated to serve that day, wanted to go to a nearby hilltop to see what lay beyond. Edward, appreciating his fellow kocek's discomfort, swapped duties and rode with the Ottoman Prince and a few guards up the escarpment.

As the small group approached the summit, a large band of heavily armed cavalry appeared from the other side. There was immediate alarm as the enemy contingent, which had been furtively shadowing the Sultan's cavalcade, rained arrows at their Turkish foe as the latter tried to turn to flee. The arrows were cleverly and skilfully aimed not at the riders but at their mounts and soon all of the animals had collapsed to the ground, wounded or dying.

The Arabs and their Persian allies quickly surrounded the prone group but knew that they did not have much time to act. The even larger force of fierce Janissaries below had been alerted to their attack and were already on their way to rescue their precious Prince. The Turkish guards were rapidly despatched and Selim, trapped under his horse, swiftly extricated from his predicament. The valuable-looking young blonde-haired blue-eyed servant was also taken prisoner, a very large price for such a lovely boy in a slave market somewhere already being anticipated by his captors.

Selim and Edward found themselves sitting on horses in front of two cavalrymen who, with their fellow raiders, rode with great speed into the gathering gloom. Both 13 years olds felt knives pressing against their sides and the whiter boy also recognised another blunter, more human, implement seemingly trying to escape its covering to impale his bumcrack.

The Janissaries were too late to prevent their enemy's departure and there was insufficient light for successful pursuit. The heir to the Ottoman throne and the rightful King of England disappeared into the darkness and into the clutches of the Sultan's bitter enemies.

Chapter 11
Teheran

(August 1484)

Teheran did not become the capital of Persia until 1788 but it was the relatively unimportant town in which Selim and Edward found themselves within two months of their capture. The main city of the short-lived Turkuman Ak-Koyunlu (‘White Sheep') dynasty of Persia of the time was Tabriz. However, this grand metropolis was considered too vulnerable to Turkish rescue attempts for comfort and so the hostage Ottoman Prince was sent further east.

The Arab Emir of Aleppo had purchased both 13 years old captives from the mercenary cavalry, having listened to Selim's entreaties to keep his young personal servant. The ruler did not mind the additional large outlay to the original huge cost of acquiring the heir to the Ottoman throne. After all, he would receive much more from Tabriz for sending the precious prisoner to that city and he had to be looked after by someone on the way. He also had to consider his situation if the Turks did conquer his lands. Looking after the captured Prince's welfare might enable him to keep his exalted position.

Selim, with his servant, was eventually incarcerated in heavily guarded but luxurious quarters in the Governor of Teheran's palace, waiting to hear the result of the negotiations for his release between the Ak-Koyunlu and Ottoman dynasties. Unfortunately, when news filtered through to the town, it was not good. Bayezid had told his Persian counterpart that he could do what he wanted with Selim as he had other sons who could take his place.

As a result of this communication, Selim lost the little finger of his left hand, returned to Bayezid with the threat, despite Muslim conventions that forbade emasculating others of their faith, of an even more important part of the Prince to follow if the Sultan did not stop his attempted invasion of Syria. However, the boy's father remained unflinchingly stubborn. The Governor of Teheran therefore received instruction to have his important prisoner nullified, the severed genitalia to be conveyed initially back to Tabriz. He was additionally told that he could do whatever he wanted with the unimportant young servant, who was merely an infidel Christian. The local ruler thought that the latter would probably just lose his testicles, a young eunuch with his very rare features being more valuable than a boy still with his full masculinity.

The Turkish Prince became very depressed after the loss of his digit, not being able to understand his father's attitude. After all, surely Selim was more important than Syria. In his terror after being taken prisoner, the heir to the Ottoman throne had been desperate to retain at least one face that he knew near him and was glad that he had retained the rightful English King's services, as the latter was now gently nursing the former through his misery.

In his need since their capture, Selim had treated Edward much more respectfully, now performing many of his own menial chores and not forcing himself sexually on his fellow 13 years old. Their relationship grew into more equal companionship, given lives now forcibly spent living closely together and in mutual peril. Lovemaking eventually resumed, stimulated not just by sexual passion but also by awakening desire for intimate friendship. The Ottoman Prince had also allowed the previously unthinkable when he permitted the English Prince to deflower him. Having overcome initial reluctance and pain, the young Turk came to enjoy the experience.

The Governor did not consider his home to be an appropriate place in which to profane Muslim doctrine and so sent Selim, with his servant, to the local slave market, where the former could be nullified and returned whilst the latter was sold and probably subsequently gelded. The frightened boys were not told what was going to happen but feared the worst when they were packed one morning into the back of a covered horse-drawn wagon, escorted by a number of gubernatorial servants and soldiers. The vehicle conveyed them through the narrow busy streets of Teheran to the large building where their genitals were to be in great danger.

The scared Princes were unloaded from the wagon by the servants and taken through the front entrance to a large hall where there were many other boys, all naked. It was the day of the month when pretty young males were sold. Travelling castrators had set up their stalls in adjacent smaller rooms to accommodate the wishes of purchasers. Most of the boys for sale were in groups, supervised by adult slaves and their trader masters. All had their hands and feet chained together. Many were non-Muslim captives, including some white Christians from the Caucasus, slightly darker Zoroastrians from Persia itself, brown Buddhists and Hindus from the east and black spiritualists who had come from the south via Arabia.

Many buyers and voyeurs helped to fill the hall almost to capacity. Deals were struck with the traders and the boys who had achieved the required price were led away by their new owners, some to the rooms where the castrators practised their expertise. The risk of unmanning new young acquisitions successfully always fell on the purchasers, although this was usually minimal as, at this place and time, the skills required had been honed almost to an art form.

To their undisguised shock and shame, Selim and Edward quickly joined the other boys in nudity, although not in chains. Both, like many of the others, displayed unwanted erections. The Ottoman Prince was led to a side doorway where he was kept outside as the craftsman inside, the acknowledged local master of nullification, was busy attending to a 12 years old black. The English Prince was taken to the middle of the hall where he was immediately surrounded by men eager to examine the rare delicacy.

Many hands prodded and probed the aghast and deeply humiliated Edward. The various careful attentions included his mouth being checked, genitals fondled and weighed, buttocks rubbed and anus inspected for previous usage. A very substantial tender from an ugly squat fat brothel-keeper was eventually accepted, not as much as the boy could have attracted if he had still been virginal but nevertheless a worthwhile addition to the Governor's coffers. The appalled and tremulous 13 years old was then escorted to a different side door, inside which the talented craftsman specialised in removing testes.

The doors to Selim's and Edward's rooms of destiny were opened almost simultaneously. Both could see inside previous young victims lying on mattresses, loins swathed in bloodied bandages, and the bloodstained tables to which the new eunuchs had previously been strapped. Both Princes now guessed what type of fate imminently awaited them as they were dragged, struggling uselessly, towards the respective entrances.

Chapter 12
Rewards

(Teheran, Persia, August 1484)

As the terrified Edward was being dragged towards his destiny on the castration table by two of the Governor of Teheran's servants, he struggled mightily but uselessly to avoid his fate. Uselessly that is until he suddenly decided to bring his mind back from unrestrained panic to careful calculation in the midst of strife, the latter being an invaluable innate skill henceforth. The naked boy, cock still rigid, stopped his wriggling, as if he was resigned to what was about to happen. His adult escorts accordingly relaxed slightly. It was literally a fatal mistake on their part.

Edward stamped his right foot hard on top of the toes of one of the feet, covered only by a soft slipper, of the servant holding his right arm. He immediately followed this up with a vicious backward swing of his heel into the groin of the man holding his left arm. Both yelped and let go of their charge, who quickly disappeared amongst the throng filling the hall of the slave market.

The unguarded back exit was nearby but Edward did not make for it. The English Prince instead went in search of the Ottoman Prince and luckily speedily found him. A trader standing nearby was deprived of a sharp curved knife, resting in a scabbard attached to his waist, and the weapon was soon thrust into the side of one of Selim's two escorts, who immediately screamed and released his charge to grasp the knife protruding from his agonising wound. The other also removed his hands from the lad, not through pain but in terror. "Follow me!" commanded the rightful occupier of the English throne to the heir of the Ottoman equivalent. The latter, very surprised but immensely happy at the turn of events, unhesitatingly complied.

There was much shouting and confusion within the bustling crowd and this enabled the two nude, now unarmed, boys to rush through the unattended rear door into a quiet alleyway outside. Both ran for their lives. However, as they had departed the hall, their escape had been noticed by two men. A soldier, who had come into the slave market to view the young beauties being offered for sale, started in pursuit, followed by a civilian.

The morning was very hot, with not a cloud in the sky to prevent the sun from beating down mercilessly. The young naked escapees soon became sweaty and tired but the possessors of the adult feet that they could hear running behind them appeared to be unaffected, seemingly remorselessly coming closer and closer. The 13 years old nudes turned a corner and advanced a number of paces down the empty alley until they realised that it was a dead end, with high walls on all sides. They stopped and looked behind to see the soldier, sword in one hand and knife in the other, come round the corner, closely followed by the civilian, also armed with a knife.

Edward and Selim tried some of the doors that backed onto the narrow thoroughfare but all were locked. They eventually found themselves up against the wall marking the end of the alley with the soldier almost on top of them.

The terrified boys, now fearing for more than their balls, stood frozen, awaiting inevitable recapture and probable later horrible punishment if not execution. The soldier slowed to complete his mission. He smirked as he knew that the reward for preventing the loss of the two prisoners would be substantial. Unfortunately for him, the only reward that he actually received was a knife between his shoulder blades. The soldier fell dead to the ground and the two amazed and puzzled Princes looked at the civilian with the bloodstained blade. He immediately answered the question quite clearly displayed in their beautiful young eyes.

The response was in excellent Turkish for it was the man's native tongue. "I am one of the Sultan's spies, please follow me your Highness. I shall lead you and your servant to safety!"

The man was as good as his word, although it would take many months to return to Constantinople. Meanwhile, the servants who had carelessly allowed the boys to escape were beheaded for their incompetence, as was the Governor of Teheran.

The furtive journey back to the Ottoman capital was truly epic. The boys were smuggled out of the safe house of the spy, ostensibly a carpet trader, when the search for them in Teheran had become less frantic. They were wrapped amongst two of many rugs loaded into a horse-drawn wagon and which were supposed to be destined for markets in towns and villages to the north. However, their journey took them much further north than those communities. The threesome crossed the Elburz Mountains to a small port on the Caspian Sea. A long boat trip saw them advance up the whole length of the vast lake to Astrakhan, then controlled by Mongols, who took no interest in a trader apparently accompanied by two young slaves.

Another long dangerous wagon ride, this time towards the west, finally saw the trio reach territory controlled by the Ottomans. Officials in the Crim Tartary, conquered by Selim's grandfather, and now called southern Ukraine and the Crimea, took some persuading before they appreciated that the Sultan's heir had truly arrived in their land. The boy's dishevelled appearance had not helped his cause at first. However, after finally realising the error of their ways, the officials treated the threesome like Princes, which of course two were, before providing a galley to cross the Black Sea.

(Topkapi Palace, Constantinople, March 1485)

14 years old Edward was brought before the similarly aged Selim, who was lying naked on his huge, richly draped bed. Next to him, equally nude, was his latest gelded catamite, just 11 years old. "I have just enjoyed buggering my eunuch," the heir to the Ottoman throne kindly informed the rightful King of England, "so I want you to strip and join us. You may have the pleasure of cleaning your younger brother's juices from my member before I enjoy your anal orifice as well."

Edward, like his younger sibling, was deeply ashamed at the circumstances in which he found himself but, fully knowing the likely excruciating consequences of disobedience, having seen the Forbidden Palace's well-equipped punishment facility, meekly complied.

Edward disrobed and walked to the bed, cock just as rampant as that of Selim. The English Prince smiled at his grinning Turkish counterpart and said "Liar!" before leaning over to give his young lover a lingering kiss. He was, in the past, deeply ashamed at the circumstances in which he found himself but not anymore. His brother Richard, rightful Duke of York, was also no longer Selim's bedboy but was present only to perform one function.

"Turn over and splay your legs," commanded Edward to the young Ottoman, "so that my brother can grease you and I can enjoy your anal orifice as my reward for saving the life of the next Sultan!" Selim's grin widened as he meekly complied. He had gained much exquisite pleasure from the delightful and now skilful attentions his friend regularly afforded to his sublime rear.

The Princely duo had been back in the palace for a few days but this was the first time that they had spent privately together since their return. Edward had been granted several requests in return for his part in saving Selim from nullification and probably much worse. As a result, he and Christian were no longer koceks but had been given other roles, as had Richard, and an envoy had been despatched with some very valuable luggage to find the Moor trader. The spy had become an immensely rich man.

Bayezid had been happy to provide appropriate rewards for Selim's salvation, even if he had not been prepared to sacrifice Syria for his son's return. The boy never forgave his father for this stance, or forgot the lesson that he had gleaned from the keen willingness that his younger brother had apparently exhibited at being appointed, albeit temporarily, the new heir to the throne. His new English friend's influence would not extend to preventing the Ottoman Prince from ultimately rewarding his parent and sibling with exquisite revenge.

(Paris, France, June 1485)

Henry Bolingbroke had had to leave Brittany for Paris quickly the previous year, afraid of being arrested by the local Duke and returned to almost certain execution by Richard III. Henry had been promoting a tenuous claim to the English throne and the current incumbent wanted his rival eliminated.

Henry was now under the protection of the King of France but had been very frustrated at his inability to raise sufficient funds to take an army to England to reclaim the throne for the Lancastrian cause from the Yorkist regicide. He was beginning to believe that he would be forced to remain in exile for life, leaving Richard with his ill-gotten crown.

Henry was intrigued to be asked for an audience by a rich Moorish trader and had therefore granted the man his wish. His decision was rewarded in a manner that would change history as the Moor had brought with him a huge chest, which had originated in a faraway land. The chest was full of gold coin, on top of which was a letter written in English.

(Bosworth, England, August 1485)

"A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" was quoted by Shakespeare in his 'Richard III' (V. iv. 7) as being amongst the eponymous monarch's last words before he was rewarded for his usurpation of the English throne by being slain at the battle of Bosworth, although such a plea was probably hyperbolical. However, the importance of Henry Bolingbroke's victory cannot be underestimated. It brought an end to the Wars of the Roses and, although the new monarch, the first of the Tudors, was to be troubled by some impostors posing as the elder of the 'Princes in the Tower', his reign brought much-needed general tranquillity and prosperity. The King, largely unheralded but arguably the greatest in English history, left a peaceful and strengthened country, firmly in the control of the monarchy and with a full treasury, for his son, Henry VIII, to play with.

Henry VII now appreciated from the letter, the contents of which only he and the 14 years old sender knew about, where his young relations were located and why they did not want to return to their homeland to reclaim their inheritance. On his deathbed, he believed that he had rewarded the Princes for their largesse by not letting them down over his custodianship of the kingdom. He had married the boys' sister, Elizabeth of York, helping to resolve the English dynastic dispute that had caused the Wars that had lasted for three decades. By so doing, he also ensured that the Princes' blood flowed in the veins of his successors. Elizabeth I had many of the virtues of her great uncles within her character.

Henry VII had additionally ensured that a certain personage, who had been even more responsible for the boys' fate than Richard III, had also received his due reward. In 1502, the King had lured Sir James Tyrell, by now governor of the fortress of Guisnes in France, from his stronghold by a ruse and had him executed, appropriately, in the Tower of London.

(Constantinople, 1512)

Bayezid had not been particularly successful in adding lands to the Ottoman dominions during his reign and, believing as a result that he had somehow displeased Allah, became something of a religious mystic. The Sultan's inability to conquer much territory and his increasing disinterest in state affairs caused disaffection amongst many of the country's senior civilian and military officers. Selim therefore successfully took the opportunity to reward his father and brother for what had happened 28 years earlier. He usurped the throne and murdered his younger brother, along with his other male siblings and all their sons to ensure that no dangerous opposition to his coup, or rivals to his position, remained within his family.

Selim's English friend was on the Empire's northern borders and could do nothing to discourage the new Sultan from fratricide. Nevertheless, Edward remained loyal, despite his distaste for what had occurred, and both he and Richard were both promoted in reward for their previous services for the new master of the Ottoman Empire.

Richard, now known by a Turkish name and having been for many years the senior eunuch administrator who had looked after Selim's Princely affairs, became the Kapi Agha or Chief White Eunuch, basically the head of the Imperial Civil Service.

Edward, also now with a Turkish name and having been for many years a senior Janissary, became the supreme commander of Selim's Asian army, with Christian his principal lieutenant. They and their Sultan were to enjoy much glory over the next eight years as the Arab lands were conquered, doubling the size of the Empire. Syria, Mesopotamia, including modern-day Iraq, Palestine, Egypt and most of Arabia were all brought under Ottoman control.

At Mecca, location of the principal shrine of Islam, Selim, at Richard's suggestion, assumed the title of Caliph. Ottoman Sultans were for centuries thereafter considered to be the spiritual leaders of all Muslims, displacing the Caliphate of Baghdad and thus cementing their position as their faith's most powerful rulers.

The absorption of the Arab world into the Ottoman dominions led to many Arab intellectuals, artists, artisans and administrators flocking to Constantinople, making the Empire a much more sophisticated state, although tinged with greater devotion to Islam. An additional affect of total control of the Middle East trade routes by the Turks was to compel European states to seek alternative ways round Africa to China and India, thereby encouraging a golden age of exploration. The western European nations also looked more to the west, promoting a more rapid development of the Americas than would otherwise have occurred. It is a strange fact that the United States of America might not be the great country that it undoubtedly now is if Selim and his friends had not enjoyed such success.

(Vienna, Austria, 1529)

Suleyman inherited an enviable position when he succeeded his father, Selim, after the latter had died of natural causes in 1520, mourned in particular by two English friends. The new Sultan's reign was to be long and brilliant, augmented initially by his sensible decision to retain his father's chief eunuch and general in their prominent positions.

The Empire reached the height of political power and came close to its maximum geographical extent during Suleyman the Magnificent's 46 years on the throne. The new Sultan started the adornment, at his Kapi Agha's suggestion and with his expert administrative assistance, of many of the principal cities of Islam with splendid mosques, aqueducts, bridges and other works. His Chief White Eunuch also devised wise new regulations relating to land tenure that earned his master the title of 'Kanuni' or 'Lawgiver'. His chief general helped him to launch the conquest of those parts of the Balkans not already under Ottoman control, as well as Tabriz, Aden, Rhodes and much of north Africa as far as Algiers. For his achievements, the potentate was regarded everywhere as the most significant ruler in the world.

In 1529, the Ottoman European army, under Edward's command, had just broken the power of Hungary and was now besieging Vienna. If the city fell, the whole of Christian Europe would be in great peril from Muslim conquest and the loyal general was on the brink of success when he was fatally wounded. On his deathbed, the 58 years old, who, in traditional Janissary fashion, had retained his Christianity, saw his imminent demise as a sign from Heaven. He therefore persuaded his distraught Imperial master to be satisfied with his existing territorial gains in the north. The Sultan accepted the wisdom of the person who had served him and his father so well as both man and boy. The former English Prince, who had never bothered to bed a female, therefore performed one final service for his faith and made yet another major contribution to the history of the world.

Just before he closed his eyes for the last time, with his beloved Dane, Christian, holding his hands, Edward wondered at God's ways. He finally realised that the Lord, who was about to receive him, had never meant him to be a King of England, or his now eunuch brother a royal Duke of that realm, but instead people far more significant.

The End