Pueros

Tamerlane's Boys

Chapters 16-18

Chapter 16
Emotions

Disaster befalls one of Tamerlane's boys.

(Persia, November 1392)

Tamerlane first returned to the scene where Rezan's late father had captured Vissarion, Arman and Nicolai. Here, he recovered the bodies of the murdered bodyguards and guides from the secret burial site to where his boys could now lead him. He then progressed to Kashan, where the men were re-interred with full honours and from where pensions of much gold were dispatched to their families back in Transoxonia.

Tamerlane subsequently went to inflict appropriate punishment on a city that had treacherously repudiated a previous very generous peace treaty with the conqueror, killing many of his soldiers in the process. More horrendous towers of thousands of skulls were to appear once again on the Persian landscape.

Despite their inherent decency, Tamerlane's boys felt little sorrow for most of the victims. It was not only a cruel age when massacres of whole municipal populations were not unusual but also there was little sympathy for rebels who had blatantly defied the conqueror's suzerainty, knowing full well, from earlier examples, what the consequences could be. It was not as if the people concerned had been forcibly cajoled into revolt by unwise leaders, for the bloody uprising, like others in similar cities, had been pursued with popular nationalistic zeal.

Despite the terrible scenes to which they were witnesses, Tamerlane's boys, now officially comprising just 15 years old Vissarion and 12 years old Nicolai, with 10 years old Rezan a currently peripheral presence, only experienced compassion for the Persian children, innocent victims of their parents' folly. Accordingly, the young Georgian led the way in using all his well-practised charms on his master to persuade him to alter his early intent. The young Muscovite had been happy to assist his friend and so the conqueror had stood no chance in maintaining his original stance. As a consequence, most of the rebel offspring were enslaved rather than decapitated and a not inconsequential minority actually enjoyed better lives than previously.

The pretty brown haired and eyed Rezan watched the awful sights outside the city walls whilst displaying no feeling. He also observed his new friends' loving manipulation of Tamerlane with apparent disinterest. However, inside his pretty slim frame, the young Persian was suffering an intensity of conflicting emotions not experienced for many years, ever since he had learnt to hide his true passions.

Rezan desperately wanted to love and be loved, emotions he was seeing at first hand being enjoyed fulsomely by Tamerlane and his remaining pair of boys. The young Persian now shared the conqueror's resplendent large new tent, compartmentalised to allow separate accommodation for the three young occupants and their master. However, the 10 years old was not stupid and had recognised that Vissarion and Nicolai rarely occupied their own beds.

Although the young Georgian and Muscovite, out of diplomatic consideration for the newcomer, had always tried to creep secretly to join the conqueror, Rezan had noticed their supposedly furtive moves. The young Persian had previously become accustomed to listening for the sounds of the night in case they heralded the dreaded approach of his father or mother, usually to beat him for no real reason other than their own drunkenness or anger with some unconnected person or matter. The 10 years old also realised what happened under the huge bearskin that adorned his new overlord's bed.

Rezan really wanted to join his young friends, worry about becoming the object of attention for Tamerlane's lusts being overwhelmed by his intense desire for love. However, his inner terror of trying to become too close to anyone was too great and restrained him from following Vissarion and Nicolai into the conqueror's waiting arms. The 10 years old feared either rejection or later betrayal of any approach, just as he had suffered years earlier at the hands of his parents. After hearing the young Georgian and Muscovite make their nightly way, quickly followed by discreet sounds of pleasurable passion, the young Persian would invariably just cry himself to sleep.

Rezan's attitude was maintained despite Tamerlane's clear interest in him. The conqueror treated the young Persian not only with honoured respect, as befitted someone who had saved his boys, but also with affection and kindness.

In fact, Tamerlane tried his best to handle Rezan as a father would, although both man and boy, the latter from the constant look in the eyes of the former, secretly appreciated that the adult would prefer to indulge in a sexual role. However, the conqueror was too respectful towards the saviour of Vissarion, Arman and Nicolai to make the first move and the young Persian too reserved and afraid. The situation obviously needed the intervention of someone else to break the deadlock and, not uncommonly, it was the young Georgian who not only astutely perceived the situation and need but also took it upon himself to try to end the impasse.

Blonde, blue-eyed Vissarion, whose impeccable youthful beauty had only become more dazzlingly refined as he grew older, undertook the project not to satisfy Tamerlane's lusts but to help break Rezan's emotional shell, realising that this had to be done if the boy was to achieve both contentment and fulfilment in life. It was obvious to the young Georgian, although to few others, that the young Persian was not only unhappy inside but also in great inner turmoil, and the 15 years old eunuch had correctly guessed why.

Vissarion had secretly been sad at observing Rezan's apparently unemotional front, knowing it to be a false façade designed to hide his true feelings. Although the young Persian was a pleasant enough companion, in a quiet reserved manner, the young Georgian instinctively knew that this did not reflect the 10 years old's true inner character. The perceptive soon-to-be 16 years old was determined to bring the latter to the fore, believing that otherwise his new friend would not display his full true worthiness and could grow to be psychologically scarred. However, he particularly needed and so enlisted Arman's help in order to achieve his aim.

Arman might have been bigger in physical stature but he was otherwise similarly featured to Rezan, not only having brown hair and eyes but also possessing testicles. It was the latter anatomical feature, and the young Armenian's highly proficient and considerate lovemaking skills that went with them, that particularly recommended him for the cause to his Georgian friend.

Arman, although now clearly the happy sexual companion of Sibur, had by no means forgotten his deep affection for Tamerlane, Vissarion and lately Nicolai. In fact, despite his new passionate relationship with the cavalry officer, the young Armenian still considered the young Georgian to be not only his best friend but also foremost lover, an attitude that was reciprocated.

Arman frequently returned to Tamerlane's canopy to spend early evenings with his friends in both conversation and play, although the latter was now more adult than previously. Gone were the children's games, with greater concentration given to pastimes such as chess and, regularly with Vissarion and Nicolai, sex. The latter usually diplomatically happened when the conqueror was engaged on time-consuming business elsewhere.

The young Georgian and Muscovite still greatly appreciated the young Armenian's ability to entertain their prostrates with careful skill. Much sublime pleasure was thereby acquired by all three parties within the tent compartments belonging to Vissarion and Nicolai.

They had the full blessing of their master for these activities, for he was happy to keep his remaining boys content whilst he was busy. Sometimes, the conqueror would unexpectedly return early and inadvertently walk in on such liaisons but he would always then discreetly depart to his own bedroom, where his unoccupied catamite would invariably be considerately waiting.

Sibur was also not displeased by Arman's alternative lovemaking because he appreciated that the objects of such attention still held a very special place in the young Armenian's heart, which the cavalry officer knew could never be displaced, even if he wanted to see that occur. However, he had no such ambition, for he recognised that his young lover's wellbeing needed the continued association with Vissarion and Nicolai.

Sibur was instead content to see Arman happily enjoy the company, in all senses of the phrase, of his two oldest friends and to accept whatever the young Armenian had left for him, both in terms of time and energy. Happily for the unselfish cavalry officer, the latter were still substantial in both quantity and quality.

One evening, Vissarion had, as usual, just lost at chess to the more expert Arman, whose highly skilful strategic proficiency would eventually prove to be more wide ranging than just the game board. The variation of the pastime played by Tamerlane and his boys used an uncheckered board of 112 squares, with ten rows and eleven columns, plus two extra squares, one left of the ninth row and one right of the second row. These two extra fields were called the 'citadels' and played a special role. Each player possessed a king, a vizir, a general, two giraffes, two pickets, two knights, two rooks, two elephants, two camels, two war engines and eleven pawns. The latter were of special types, such as a pawn of kings, of vizirs, of generals and so on until a pawn of pawns. Different rules applied when each type of pawn promoted.

After the young Georgian's rear was afterwards again impregnated with much Armenian sperm, the naked friends held each other tightly in post-coitus respite before whispering to each other about Rezan. Vissarion's permanently hairless chin rested close to Arman's shaved equivalent whilst they debated their plan to encourage the young Persian out of his shell, by lovingly bringing the younger boy's emotions to the fore through careful seduction.

Vissarion would lead the way by gradually enticing Rezan, whom he perceptively knew admired him, and not just for his impeccable personality, into bed with him. There, the young Georgian would use his hands and mouth to show how much he cared for the young Persian, an emotion that would not be false. Naturally, it would have to be Arman, with his intact testes, who would later have to introduce the youngster to the pleasures of other forms of submissive sex, a duty the young Armenian was more than happy to attempt and not just from altruism. His task was thought achievable because the 10 years old was recognised as liking his particular variety of 15 years old boyhood as well.

The whole idea was that such intimate physical relationships would also cause Rezan to be mentally more open and honest, at first with his two young admirers and sexual partners and later with all, to everyone's benefit, not least his own. Nicolai was acquainted with and agreed to the plans, accepting a minor facilitating role. Vissarion's scheme would probably have worked too, if grievous personal tragedy had not intervened.

(Edirne, Ottoman Empire, same time)

The city was in the Byzantine Empire until 1361, when it was conquered by the Ottoman Sultan Murat I, who made it his capital. By 1392, most of Edirne's Orthodox Christian churches had been converted into mosques. Much other construction work had been undertaken to build or improve other religious complexes, bridges, bazaars, caravanserais and palaces. In one of the latter, 3½ years old Mehmed, first son of the present ruler, Bayezid I, played on his own. However, the infant would soon have a new, similarly aged, playmate.

Vladimir was a Christian Slav, recently captured during one of Bayezid's Balkan campaigns. The blue-eyed fair-haired 3 years old had been bought at public slave auction by the Sultan's chief eunuch. The infant had been selected for his beauty because his much later duties might be sufficiently manifold to include his new adult owner's bed. However, the petrified youngster was currently unconcerned about his future because he was more worried about the present.

Vladimir had been strapped, naked and spreadeagled, to an old table, discoloured over the years by the spilling of much blood on its smooth surface. The infant was too young to appreciate that the grim cellar he was in, and the table he was on, had now been the scene for a couple of decades of the creation of the Sultan's many white and black eunuchs. However, the 3 years old was mature enough to know, as an ancient blade was applied to the middle of his tiny scrotum, that something awful was about to happen.

(Kashan, Persia, December 1392)

Tamerlane's army was wintering outside Kashan. The conqueror spent much of the daytime without his boys, the sad circumstance being necessitated by their need for education. He had sacrificed the very pleasant daylight company of Vissarion and Nicolai, as well as of Rezan, so that they could be with their tutors, although all concerned knew that the young Georgian and Muscovite, at least, would prefer to be with their master. Meanwhile, Arman was rapidly and very efficiently learning the arts of cavalry warfare from Sibur.

Tamerlane usually spent much of this winter's daytime either in audience or counsel, ruling his lands and planning the military campaigns that would start the following spring, or out hunting with his bodyguard. However, he appreciated, from their joyous nighttime company, that his boys were up to something in relation to Rezan. He had decided not to interrogate them over the matter to discover what was going on, although he knew that he would easily be able to elicit the information from Nicolai. He would not have required his torturer for the task, even though the young Muscovite would try his best not to be a traitor to the cause. Instead, the conqueror could simply have resorted to his usual practice when he wanted the boy to confess to something, for the 12 years old was readily intimidated by tickling.

Tamerlane was therefore unaware, as he slept soundly with Vissarion and Nicolai under the huge bearskin that kept out the winter chill, that his boys had not yet put their plans into action, although a start was imminent. Rezan, slumbering alone in his adjacent compartment, also did not appreciate the fact that he was the centre of a conspiracy. However, the plot was to be foiled before it even began.

Rezan, always a light sleeper, was woken by low strange noises, apparently emanating from just outside the tent entrance. He then heard more sounds, unusual not for what they represented but for where they were now originating.

Rezan perceived the undoubted noise of footsteps in Tamerlane's bed compartment, although there was a clear attempt to mute the sound. The young Persian knew that no one should be creeping into the conqueror's normally well guarded tent at any time, let alone the middle of the night. The 10 years old therefore stole from his own lonely bed to peek through the separating flap that represented the door between his sleeping compartment and that of his overlord.

Tamerlane's bedroom was a myriad of dark shadows, with the only light provided by a small night oil lamp located on a table in one corner. However, the illumination was sufficient for the sharp-eyed Rezan to spot a reflection on the metallic blade held by the adult male intruder, which also appeared to be shedding liquid droplets onto the floor. The young Persian immediately put two and two together and shouted, as loud as he could, "Assassin!"

The startled would-be killer, a bearded middle-aged cavalryman of Tamerlane's own army, stopped his furtive advance towards the conqueror's bed and turned to see who had raised the alarm. He seemed satisfied that it was only a young unarmed boy, a factor that should enable him still to proceed to accomplish his knowingly suicidal mission before effective help could be summoned. He had already disposed of the two guards on watch outside the tent, who had thought him a friend until he stabbed them, causing his knife now to drip with their blood. The assassin therefore returned to his original progression but now speeded by the realisation that his intended victim would be stirring.

Tamerlane was indeed waking up but only very slowly because he had been in deep sleep. However, Vissarion, nearest on the bed to the would-be murderer, was roused instantly by Rezan's call and observed the assassin's now rapid approach, knife ready to plunge into the conqueror. The young Georgian knew that there was only one way that he could save his master's life and he took it, bravely moving his own gorgeous naked body in the way of the thrusting blade. The metal penetrated deep into the boy's chest.

The would-be killer, now kneeling on the bearskin and furious that his first attempt to murder Tamerlane had been thwarted by the catamite, then withdrew his knife from the collapsed Vissarion's limp form to launch another strike. However, he had fatally ignored the boy who had been sleeping on the other side of the conqueror.

As the assassin's blade was about to plunge into the correct, still sleep-befuddled target, the man's eyes suddenly glazed over and he was dead before, with a neatly timed push, his own killer shoved him onto the floor. Nicolai looked with contempt at the body on the ground, with the boy's own knife squarely embedded in the middle of the would-be murderer's back, the young Muscovite having always kept such a weapon close to him, ever since his escape from Mongol captivity. However, the 12 years old's attention quickly refocused on the unconscious Vissarion.

(Kashan, Persia, the next morning)

The poison had apparently originally been contained in a small distinctive phial carried by the assassin but no one could identify the toxin and therefore an antidote. "Are you telling me you can't do anything for him?" Tamerlane screamed at the large retinue of doctors that had attended Vissarion in the conqueror's tent. None immediately answered, being too fearful of the consequences.

Vissarion's deep chest wound had been proficiently tended and bandaged but he had not regained consciousness since the assassination attempt, perpetrated by the aggrieved brother of a general beheaded earlier in the year for plotting against Tamerlane. The young Georgian's temperature had also risen to fever point and his breathing was becoming shallower and shallower. His ashen face was matched by those of Arman and Nicolai, who lay on the conqueror's bed, either side of their fallen friend, with each holding one of his hands. Tears also regularly dropped from the visages of the young Armenian and Muscovite onto the bearskin below.

It would have been Vissarion's 16th birthday the next day but it did not look as if the young Georgian would now live that long.

(Edirne, Ottoman Empire, same time)

"Lord Mehmed," the chief of the castrated Ottoman servants announced, "this is your own eunuch, come to serve you!"

(Kashan, Persia, same time)

It was Rezan's beautiful face that peered up at Tamerlane, whilst the boy's hand maintained a firm grip on that of the conqueror. "These men," the young Persian quietly suggested, whilst again displaying maturity beyond his tender years, "cannot help Vissarion without the antidote. I have a proposal as to how the potion might be secured!"

It was Sibur and Arman who were charged with the commission to find the antidote and, in order to do so, they had moved to the middle of the main central square of the adjacent city of Kashan. They stood behind a trellis table on a hastily erected low wooden platform, surrounded by some of Tamerlane's own bodyguard. On one side of them on the dais rested a large open chest, full of gold and silver coins and jewels, extracted from Tamerlane's mobile treasury and representing enormous wealth. On the other side, was a bloodstained block of wood, used previously in the decapitation of many victims of the conqueror's displeasure.

The governor of Kashan, recently appointed by Tamerlane, had proficiently spread news of the conqueror's offer throughout his city, using his full complement of military and civilian officers and servants. The new ruler of the metropolis had no intention of being called to account for any lack of effort on his part to save his master's catamite. Meanwhile, Sibur had unsheathed his sabre in order to demonstrate to the huge crowd, rapidly gathering around him and Arman, his intent to fulfil one aspect of the issued challenge.

The desperate Tamerlane had liked Rezan's suggestion and had had it immediately implemented, whilst he went to replace Arman in performing the vigil on his own bed. However, a young Persian maintained a firm grip on one manly palm whilst the conqueror's other hand held that of a young dying Georgian.

Rezan's plan was simple. He reasoned that the assassin had likely acquired the poison in Kashan and that an antidote, if there was one, and there usually was if only to rectify mistakes, should be available there too, probably from the same provider. The latter would therefore have to be advised that, for supplying the toxin, he would be given amnesty, an act justified because he almost certainly would not have been told what it was to be used for, even if he wanted to know, which would be debatable. He would also need to be told that there was a great reward ready to be collected for the required corrective substance, demonstrated by the chest on the platform. However, to save not only precious time but also Vissarion from absorbing useless palliatives, wastrels needed to be discouraged.

There was a fear that the immense reward could attract apothecaries willing to guess at the antidote. These would be dissuaded from such action by the presence of the chopping block and Sibur's sabre, for the price of prescribing an unsuccessful potion would be decapitation. Nevertheless, a large line of people formed to examine the little phial, the sole item placed on the table positioned on the platform. The queue comprised those who hoped to identify, from sight or smell, the earlier contents of the small container. Many of these personages could not be deterred in case someone could indeed recognise the poison and cure, although their numbers were efficiently lessened by some of the city governor's staff who asked questions about their qualifications for such a task.

In the event, no one took the risk of suggesting an antidote until, after several hours, an old wizened woman reached the front of the queue and took one look and sniff at the phial. Arman somehow knew instinctively that she had the antidote and this was confirmed by the production from her pocket of a similarly distinctive small container, along with a broad grin that revealed her gross black teeth.

Arman grabbed the new phial and leapt from the platform onto his horse. Escorted by waiting cavalry, the young Armenian rode out of Kashan to the nearby army encampment as fast as he could. Sibur remained behind with the old woman, ready to enrich her if the potion proved effective or use his sword if her prescription was false.

As Arman and his mounted escort speeded out of Kashan's gates and through Tamerlane's vast crowded camp, the surrounds were even more eerily quiet than before. However, in his rush, the young Armenian took little notice until he jumped off his horse outside the conqueror's tent. It was then that the boy realised that something terrible had happened.

There was hardly a dry eye amongst the experienced fighting men who encircled Tamerlane's canopy, from where sounds of loud wailing emerged. However, it was the sight of Nicolai, crying profusely as he stepped out into the daylight from the tent, that caused Arman's heart to sink. Nevertheless, the young Armenian shouted hopefully to the young Muscovite, as he speedily approached his 12 years old friend, "I have it. I have the antidote!"

Nicolai's lovely blue eyes, besmirched by tears, looked up into Arman's rightly deeply apprehensive face.

"You're too late," the young Muscovite replied, between sobs, "for our beloved Vissarion is dead!"

Chapter 17
Wisdoms

Miracles do sometimes happen!

(Kashan, Persia, December 1392)

"Vissarion isn't dead!" the young Armenian exclaimed, whilst brushing past the tearful Muscovite and then through the leather entrance flaps into Tamerlane's tent. The lachrymose 12 years old immediately followed the 16 years old, who was exhibiting strange confidence in his assertion, given that he had not seen the young Georgian for several hours.

"How can you say that?" Nicolai not unreasonably screamed at the back of Arman, rapidly running across the large bedroom compartment of Tamerlane's tent towards the bed where Vissarion's still body lay, attended by the wailing conqueror and Rezan. However, the young Armenian did not yet reply. He also did not make any comment about the fact that the young Persian was finally showing his true emotions. The 10 years old's beautiful face was buried in the lap of his overlord, his brown eyes shedding copious tears whilst his hands firmly grasped those of the man.

Arman ignored everyone except the white-faced Vissarion, against whose chest he pressed his ear. However, the young Armenian could detect no sound or movement. There was also no pulse evident in his closest friend's wrist. Nevertheless, this did not demean his fervent belief or deflect his intent. The soon-to-be 16 years old instead addressed Tamerlane, Nicolai and Rezan in an unprecedentedly rude way.

"Shut up all of you," Arman shouted, "and help me. Our Vissarion isn't dead yet but will be soon if you don't stop being sorry for yourselves!" The sounds of weeping immediately ended, and associated tears suddenly began to dry.

Despite their incredulity at Arman's announcement and the manner in which it was conveyed, Tamerlane, Nicolai and Rezan subsequently obeyed the young Armenian's equally forthright rapidly issued instructions without demur, clinging to the hope that somehow the 15 years old might be proved correct. This desperate aspiration was despite the fact that Vissarion had been declared dead by not one but six doctors.

Tamerlane had never been commanded in this manner by anyone since boyhood but complied with Arman's instructions without anger or complaint. The conqueror soon lifted Vissarion's head whilst Rezan opened the young Georgian's mouth and Nicolai pinched the boy's lovely pert nose. The young Armenian simultaneously introduced the contents of the phial he was carrying to his beloved friend's exposed tongue. Everyone then waited for a miracle to happen. However, seconds, which seemed to the conscious present to be like an eternity, passed with no visible reaction from the motionless yet still magnificent form lying on the bed.

Then, the miraculous did happen. Vissarion's previously quiescent mouth suddenly sought air and, as it succeeded in its mission, the movement in his throat indicated that he had also absorbed the liquid placed on his tongue.

"He's still alive!" three voices suddenly shouted in disbelieving but elated unison, although Arman remained silent. The young Armenian had just known that his young Georgian friend would not have departed this world without somehow relating a goodbye, if not verbally then spiritually. However, his intense relief that his belief had proven correct was overwhelmed by delayed shock and he fainted, thoughtfully collapsing onto the bed alongside, rather than on top of, the miraculously still living Vissarion.

Later, it took much persuasion on the re-awakened Arman's part to dissuade Tamerlane from beheading a certain sextet of doctors. The young Armenian's most persuasive argument was that Vissarion would not approve. The conqueror, watching colour gradually returning back to the young Georgian's cheeks, as the boy's chest slowly began to display more noticeable signs of breathing, eventually began to lose his anger in favour of an overwhelming sense of blissful forgiveness. This was fortified further when a pair of sparkling blue eyes eventually revealed themselves.

"How did know?" Tamerlane subsequently asked of Arman. "Instinct," the young Armenian replied, relating his perceptive wisdom, "as I would have felt Vissarion's death deep inside, wherever I was or whatever I was doing. As I hadn't, I knew that he was still alive, regardless of what others said!"

Tamerlane then hugged Arman so tightly that, if he had continued for much longer, the recovering Vissarion would himself surely have instinctively felt the demise, through asphyxiation, of his closest friend. However, the tight embrace was not the cause of the young Armenian's first tears since his arrival back in the army encampment. These were simply induced by acute happiness.

(Kashan, Persia, January 1393)

Sibur was the most put out because Arman spent most of his time, including every night, looking after Vissarion. However, the young cavalry officer was not too displeased, as his young lover was where he should be at this time. He was also wise enough to be sure that he would eventually secure highly pleasurable compensation.

Vissarion's plot to humanise Rezan had, in the end, not been needed for the shock of the young Georgian's near death had shattered all of the young Persian's emotional defences, making him actively not only seek comfort but also love. Tamerlane had been unable to resist administering to the boy's now obvious fullest needs, and so a long lasting physical as well as spiritual relationship began, with the conqueror careful to cause as little pain as possible when he deflowered the now very willing 10 years old.

The particularly joyous but belated festivities arranged to celebrate the 16th anniversary of Vissarion's arrival on Earth were, appropriately in the circumstances, to be a joint event shared with Arman because it was scheduled for the latter's own similar birthday. Tamerlane's mobile treasury had been denuded to provide sumptuous fare not only for the conqueror, his boys and closest entourage but also the whole army and citizenry of Kashan, one of whom, an old hag with black teeth, was suddenly the focus of attention from many would-be husbands.

The names of Vissarion and Arman, as well as Nicolai and Rezan, were celebrated copiously in Kashan and its environs not only on the festival day itself but also for years afterwards. This was not just as a result of the very generous largesse provided for the birthday occasion, or the money pumped into the city later by the conqueror in gratitude for the salvation of Vissarion, but also because of genuine recognition of the worthiness of Tamerlane's boys.

Vissarion had proved himself a hero when saving the conqueror's life, as had Nicolai by killing the assassin before the man could deliver his second blow. Rezan's perceptiveness had raised the original alarm and produced the solution to the young Georgian's later prospectively fatal disablement. Arman, through following his instincts, had ensured that the young Persian's suggestion had born magnificent fruit. Even most of those who had good reason to hate Tamerlane could not help but admire his boys.

Vissarion appreciated the joint festivity with Arman so much that, in future years, he always deliberately celebrated his birthday a month late, in remembrance of this particular very happy occasion. The event was made even more splendid, in the eyes of the young Georgian and Armenian, when Tamerlane announced what one of their presents would be. When spring arrived, the conqueror had declared, he would return to the homelands of the two boys to give appropriate thanksgivings for their continuing key parts in his life.

The beautiful sensuous eyes of all four of Tamerlane's boys became damp as the conqueror made his heart-felt announcement, and not just at the thought that the young Georgian and Armenian would be seeing their homelands again soon. The young quartet had appreciated once more, from his words and face, how important a role his boys played in their master's life. However, it was not until the next afternoon that they were to become truly acquainted with their full significance in his existence and, as usual, it was Vissarion, in his wisdom, who spotted the reasons for another's personal distress. Meanwhile, before this problem manifested itself, Nicolai wondered when he might see his own homeland again.

(Forests of Rus, Khanate of the Golden Horde, same time)

In fact, it would be Toqtamish, actually a former ally of Tamerlane but now merely one of the conqueror's principal irritants, who would be responsible for Nicolai's return to his homeland, and sooner rather than later. However, the Mongol leader's actions would eventually prove to have been initiated without wisdom.

(Edirne, Ottoman Empire, same time)

(Delhi, India, same time)

(Kashan, Persia, next day)

Vissarion, wisdom as profound as ever, knew that Tamerlane had suffered much inner turmoil whenever his boys had been in trouble, an apparently regular occurrence. The hidden strain of it all had now caught up with the man. The young blonde blue-eyed Georgian, supreme boyish beauty now fully restored, realised that his master was enduring a mental breakdown, which, if prolonged, could have dire consequences for not only themselves but also everything the conqueror had so far achieved.

Chapter 18
Thanksgivings

Nicolai becomes the centre of an intrigue plotted by Tamerlane's most able adversary.

(Kashan, Persia, March 1393)

Vissarion, now 16 but looking at least a couple of years younger, organised Tamerlane's boys so effectively that no-one else ever truly knew the nature of the conqueror's ill-health. Disclosure could have encouraged enemies, both internal within his master's entourage and external, to rise in revolt.

Vissarion initially spread the news that Tamerlane was exhausted, in need of a lengthy rest and that his master had issued orders that he was to be looked after and visited only by his boys during this period. The young Georgian added menacingly that the conqueror would, however, be prepared to forego his repose if he was needed to repress trouble.

Vissarion was so convincing that internal and external peace prevailed throughout Tamerlane's convalescence, for no-one anywhere wanted to anger the dreaded conqueror by disturbing him, knowing from example what terrible retribution might follow.

This attitude extended to Tamerlane's physicians, whom Vissarion frightened off by advising that his master had declared that, for mere rest, he did not require their attention. As all were constantly terrified for their lives whenever they treated the man for any minor ailments or wounds he might pick up, none were unhappy to learn of this.

Certainly, none of the doctors were bold enough to query the young Georgian's instruction to keep way. They appreciated full well how the conqueror would probably react to anyone having the temerity to argue with his beautiful eunuch catamite, especially as the boy had so recently almost sacrificed his own life to save that of his master from an assassin's knife.

Vissarion also demonstrated once again other burgeoning organisational abilities, for the administration of Tamerlane's vast empire had to carry on. Without reference to his genuinely resting master, the young Georgian delegated the necessary powers to a council of the conqueror's most loyal and proficient generals and advisors.

Vissarion had suggested untruthfully that this arrangement was at the command of Tamerlane himself. The council, however, was sometimes too scared to make very important decisions without consulting the conqueror, being wary of what he might do if he disapproved of the agreed action once he recovered. Counsellors had been beheaded previously for proffering poor advice or taking inappropriate steps.

Vissarion was aware of this and volunteered to submit the council's occasional requests for guidance to Tamerlane. In fact, the young Georgian, not wanting to disturb his master, then made these very important decisions himself, sometimes after consulting Arman if they related to military matters.

Arman was still considered to be one of Tamerlane's boys, despite now sharing a tent with his new lover, Sibur, rather than that of his previous paramour. Vissarion trusted the young Armenian to provide good advice on army issues, despite only being 16 years of age. The young Georgian had known for a while that his closest friend was a natural soldier, and was happy to trust the youth's instincts.

Vissarion and Arman had reluctantly agreed that Sibur should be denied knowledge of the truth relating to the conqueror's condition. However, this decision had not been made as a result of any distrust of the young man, but because they instead wanted to protect him from the consequences if the actions of Tamerlane's boys eventually proved disastrous.

Meanwhile, 12 years old Nicolai and 10 years old Rezan concentrated all their efforts on tending to Tamerlane's every need, helped whenever possible by Vissarion and Arman, with one of the boys always guarding the entrance to their master's tent to prevent unwanted visitors. Such splendid teamwork, expertly supervised by the young Georgian, a situation none of his friends argued about, having recognised his aptitude in such matters, gradually bore fruit, with the conqueror increasingly regaining more and more of his mental faculties.

Vissarion eventually chose exactly the right moment to acquaint Tamerlane with what had happened both to the man himself and elsewhere. The conqueror's response is best summed up by the fact that all four of his boys received long loving hugs of genuine thankfulness for all they had done.

Vissarion and Arman were then particularly delighted to be told that all the actions they had taken, and the guidance they had submitted to their master's council on his behalf, were considered by Tamerlane to be better than he himself could have produced. The young Georgian and Armenian did wonder at first whether the conqueror might have been deliberately kindly exaggerating in order to flatter them. However, they were disabused of this notion by the clear look of intense happiness and pride in the man's eyes, as he recognised that his vast empire had effectively been ruled very well for a couple of months by two 16 years olds.

It was early March when Tamerlane finally emerged from his tent to perform a formal inspection, on horseback, of his pristinely arrayed army. The cheers from his many soldiers were deafening, as the conqueror rode up and down their ranks, flanked by his four proud boys.

Afterwards, many commented that they had never seen Tamerlane healthier or happier, something that did not bode well for his enemies or those lands he wanted to conqueror in future. However, their leader currently had other thoughts on his now mended mind.

Tamerlane now wanted to fulfil his promise to Vissarion and Arman, made two months earlier at the celebrations held to commemorate their 16th birthdays. The conqueror had then undertaken to return to the homelands of the young Georgian and Armenian as soon as spring arrived, to give appropriate thanksgivings for their continuing key parts in his life. He now intended to fulfil this pledge forthwith.

Tamerlane, however, might have had second thoughts if he had realised the dangerous adventure that would ensue, with the gorgeous 12 years old Muscovite, Nicolai, at the forefront of the action.

(Moscow, Principality of Muscovy, same time)

As usual with the subordinate princes of Rus, Vladimir and his family were required to be in Moscow for the annual visit to the city by the Mongols, conducted to permit their boy hostages, second sons of important local nobles, to return temporarily to their kith for two reasons. The first was to prove that the lads were still alive and being well looked after. The second was to re-establish familial bonds that would discourage their fathers and elder brothers from supporting future dissension against Khanate suzerainty.

Vladimir's inaction was caused by several factors. First, he was expecting the taking of another of his boys once the Mongols had recovered from their dreadful bloody mauling by Tamerlane's forces, having been careless enough to lose their original hostage, the prince's second son. Second, he fully knew the terrible consequences for himself and the rest of his family, comprising his wife, eldest son, Semyon, third son, Andrei, and youngest sons, Ivan and Fedor, if he resisted. A seventh son, Vasilii, would be born to compensate for this further loss a year later.

The pretty blonde, blue-eyed 8 year-old was soon in one of the Mongols' many wagons, being led to the forests far to the southeast of Moscow, where his abductors' semi-permanent encampment was based. He had been chosen as a hostage in place of the older Andrei because he was healthier than the rather sickly third son, who would normally have made the journey.

(Etchmiadzin, Armenia, May 1393)

The local predominance of Christianity was evident by the many churches and monasteries that dotted the countryside, although the Islamic presence was also signified by a number of mosques, not least in Arman's birthplace, the capital, Erivan [now Yerevan]. However, Etchmiadzin, in the valley of the Araks River in the southwest, is the country's religious centre. According to the chronicler, Agathangelos, St. Gregory, soon after converting Armenia, had a vision of the Son of God, appearing as a heroic figure of light surrounded by a mighty angelic host. Jesus struck the ground with a golden hammer, indicating the place where the Mother Cathedral of the nation was to be established.

The name 'Etchmiadzin', literally 'where the Only Begotten descended', refers to this episode, and the local monastery is the seat of the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. The cathedral within its walls is believed to be the oldest in the world. However, many of these ancient Christian splendours had been badly damaged during Tamerlane's conquest, something he now sought to redress.

Arman despite, or more accurately because of the particular nature of, his Islamic faith, had expressed a desire to see his country and its people have religious freedom. His family had never been intolerant of Christians, respecting their beliefs almost as much as their own. After all, in Muslim theology, Jesus Christ and certain other Biblical characters are considered great prophets.

The attitude of Arman, who was a son of the country's last Emir, was also influenced subconsciously by the young Christian Georgian, Vissarion, whom he still loved deeply. Accordingly, when Tamerlane asked how he should give thanksgivings for the presence of the beloved young Armenian in his life, the 16 years old gave the same answer as his friend had done in respect of his own homeland.

As a result, Christian sites in Armenia were allowed to be restored and the faith was permitted to be worshipped openly once more. The showpiece was the return of the Catholicos to the religious complex at Etchmiadzin, which was being repaired at Tamerlane's own expense. The conqueror had even summoned a number of expert craftsmen from Samarkand to work on the project.

The Catholicos' first task, on his return to Etchmiadzin, was to meet Tamerlane to thank the dreaded man formally for his sudden change of policy. However, the patriarch was not ignorant of who was really responsible for the remarkable change in fortunes for his faith, and afterwards sent a messenger to the conqueror's nearby encampment, inviting the young Muslim to an audience in the monastery.

Arman later left the Catholicos' presence proudly, recognising that the patriarch's thanks were truly the best thanksgiving he could have requested from Tamerlane. Tears of joy overwhelmed his lovely sensuous brown eyes, as he looked back at the damaged dome of the cathedral, now engulfed by wooden scaffolding as workmen were starting their repairs.

Arman later actually visited the cathedral, with his close Christian friends Vissarion and Nicolai. As he quietly, and without ceremony, prayed to Allah under the great dome, the young Armenian wondered whether the Muslim God and the Christian One, with whom the young Georgian and Muscovite were simultaneously privately communicating, were, after all, the same.

(Tiflis, Georgia, June 1393)

It was now cool inside the great Orthodox cathedral of Sion in Tiflis, capital of Georgia, the birthplace of Vissarion, as he prayed, with Arman and Nicolai besides him.

The splendid structure dated back to the 5th century and had already been restored by Tamerlane in Vissarion's honour 4 years earlier, just before the first encounter of the young Georgian and Armenian with Mongols of the Khanate of the Golden Horde. As they spoke to God in their own ways, the boys did not realise that another dangerous meeting with warriors from the forests of the north was imminent.

(North Georgia, July 1393)

Vissarion and Nicolai now felt confident in leaving Rezan to look after their master's various personal needs. This attitude was reinforced by the fact that Arman had confirmed that he would not only always be nearby to help but also keep a regular check on the welfare of both conqueror and latest catamite.

Vissarion, Nicolai and their bodyguards had camped near to the large church undergoing refurbishment, and the boys had just received a blessing from the newly appointed priest within the holy sanctuary. As the lads subsequently left the sacred building to climb onto their horses, around which their already mounted Muslim bodyguard had remained, a local intercepted them, without menace but holding a piece of vellum.

"Young sirs," the man announced in Georgian, which, of course, only Vissarion could understand, "I've been asked to give this message to Master Nicolai." The older of the two boys therefore indicated who the young Muscovite was and soon the vellum was resting in the hands of the 12 years old.

The messenger had then rapidly disappeared before Nicolai began to read the document. The young Muscovite never hid anything from his friends and so was unconcerned when the curious Vissarion peered over his shoulder to try to see what was written. However, the young Georgian could not decipher the writing because it was both in Russian and in the Cyrillic alphabet, whereas he used the Mkhedruli.

Vissarion was immediately concerned at his friend's reaction, as the 12 years old read his message, which seemed, by its immature untidy appearance, to be in a child's handwriting. Nicolai's hands began to shake and the boy's gorgeous face turned deathly white. Dampness also came to his sensuous blue eyes.

"What's wrong?" a very worried Vissarion asked, in Tamerlane's Turkish dialect, which they both now shared. "Nothing!" was the very unconvincing, clearly tremulous reply. However, try as he might, the young Georgian was subsequently unable to extract from the young Muscovite anything about the message, which obviously conveyed very bad news of some sort. The 16 years old could not even try to borrow the vellum to have the writing furtively translated because the 12 years old secreted the document carefully about his delightful person, richly dressed for the visit to the church in colourful silk court attire.

Nicolai refrained from actually crying but he remained quiet and morose for the rest of the day, something that was completely out of character. Vissarion was therefore eventually pleased when it was time, after the descent of darkness, for both of them to retire to the tent they shared to sleep. The young Georgian hoped that slumber would help his young friend both to recover from the shock conveyed by the message and finally to report the details. However, his wish was to be thwarted because, when he woke at dawn, he discovered that the young Muscovite had not only exited their canopy but also somehow left their encampment without their bodyguards noticing.

The failure on the part of the bodyguards to detect Nicolai's departure was perhaps not as surprising as it might superficially seem. After all, the normally highly proficient night watch were concentrating on preventing unwanted intruders from entering their camp from outside, not on containing the boys they were protecting inside.

Fortunately, Nicolai had left a clue behind as to his new whereabouts, for he had discarded his court attire for more practical hard-wearing travel garb. In one of the silk trouser pockets, Vissarion found the vellum with the Cyrillic message. However, it took several hours to locate an interpreter who could read Russian.

When the message was finally read to the appalled Vissarion, his delicious body reacted in a similar manner to that of Nicolai when his friend had first appraised the communication. The young Georgian also quickly appreciated that he and his bodyguards would have to try to resolve the dangerous situation on their own, as he did not want Tamerlane to relapse into mental illness on hearing the terrible news.

The message read:-

"Dearest Nicolai,
These words are being dictated to me by Toqtamish himself, leader of the Mongol Golden Horde. He orders me to tell you that you must surrender yourself to his mercy by returning alone to the church at midnight tonight. If you do not, or attempt any tricks, he will send my head to you in the morning.

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